Hello Everyone,
It’s hard to believe that a 1970s landfill has been transformed into more than 20 beautifully themed gardens and floral areas, a large arboretum with hiking trails, a domed conservatory, and an educational center hosting hundreds of events. It’s also home to Kenefick Park where two massive Union Pacific locomotives are displayed. Yet, that is what greets more than 200,000 visitors annually at Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens.
The gardens began in 1982 after two years of preliminary study. It was the idea of Helena Street, former garden writer for the Omaha-World Herald. A fountain dedicated to her is found just outside the doors of the visitor center. Construction started in 1995 with such gardens as the Founders Garden, Herb Garden, Children’s Garden, and Spring Flowering Walk. Expansion then added a new garden a year for several years.
ARRIVAL AND PARKING GARDENS
Upon entering the gardens, vivid displays of perennials and colorful annuals await visitors. A feature is the Tony and Mary Seina Family Gazebo. Look for the chandelier designed by Loreli Sims. Inspired by the tradition of hanging a fern basket inside garden gazebos, it’s made of wrought iron and copper and weighs approximately 450 pounds.
DR. C. C. AND MABEL L. CROSS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION PARKING GARDEN
This garden contains a naturalistic landscape featuring native plants, shrubs, and prairie grasses amidst streams and ponds filled with aquatic plants. A highlight at the main pond’s edge is a bronze sculpture of two blue herons. Dawn Sentinels by San Antonio sculptor Bob Guelich demonstrates the nearly six-foot wing span of one of the herons as it prepares for flight.
A Lewis and Clark icon created by local artist, Kristin Pluhacek, is also found. It’s a painting on metal of an orange tree collected and described by the expedition. The tree, known as bow wood, was highly prized by Native Americans for making bows.
MARJORIE K. DAUGHERTY CONSERVATORY
The 17,500 square foot, glass conservatory, visible from I-80, is found to the left of the visitor and education center. One area resembles a Southern garden with moss-covered oak trees, blooming azaleas, and crepe myrtle. It has pine needle mulch, brickwork, and a courtyard feeling. In the fall, it’s the home of a mum show. From Thanksgiving until January 1, you’ll see a poinsettia show with Christmas lights. Then it goes dormant for the winter.
Another is a tropical display with ferns, towering palms, and banana and cocoa trees. Its Victoria water platters smell like pineapple when they bloom at night. You’ll also spot cacti, shrimp plants, plumeria, elephant ears, crotons, and chenille plants. Lots of beautiful orchids are viewed.. Its luxurious flowers and foliage are accompanied by such dramatic water features as a 10-foot waterfall. The best part is that flowers and foliage are present year round.
This is also the home of constantly changing gallery space for floral displays and the garden’s special events.
WOODLAND TRAIL
Trail hikers can meander through a century-old burr oak forest on a hilly trail that is two-thirds of a mile long. It wanders through ten acres of such foliage as American hop hornbeam, gooseberry, Kentucky coffee trees, and shagbark hickory. Unfortunately, poison ivy is also found in this area. There are benches and informational signs along the trail which terminates with views to the north and south of the Missouri River Valley.
FESTIVAL GARDEN
Visitors find this garden on the way to many of the others. Its large lawn area is the site of many outdoor garden festivals as well as the rental space for weddings and family celebrations. Perennials, annuals, and woody plants nestle at the base of the garden’s limestone walls. You’ll find such flowers as azaleas in the spring to a wide variety of mums that bloom in the fall. Look for Amur maple trees, Japanese anemone, poppy mallow, redbud, northern seat oats, American yellowwood, dogwood, weigela, and clove current.
Geese fountains, formerly part of a private estate, are at the festival garden pond’s edge. Each goose contains seven pieces cast of lead welded together.
