A Spring Visit to Beautiful Smith Gardens, Oakwood, Ohio

Are you getting out for walks now that the temps are warming up? We’ve had a lot of rainy days but on the pretty ones, we love going for long walks. I love this time of year when the trees and flowers are all blooming. I’m sort of experiencing two springs since the daffodils and a lot of the flowering trees had already bloomed before I left Georgia to head to Ohio. When I arrived, the daffodils weren’t blooming, so I got to enjoy spring all over again.

For a recent excursion, my daughter-in-law packed up a picnic lunch and we headed out on this gorgeous day for nearby Smith Gardens.

 

This is the entrance to the garden. I’ve been to Smith Gardens once before, but never in the spring. I had no idea of the treat that awaited!

 

I couldn’t stand back and capture it due to all the cars parked along the road, but running down both sides of the entrance to Smith Gardens was the most beautiful bed of tulips! There were stunning!

 

Peeping in through the gate…so beautiful!

 

The view from the other end looking back toward the gate…

 

Smith Gardens isn’t a huge garden but it is one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve ever visited. It’s so beautifully designed, the layout is just perfect!

 

There’s a wonderful pond with fish and the children we saw visiting loved watching the fish.

 

We found a nice shady spot under the trees to spread out a blanket and enjoyed our picnic in these picturesque surroundings. There were very few people in the park the day we visited so social distancing wasn’t a problem.

 

This is the view looking back toward the beautiful alley and entrance to Smith Gardens.

 

Everywhere you looked, there was something in bloom. Smith Gardens is truly a paradise this time of year!

 

 

I think the tree with the purple blossoms is a Redbud tree. They are usually the first trees to bloom in Georgia. They are quite hardy so they are common trees in the grassy dividers along highways.

 

A lot of the beds were edged with Grape Hyacinths. Love those so much! The white plant with the bell-shaped blossoms behind the Grape Hyacinths is Lily of the Valley. Correction…these may be snowdrops.

 

This is the view looking across the garden from the little house on the property.

 

Hope you enjoyed this little trip to Smith Gardens. I’m looking forward to visiting it again later in the spring to see what else comes into bloom.

 

See you tomorrow for Tablescape Thursday!

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Comments

  1. What a gorgeous little park! And how wonderful that it’s within walking distance. Was it someone’s house once? It looks like some of the estates here that have donated their land to the city. Thanks so much for sharing it with us – it’s really beautiful!

    Happy Second Spring!

    • I wondered about that, too. On the website they just call it the “Garden House.” It looked like a place they would possible hold a special event or maybe gardening classes/events. Per the website, it’s 46 years old now. I was wondering if it was someone’s home and garden (Smith’s) and perhaps it was left to the city of Oakwood.
      I just Googled to see who owned it and found this info online:
      “In the 1930s, property owners Carlton and Jeanette Smith planted the gardens on less than an acre of land. Today it is a secluded spot to admire plants and flowers and listen to water flowing through a rocky stream.”

  2. Snowflake281 says

    Absolutely breathtaking Susan! What a treat to see such beauty. I hope it’s OK to use one of those photos as my desktop background! If I’m ever in that neck of the woods in Ohio, I will most definitely have to visit Smith Garden. Thanks so much for bringing this serene setting to light.

    • Definitely! If you would like the original photo that’s much bigger and hasn’t been compressed, email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the original picture as it came straight from the camera. Those usually work much better for a desktop background. Just let me know which photo or photos you would like and I’ll email those over.

      • Thank you for taking us along. This is one stunning garden and must have been a fabulous treat to see in person!! Would love to know how many tulips were planted there because it was amazing to see!! Also, want to mention all the pop up ads make it very hard to enjoy your posts especially this one as I had to keep reloading the post. I’m not sure if it is on my end or yours but recently I am finding it very hard to close the ad Windows. Love & look forward to your posts and understand necessity for ads, etc. just not sure what’s happening!!

        • I know, I would love to know how many they’ve planted. Wish we could grow them in GA. Unfortunately, we just get foliage the second year and no blooms. There’s something wrong with that ad and my Ad Manager is trying to troubleshoot it. He emailed today to say they are working on it. Hopefully, they will get it figured out soon.

  3. Every vista is gorgeous…spring bulbs look so fabulous against the early spring green grass! Super photos, thanks for sharing.

  4. Such a perfect garden. Glad you and your family are enjoying the northern spring. You’ll have to plan your trip next year, so you can double your springtime.

    • Def too cold here for this girl, but my son and dil love it! I keep comparing the temps here to the temps in Georgia and it’s always about 10 degrees hotter there.I can’t wait until it gets really warm here and stays warm. I do love the lilacs, though!

  5. How gorgeous, Susan! I am missing OH so much since my niece moved across the country. Our southern spring is so gorgeous, and it’s great you get to experience it unfolding again up north. Don’t you love that green winter grass in OH? I wish I could have something here that lush. Is OH opening up slowly? Thank goodness, Memphis is being very cautious. So many of these southern governors seem to have lost their minds! LOL! Enjoy your wonderful quarantine with your family. I know you have loved every minute with your grands. Thanks for sharing such beauty in this post!

