International Peace Gardens at Jordan Park-Salt Lake City, Utah-Botanical Gardens, Park, Statues

The Salt Lake City Council of Women established the International Peace Gardens in Jordan Park in 1947. With the intent of honoring the world's cultural diversity and fostering friendship and peace among all countries, the garden plots represent the nations of the world.

Providing a good place for a summer picnic or just a relaxing few minutes sitting on a park bench enjoying quiet solitude, the well-tended gardens and shade trees deliver on the promise of peace. The peace gardens include exhibits showcasing peace initiatives around the globe. The gardens winding paths will take you through distinct areas marked by flags, plaques, symbols and statues.

Located at about 1000 South and 900 West in Salt Lake City, Utah, you'll find the Peace

Gardens along the Jordan River Parkway. The gardens are open May 1st through September 30th from dawn until dusk.

Over time, much of the garden architecture at the International Peace Gardens has suffered either from being vandalized, stolen, removed, or just simply old age. Many of the plants from other nations couldn't survive Utah's extreme climate. There has been a movement in the last several years to restore the garden to their original vision and local citizens have banded together to make sure that happens.

In its prime, the International Peace Gardens boasted special native plants transplanted from other countries. These included a field of Alpine Edelweiss from Switzerland, magnolia trees from China, thirty types of Swedish lilacs, English unique varieties, thousands of colors of Dutch tulips, and famous Cedars from Lebanon.

Today the park is adorned with local varieties of these colorful plants. An ongoing tradition of spelling out the names of other nations in a floral array has continued.

There is a flower power program through the Parks and Recreation office where you can volunteer to help acquire and replace new plants. This carries on the tradition of the park as the International Peace Gardens was originally founded as a citizenship project. Meant to be a lesson in peace and understanding between nations, this park is evidence that people from many lands can unite in building a monument to peace.

Conceived in 1939 and dedicated in 1952 the International Peace Gardens played a significant role in Utah history. The garden remains under the direction of the Salt Lake Council of Women Past President's Council. Each participating Utah-based nation group is allotted a plot where they are invited to create a garden with native plantings. They can add garden architecture and statues of world peace leaders typical of their homelands and culture. Currently the Peace Gardens represent twenty-six nations.