VICTORIAN GARDEN
This is the most formal garden. Major features of the Hitchcock-Kountze Victorian Garden are architectural remnants from razed Omaha and Council Bluffs buildings. Two terra cotta ladies’ faces salvaged from one of the metropolitan area’s historical buildings and a central reflecting pool greet visitors upon entering this walled garden. The garden’s walls consist of brick with precast limestone caps. Ornamental iron is a dominant feature. At the garden’s north end, you’ll find a rough stone arbor centered over the main walkway.
The central garden is sunken to emphasize its formal beds. Its floral design changes seasonally. Plantings on the perimeter borders are casual consisting of perennial flowers, shrubs, vines, and annual accents. Incorporated throughout the area are pots, urns, and salvaged balustrades (railings).
The Storz Gazebo is the only remaining structure from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898. It sat at the Storz mansion for years.
ENGLISH PERENNIAL BORDER
Located between the Victorian garden and Garden in the Glen, the English Perennial Border opened in 2006. English gardens are known for masses of colorful plants and informal design. Their gardens are filled with as many plants as possible.
This garden has 300 different plant species and cultivars with an emphasis on thousands of individual sun and shade loving perennials. They’re organized to represent a typical English plant border.
TREE PEONY GARDEN
The Tree Peony Garden is located near the English perennial border and between the Victorian garden and Garden in the Glen. While other botanical gardens have peony collections, few have an entire garden devoted to them particularly with a focus on tree peonies. You’ll find this garden in bloom, because of its many varieties, from late April to early June. Take time to admire the blooms as you view its sculptures, sit on its benches, and wander its meandering paths.
It has an oriental feel to it because of its Chinese and Japanese tree peonies along with herbaceous peonies. The Chinese tree peony is China’s national flower. The emperor once grew it exclusively.
There are several differences between tree peonies and herbaceous peonies. Tree peonies have woody stems and do not die back to the ground like herbaceous peonies. They are larger and come in more colors than herbaceous peonies. Many varieties of tree peonies have fragrant flowers or flowers with contrasting colors.
GARDEN OF MEMORIES
This garden has three distinct sections representative of stages of life. It celebrates life’s milestones ranging from anniversaries and weddings to birthdays and the passing of loved ones. It’s located just south of the Song of the Lark Meadow along the spring flowering walk.
A highlight is the 40-foot-wide, half-circle reflecting pool. It is Lauritzen Garden’s largest water feature. You’ll also see Ken Ullberg’s bronze sculpture of a Canada goose beginning to raise its wings into flight and the John A. Gentleman Botanical Memorial.
SONG OF THE LARK MEADOW
This area is named after a short story by Nebraska author Willa Cather. It’s the home of beautiful wildflowers and other native Nebraska flowers and grasses. Visitors will see black-eyed Susans, plain coreopsis, prairie grasses, dwarf red plains coreopsis, lemon mint, red corn poppy, yarrow, and blanket flower.
Notice the bronze sculpture Startled depicting a buck startled by a passerby. Kent Ullberg, a renowned wildlife artist, created this piece.
GARDEN IN THE GLEN
The highlight of this glen is the 300-foot-long stream with pools and small waterfalls meandering through the existing stand of black locust. Visitors will find astilbe, bleeding heart, ferns, Japanese maple trees, and a collection of hostas. The hosta collection, bred in Omaha over the past 30 years, includes several different varieties.
Other terrestrial plants include sugar maple, Saskatoon serviceberry, beech, witch hazel, rhododendron, azalea, smooth sumac, and arborvitaes. The aquatic plants include bog arum, sedge, scouring rush, yellow flag iris, and frog fruit. Take time to sit on the benches and observe the visiting birds.
ARBORETUM AND OBERMAN BIRD SANCTUARY
This four-acre site contains seven regional plant communities: prairie, savannah, oak hickory forest, maple linden forest, farmstead windbreak, marsh, and flood plain river margin. It’s a great way to see Nebraska’s habitats.
