The Gardenview Horticultural Park is a unique public garden, a nonprofit tax-exempt institution, organized and founded in 1949 to provide enjoyment to its visitors and to inspire them to use the ideas they may have gotten here, in their own gardens.

Why-and how-did we create these gardens?

The Gardenview Horticultural Park is a unique public garden for several reasons. It was not created by a wealthy individual who gave their estate and a very large Endowment Fund with which to maintain it as a public garden. It was created by an individual who had no money, and who was inspired by the fabulous gardens in England and wished to create such a magnificent public garden here in the United States.

The emphasis at Gardenview is not upon providing lavish and opulent spectacle of architectural features. Instead the emphasis is upon extremely choice, rare and unusual plants... primarily those with variegated, golden or silver foliage... combined into attractive garden settings, in a natural, casual, cottage garden style... something which looks like it might just have happened by itself. Indeed, some visitors assume that it did just happen all by itself.

What is the purpose of Gardenview?  To provide enjoyment to its visitors and to inspire them to use the ideas they might have gotten here, in their own gardens. To collect and exhibit choice and unusual plants which are seldom seen in this country.

Gardenview began during the winter of 1949; with the purchase of 16 acres of snow-covered vacant land. Unfortunately when the snow melted in the Spring, the land turned out to be a blue clay marsh completely covered with blackberry brambles and weeds, totally unsuited for use as a garden.

For the next 45 years, with hardly any money to work with, and only one person to do the work, it was transformed into the magnificent, world-renowned public Horticultural Park which exists today, an accomplishment nothing short of miraculous.

There are presently 6 acres of gardens and a 10 acre arboretum containing, among other things, 500 varieties of flowering crabapples under planted with daffodils.

For the past 10 years, because of the lack of funds; the entire 16 acres are still maintained by two unpaid volunteers. Up to the present time, the only source of funds has been from memberships and an admission charge for those who did not wish to take out a membership. An Endowment Fund is being built up, the income of which would be used to hire the help needed to maintain the grounds in the condition in which they should be kept. Contributions to the Endowment Fund would be most welcome since Gardenview will not be able to exist forever without an adequate Endowment Fund.

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