    • It is beautiful! The grass is really pretty in the garden. I meant to include a photo of the grass in the garden to ask what type it is. It’s different from what I normally see around here…a lot of people use fescue here, but it didn’t look like fescue. I’ll have to include the closeup photo I took of the grass in a future post and hopefully, someone will be able to identify it.

  6. Cyndi Raines says

    Oh my! What a treat and so close to your family’s home! Just lovely! The picture with the house looks like someplace from “enchanted land”, out of a wonderful story book. So wonderful for a family picnic. Wonder what it looks like in the fall…you will have to let us know if you come back up this fall. Happy “northern” Spring!

  7. I live only 16 miles from this park and didn’t know it existed We will have to go check it out Thank you

  8. Spring is my favorite time of the year. I wonder if the couple that lived in that home so long ago were the masterminds of the garden lay-out as it sits today.
    What a beautiful morning and lunch you had. Plus not nearly as crowded as Keukenhof!

  9. Michele M. says

    Oh how lovely, Susan – so hard to believe you are only a few hours from me and I have never even heard of this beautiful garden! Did you just recently go? Which day? Yesterday was nice but today windy, cold, grey and rainy AGAIN. This weather – yuck! Hate not being able to be outside.

    I would love to take a drive to somewhere pretty like that just to safely live a little bit. I hate to think this rain took down those pretty tulips. : – ( They come and go so quickly. I can’t even have them because of the deer problem here. They love them but hate daffodils. Mine are just now spent.

    • Yup, we visited just a few days ago on one of the rare warm, non-rainy days. Not sure how it looks today after the rain we’ve had. When we get another non-rainy day, check it out. I bet it will still be pretty even if a few things are no longer blooming. If this garden is like so many others I’ve visited, I’m sure they have planted things that bloom at different times so there’s always something beautiful to see.

  10. Beautiful. Just the breath of fresh air we all need at this time. Thanks.

  11. Thank you for posting this. I live only 30 minutes away from here and never knew it existed! I’ll have to check it out.

  12. Stunning!! You are fortunate the park is open!! EnJOY to the max!! franki

    • I’m so glad they didn’t shut it down. I’ll be glad when life returns to normal and you can talk to someone without standing so far away.

  13. Kathy Gray says

    You lucky dog- you got to see 2 springs this year! Here in northern Indiana we haven’t seen 1/4 of a spring! Snow, rain, rain, snow, hungry deer ate all my tulips….sigh. I agree with Bette Midler: “I feel like I’m 16 again. The gas is a dollar a gallon and I’m grounded”. So thanks for the photos. It’s a storybook kind of place. I wonder if the Smiths were related to P. Allen Smith. I’ve gazed in wonder at his beautiful pictures as well. Thanks for sharing.

    • Oooh, no! They must have been really hungry. Sorry they got your tulips, Kathy. I remember one year I planted pansies (I think it was pansies) and something mowed them down right to the ground. It may have been deer since we have them in our area…or it could have been a bunny.

      I love P. Allen Smith, heard/saw him once in person during a home/garden tour in Macon, Georgia. He was super nice and funny…good sense of humor.
      Do you have any of his books? They are great! I especially love the one where he described moving his cottage home and how he renovated it and the surrounding garden. You can see the three I have by him here: https://betweennapsontheporch.net/?s=p.+Allen+smith

  14. Beautiful! I like the smaller gardens rather than the huge ones, the intimacy is charming. I believe the white flowers are snowdrops, definitely not lily of the valley. How wonderful that you were able to experience spring flowers twice this year!

  15. Beautiful!! I was lucky enough to go to Hobbiton in New Zealand last year and this kind of reminds of being there. Thank you for bringing back a lovely memory! I love visiting gardens even through others eyes.

  16. If you and your family enjoyed this garden, may I suggest another one? It’s called Schoepfle garden in Lorain county, Ohio. 70 acres! It’s stunning in the spring, especially the rhododendrons. They also have a wonderful whimsical children’s garden and a carousel as well as a gift shop. It’s part of the Lorain County Metroparks. Please post photos if you go there. Love your blog too.

    • Thanks for that suggestion, Bev! I’ll look to see how close it is. It would be fun to visit! I wonder when the rhodendrons bloom here…need to go when that’s happening!
      I def will, thanks again for telling me about it!

    • Just checked and unfortunatley, Lorain is 3 to 3-1/2 hours away. Wish it were closer.

  17. Dorinda Selke says

    Susan-this garden is breathtaking! Thoroughly enjoyed every picture since not even our leaves are out yet LOL – Dorinda

  18. Brenda Lawrence says

    Wow, what a beautiful garden!!! I love all the beautiful spring color. I bet it was fun picnicking in there. Just stunning! Hugs, Brenda

  19. Thanks, Susan, for the garden tour! So very delightful! All those tulips outside the gate are a treat as well. You wouldn’t even need to get out of a car if you wanted a quick drive by look.

  20. Susan Craft Jones says

    Hi Susan, I am another Susan her in Dayton, OH area. Loved the pictures of Smith Gardens and wondered if you have been to Cox Arboretum? It is located near the Dayton Mall, just a bit south of Oakwood. Might want to check it out. Enjoy your second spring!

    • I can’t remember if we’ve been there now, we’ve visited so many of the parks and places around this area. I’ll definitely mention it to my son. Thanks, Susan!

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