Native trees and shrubs, as well as those plants which can adapt to the state’s harsh environment, are found here. Since Lauritzen Gardens is located near the Missouri River, the corridor is also a natural flyway for migratory birds. Located throughout the sanctuary are feeders and nest boxes providing an ideal opportunity for bird watching. In the spring, visitors also observe pollywogs, tadpoles, and frogs in the marsh area.
Two bronze sculptures draw attention. End of Day by Coloradoan artist Dee Clements, of the National Sculptors’ Guild, has captured native birds. Sunflowers, Snowbirds & Lizards is the work of Palm Desert, California sculptor Sharles. It depicts snowbirds preparing to dine on sunflower seeds.
LITHUANIAN SCULPTURE GARDEN
This garden is located off of the northeast corner of the Arboretum and Oberman Bird Sanctuary. It houses sculptures along a short wooded trail resembling the outdoor sculpture collections in Lithuania.
Look for the wooden shoe. It represents popular footwear of Lithuanian peasants, farmers, and fishermen from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. These were carved from such woods as birch or linden. It was carved onsite in 2017 by Aurimas Šimkus from Kurtuvėnai, Lithuania.
He also transformed onsite two Lithuanian folk tales into sculptures. One is about Eglė the Queen of Serpents. As a young girl, she married the serpent prince Žilvinas and raised her family under the sea. After visiting her family on land, her brothers did not want Eglė to return to the sea. They threatened their nieces and nephews to find out how to lure their father out of the sea. Eglė’s daughter revealed the secret, and her uncles killed her father. In grief, Eglė turned herself into a spruce tree and her children into oak, ash, birch, and quaking aspen trees.
RAILROAD GARDEN
The Railroad Garden is a winner for model train fans. They can observe seven model trains operating daily on 740 feet of track from May through October from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Mondays and Tuesdays during Garden Twilight (mid-May through mid-September), the trains run until 7:30 p.m. In April, they run on weekends. It is weather dependent. During the winter, the trains come inside the conservatory.
This garden was handcrafted by landscape designer Paul Busse and his team at Kentucky-based Applied Imagination. Structural elements consist of leaves, twigs, bark, berries, pine cones, gourds, and cinnamon sticks. All plantings, including shrubs, perennials, and trees, have been scaled to dwarf size to complement 26 recognizable Omaha structures in miniature such as the St. Cecilia Cathedral, Central High School, the Desert Dome at Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, and the Durham Museum. Pick up the brochure at the site which describes all the buildings.
Four train lines run through the existing garden area above the boardwalk. Three run through the lower addition past the Omaha structures. All train lines are G-scale models. The average train is seven cars. You’ll see a trolley, passenger train, steam freight train, and modern freight train.
ROBERT H. STORZ FAMILY ROSE GARDEN
This garden, which opened in September 1997, is one of Lauritzen Garden’s oldest. Nearly 2,000 rose plants of all varieties: hybrid, tea, grandiflora, floribunda, climbing, and shrub roses are found here. Visitors looking for blooms find two peak seasons. The first is around the end of May while the other starts around September 15 and continues through the frost. Since annuals and perennials are in this garden, it’s colorful throughout the season.
Check out the stainless steel sphere with a polished black granite base in the garden’s center. It is a sundial accurately providing central standard and daylight-saving time. Designed by Nebraska artist Milt Heinrich, it has two rings. The outer horizontal ring represents a projection of the earth’s equator. A thick tilted ring represents the path of the sun and planets.
A series of white trellises with climbing roses leads to a large arbor area. It’s home to weddings and other special events.
CHILDREN’S GARDEN
Education is vital to the Lauritzen Garden’s mission. It conducts a variety of programs and classes for youngsters, teenagers, and adults. The Children’s Garden is home to such activities as school tours, youth organization projects, and garden children’s programs. Camps are also offered.
Youngsters can have hands-on experiences at the Children’s Garden. Educational staff leads them in planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting of this area. On their visits, they’ll also receive a formal tour and presentation.
One highlight the kids particularly enjoy is Dina the dinosaur created by Ronald Weise, a welder from Dunlap, Iowa. He used scrap metal and old farm equipment parts. Dina has an oil-pan head and antique hay rake tine ribs. They’ll also see a vegetable patch, compost bin, sensory garden, and a pollinator bed.
DAVID AND PAMELA GROSS FAMILY SPRING FLOWERING WALK
Along this walk, visitors in the spring find thousands of flowering bulbs along with flowering trees and shrubs. Flowers begin blooming in March and last into May. It’s the home of a dozen different kinds of magnolias and many types of crab apples. Shrubs include redbuds, dogwoods, and serviceberries while bulbs include crocus, grape hyacinth, and daffodils.
SUNPU CASTLE GATE AND MT. FUJI REPLICA
The first icons of the future Japanese Garden were dedicated in October 2005. Both are located at the garden’s symbolic entrance. The real Mt. Fuji in Japan is approximately 400 times larger than Lauritzen Garden’s scaled replica.
Visitors pass through a kabunk gate through the Sunpu Castle Gate to reach the replica’s base. They’ll note on the replica Mt. Fuji ten volcanic stones. These represent the ten stations of Mt. Fuji that climbers pass to ascend to the shrine at the mountain’s peak. A granite shrine and red torii gate from Shizuoka, Omaha’s sister city, sit atop the replica.
A gift from Mr. Yoichiro Suzuku and Mr. Tsutomu Asada of Shizuoka of 24 carved stone lanterns, representing many different styles, line the path to the gate and Mt. Fuji. These lanterns range in size from 2.5 feet to 11 feet tall.
In 1995, Yuichi Kawai of Shiuoka, Japan made a personal financial commitment to creating a Japanese Garden for Lauritzen Gardens. He commissioned a Japanese garden design by Shinichiro Abe of ZEN Associates. The design was presented to the City of Omaha and the garden in 1996 in celebration of the Omaha Sister Cities Association 30th anniversary with Shizuoka, Japan.
The design includes a focus on a one-acre pond with streams and waterfalls that flow into the pond. It will also have a ceremonial Japanese teahouse and dry sand and stone garden. Due to climatic differences between Japan and Nebraska, it will not have Japanese plants. Instead, it will house representational ones.
Lauritzen Gardens’ Japanese Garden will be the largest between Chicago and Denver. Plans are for it to have a million bulbs. Once funding is achieved, it will take two years to build. A construction start date has not been set.
HERB GARDEN
This garden, one of the oldest, was developed in collaboration with the Omaha Herb Society. It consists of nine different plant beds under a prairie-style arbor providing anchorage for climbing plants. Each bed is themed: culinary, medicinal, natural dye, or ethnic culinary. Visitors find such herbs as a dozen kinds of thyme, garlic chives, chocolate mint, lemon balm, and lavender.
The brick pathways connecting the beds consist of engraved bricks given as memorials and tributes. Bricks can be purchased for $100 each which includes engraving and installation.
FOUNDERS GARDEN
Located in Lauritzen Garden’s rear, visitors find the first planted garden. It was established in 1993 in collaboration with the Shady Choice Hosta Society. People also brought plants from their own garden.
The Founders’ Garden straddles the roadway. The garden to the west is the original one. In the fall of 1999, the garden to the east side was added. It contains a restroom facility and drinking fountains. Its wrought iron gate was once the entrance to Lauritzen Gardens.
The garden represents nearly 50 varieties of hosta including one of the largest leaf varieties “Sum and Substance.” It also has more than 150 varieties of shade-loving perennials and ferns. These include paperbark maple, meadowsweet, Lenten rose, hydrangea, Jacob’s ladder, corkscrew willow, viburnum, astilbe, jack-in-the-pulpit, and many others. More than 10,000 spring bulbs are planted annually.
While in this garden, take time to notice Doe-icelli's Birth of Venus by local sculptor Jacqueline Eihausen. It is her representation of the 15th century painting Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.
CONSERVATION DISCOVERY GARDEN
Conservation is not forgotten at Lauritzen Gardens. The goal is to inspire a love of the land and foster a sustainable relationship between people and nature. This garden weaves the conservation program into Lauritzen Gardens’ landscape via diverse plant communities, water conservation features, native plants, and interpretative signage.
Visitors notice an oak woodland restoration planted with oaks grown from seed. This garden emphasizes trees and plants best suited to the local environment so less water is used. In a small greenhouse, plants are grown for research and restoration efforts. A nearby conservation laboratory, not open to the public, includes a seed bank for “at-risk” plants.
VISITOR AND EDUCATION CENTER
The 32,000 square foot Center includes a 5,000-square-foot floral display hall. Its education wing contains two classrooms and one of the region’s only horticultural libraries. Adults can take such classes on floral design, painting, practicing wellness, or learning about edible plants. Special programs and events are planned on a regular basis. Lectures range from floral design to photography. For more information, go to their web site.
Leashes at Lauritzen runs now through October 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Family dogs can be brought to the garden for a walk on garden trails. It’s an opportunity to learn about local dog-related nonprofits and enjoy treats/samples with your pup.
Patriot Perches Exhibit runs to July 14. See 51 handcrafted birdhouses by Richard Yost combining art, geography, horticulture, and birding. The purpose is to educate visitors about state birds and flowers as well as how to attract wildlife to their own garden space.
The Center houses a great hall, community room, café, and gift shop. The Conagra Café features sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts. No outside food or beverage can be brought onto the grounds. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily year round.
The 2,000 square-foot gift shop is ideal for those of all ages who enjoy gardening. It offers the tools and books you need to maintain your garden. In addition, it offers such items as home decor, cards, clothing, jewelry, nature related toys and games, lotions, soaps, and scents.
KENEFICK PARK
Across from Lauritzen Gardens, visitors find Kenefick Park. Besides documenting Union Pacific Railroad’s role in the development of Omaha and the west, it’s home to two massive locomotives. The park is named after Union Pacific Chairman and CEO John C. Kenefick.
Centennial 6900 is the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built. It was designed to carry heavier loads farther, faster, and with less maintenance. It had its first run in May 1969 bound for Ogden, Utah and the 100th anniversary celebration of the Golden Spike. It retired after logging nearly two million operating miles.
Big Boy No. 4023 is the world’s largest steam locomotive. It was built in 1944 as one of 25 of its type. It purpose was to support the nation in World War II. Built for speed, the coal-burning, stoker-fired Big Boys guaranteed Union Pacific’s status as the nation’s fastest railroad. The industry and press called them the most powerful, heaviest, and longest steam engines ever built. Her last run was July 20, 1959. She retired in 1962 after logging 829,295 miles.
Trams touring the 100-acres of gardens from May through October make a stop at this park. Two trams run on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the half hour. The weekend schedule is until the Gardens close every half hour. The narrated ride costs $5 per person and lasts 55 minutes. It stops at the Rose and Conservation Discovery Gardens. On days with high pedestrian traffic, it may not run for the safety of Lauritzen Garden’s guests.
DETAILS
Kenefick Park is open to the public with no admission charged. Free parking is available at Lauritzen Gardens. It is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. From mid-May through mid-September, it is open until 8:00 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays. For more details, call (402) 346-4002.
You will find Lauritzen Gardens at 100 Bancroft Street in Omaha. Phone (402) 346-4002 for more information. Hours are the same as Kenefick Park. Admission is $10 plus tax for adults, $5 plus tax for children ages 6 to 12, and free for those younger than age six.
It’s hard to believe that a 1970s landfill has been transformed into more than 20 beautifully themed gardens and floral areas, a large arboretum with hiking trails, a domed conservatory, and an educational center hosting hundreds of events. It’s also home to Kenefick Park where two massive Union Pacific locomotives are displayed. Yet, that is what greets more than 200,000 visitors annually at Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens.
The gardens began in 1982 after two years of preliminary study. It was the idea of Helena Street, former garden writer for the Omaha-World Herald. A fountain dedicated to her is found just outside the doors of the visitor center. Construction started in 1995 with such gardens as the Founders Garden, Herb Garden, Children’s Garden, and Spring Flowering Walk. Expansion then added a new garden a year for several years.
ARRIVAL AND PARKING GARDENS
Upon entering the gardens, vivid displays of perennials and colorful annuals await visitors. A feature is the Tony and Mary Seina Family Gazebo. Look for the chandelier designed by Loreli Sims. Inspired by the tradition of hanging a fern basket inside garden gazebos, it’s made of wrought iron and copper and weighs approximately 450 pounds.
DR. C. C. AND MABEL L. CROSS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION PARKING GARDEN
This garden contains a naturalistic landscape featuring native plants, shrubs, and prairie grasses amidst streams and ponds filled with aquatic plants. A highlight at the main pond’s edge is a bronze sculpture of two blue herons. Dawn Sentinels by San Antonio sculptor Bob Guelich demonstrates the nearly six-foot wing span of one of the herons as it prepares for flight.
A Lewis and Clark icon created by local artist, Kristin Pluhacek, is also found. It’s a painting on metal of an orange tree collected and described by the expedition. The tree, known as bow wood, was highly prized by Native Americans for making bows.
MARJORIE K. DAUGHERTY CONSERVATORY
The 17,500 square foot, glass conservatory, visible from I-80, is found to the left of the visitor and education center. One area resembles a Southern garden with moss-covered oak trees, blooming azaleas, and crepe myrtle. It has pine needle mulch, brickwork, and a courtyard feeling. In the fall, it’s the home of a mum show. From Thanksgiving until January 1, you’ll see a poinsettia show with Christmas lights. Then it goes dormant for the winter.
Another is a tropical display with ferns, towering palms, and banana and cocoa trees. Its Victoria water platters smell like pineapple when they bloom at night. You’ll also spot cacti, shrimp plants, plumeria, elephant ears, crotons, and chenille plants. Lots of beautiful orchids are viewed.. Its luxurious flowers and foliage are accompanied by such dramatic water features as a 10-foot waterfall. The best part is that flowers and foliage are present year round.
This is also the home of constantly changing gallery space for floral displays and the garden’s special events.
WOODLAND TRAIL
Trail hikers can meander through a century-old burr oak forest on a hilly trail that is two-thirds of a mile long. It wanders through ten acres of such foliage as American hop hornbeam, gooseberry, Kentucky coffee trees, and shagbark hickory. Unfortunately, poison ivy is also found in this area. There are benches and informational signs along the trail which terminates with views to the north and south of the Missouri River Valley.
FESTIVAL GARDEN
Visitors find this garden on the way to many of the others. Its large lawn area is the site of many outdoor garden festivals as well as the rental space for weddings and family celebrations. Perennials, annuals, and woody plants nestle at the base of the garden’s limestone walls. You’ll find such flowers as azaleas in the spring to a wide variety of mums that bloom in the fall. Look for Amur maple trees, Japanese anemone, poppy mallow, redbud, northern seat oats, American yellowwood, dogwood, weigela, and clove current.
Geese fountains, formerly part of a private estate, are at the festival garden pond’s edge. Each goose contains seven pieces cast of lead welded together.
VICTORIAN GARDEN
This is the most formal garden. Major features of the Hitchcock-Kountze Victorian Garden are architectural remnants from razed Omaha and Council Bluffs buildings. Two terra cotta ladies’ faces salvaged from one of the metropolitan area’s historical buildings and a central reflecting pool greet visitors upon entering this walled garden. The garden’s walls consist of brick with precast limestone caps. Ornamental iron is a dominant feature. At the garden’s north end, you’ll find a rough stone arbor centered over the main walkway.
The central garden is sunken to emphasize its formal beds. Its floral design changes seasonally. Plantings on the perimeter borders are casual consisting of perennial flowers, shrubs, vines, and annual accents. Incorporated throughout the area are pots, urns, and salvaged balustrades (railings).
The Storz Gazebo is the only remaining structure from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898. It sat at the Storz mansion for years.
ENGLISH PERENNIAL BORDER
Located between the Victorian garden and Garden in the Glen, the English Perennial Border opened in 2006. English gardens are known for masses of colorful plants and informal design. Their gardens are filled with as many plants as possible.
This garden has 300 different plant species and cultivars with an emphasis on thousands of individual sun and shade loving perennials. They’re organized to represent a typical English plant border.
TREE PEONY GARDEN
The Tree Peony Garden is located near the English perennial border and between the Victorian garden and Garden in the Glen. While other botanical gardens have peony collections, few have an entire garden devoted to them particularly with a focus on tree peonies. You’ll find this garden in bloom, because of its many varieties, from late April to early June. Take time to admire the blooms as you view its sculptures, sit on its benches, and wander its meandering paths.
It has an oriental feel to it because of its Chinese and Japanese tree peonies along with herbaceous peonies. The Chinese tree peony is China’s national flower. The emperor once grew it exclusively.
There are several differences between tree peonies and herbaceous peonies. Tree peonies have woody stems and do not die back to the ground like herbaceous peonies. They are larger and come in more colors than herbaceous peonies. Many varieties of tree peonies have fragrant flowers or flowers with contrasting colors.
GARDEN OF MEMORIES
This garden has three distinct sections representative of stages of life. It celebrates life’s milestones ranging from anniversaries and weddings to birthdays and the passing of loved ones. It’s located just south of the Song of the Lark Meadow along the spring flowering walk.
A highlight is the 40-foot-wide, half-circle reflecting pool. It is Lauritzen Garden’s largest water feature. You’ll also see Ken Ullberg’s bronze sculpture of a Canada goose beginning to raise its wings into flight and the John A. Gentleman Botanical Memorial.
SONG OF THE LARK MEADOW
This area is named after a short story by Nebraska author Willa Cather. It’s the home of beautiful wildflowers and other native Nebraska flowers and grasses. Visitors will see black-eyed Susans, plain coreopsis, prairie grasses, dwarf red plains coreopsis, lemon mint, red corn poppy, yarrow, and blanket flower.
Notice the bronze sculpture Startled depicting a buck startled by a passerby. Kent Ullberg, a renowned wildlife artist, created this piece.
GARDEN IN THE GLEN
The highlight of this glen is the 300-foot-long stream with pools and small waterfalls meandering through the existing stand of black locust. Visitors will find astilbe, bleeding heart, ferns, Japanese maple trees, and a collection of hostas. The hosta collection, bred in Omaha over the past 30 years, includes several different varieties.
Other terrestrial plants include sugar maple, Saskatoon serviceberry, beech, witch hazel, rhododendron, azalea, smooth sumac, and arborvitaes. The aquatic plants include bog arum, sedge, scouring rush, yellow flag iris, and frog fruit. Take time to sit on the benches and observe the visiting birds.
ARBORETUM AND OBERMAN BIRD SANCTUARY
This four-acre site contains seven regional plant communities: prairie, savannah, oak hickory forest, maple linden forest, farmstead windbreak, marsh, and flood plain river margin. It’s a great way to see Nebraska’s habitats.
Native trees and shrubs, as well as those plants which can adapt to the state’s harsh environment, are found here. Since Lauritzen Gardens is located near the Missouri River, the corridor is also a natural flyway for migratory birds. Located throughout the sanctuary are feeders and nest boxes providing an ideal opportunity for bird watching. In the spring, visitors also observe pollywogs, tadpoles, and frogs in the marsh area.
Two bronze sculptures draw attention. End of Day by Coloradoan artist Dee Clements, of the National Sculptors’ Guild, has captured native birds. Sunflowers, Snowbirds & Lizards is the work of Palm Desert, California sculptor Sharles. It depicts snowbirds preparing to dine on sunflower seeds.
LITHUANIAN SCULPTURE GARDEN
This garden is located off of the northeast corner of the Arboretum and Oberman Bird Sanctuary. It houses sculptures along a short wooded trail resembling the outdoor sculpture collections in Lithuania.
Look for the wooden shoe. It represents popular footwear of Lithuanian peasants, farmers, and fishermen from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century. These were carved from such woods as birch or linden. It was carved onsite in 2017 by Aurimas Šimkus from Kurtuvėnai, Lithuania.
He also transformed onsite two Lithuanian folk tales into sculptures. One is about Eglė the Queen of Serpents. As a young girl, she married the serpent prince Žilvinas and raised her family under the sea. After visiting her family on land, her brothers did not want Eglė to return to the sea. They threatened their nieces and nephews to find out how to lure their father out of the sea. Eglė’s daughter revealed the secret, and her uncles killed her father. In grief, Eglė turned herself into a spruce tree and her children into oak, ash, birch, and quaking aspen trees.
RAILROAD GARDEN
The Railroad Garden is a winner for model train fans. They can observe seven model trains operating daily on 740 feet of track from May through October from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Mondays and Tuesdays during Garden Twilight (mid-May through mid-September), the trains run until 7:30 p.m. In April, they run on weekends. It is weather dependent. During the winter, the trains come inside the conservatory.
This garden was handcrafted by landscape designer Paul Busse and his team at Kentucky-based Applied Imagination. Structural elements consist of leaves, twigs, bark, berries, pine cones, gourds, and cinnamon sticks. All plantings, including shrubs, perennials, and trees, have been scaled to dwarf size to complement 26 recognizable Omaha structures in miniature such as the St. Cecilia Cathedral, Central High School, the Desert Dome at Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, and the Durham Museum. Pick up the brochure at the site which describes all the buildings.
Four train lines run through the existing garden area above the boardwalk. Three run through the lower addition past the Omaha structures. All train lines are G-scale models. The average train is seven cars. You’ll see a trolley, passenger train, steam freight train, and modern freight train.
ROBERT H. STORZ FAMILY ROSE GARDEN
This garden, which opened in September 1997, is one of Lauritzen Garden’s oldest. Nearly 2,000 rose plants of all varieties: hybrid, tea, grandiflora, floribunda, climbing, and shrub roses are found here. Visitors looking for blooms find two peak seasons. The first is around the end of May while the other starts around September 15 and continues through the frost. Since annuals and perennials are in this garden, it’s colorful throughout the season.
Check out the stainless steel sphere with a polished black granite base in the garden’s center. It is a sundial accurately providing central standard and daylight-saving time. Designed by Nebraska artist Milt Heinrich, it has two rings. The outer horizontal ring represents a projection of the earth’s equator. A thick tilted ring represents the path of the sun and planets.
A series of white trellises with climbing roses leads to a large arbor area. It’s home to weddings and other special events.
CHILDREN’S GARDEN
Education is vital to the Lauritzen Garden’s mission. It conducts a variety of programs and classes for youngsters, teenagers, and adults. The Children’s Garden is home to such activities as school tours, youth organization projects, and garden children’s programs. Camps are also offered.
Youngsters can have hands-on experiences at the Children’s Garden. Educational staff leads them in planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting of this area. On their visits, they’ll also receive a formal tour and presentation.
One highlight the kids particularly enjoy is Dina the dinosaur created by Ronald Weise, a welder from Dunlap, Iowa. He used scrap metal and old farm equipment parts. Dina has an oil-pan head and antique hay rake tine ribs. They’ll also see a vegetable patch, compost bin, sensory garden, and a pollinator bed.
DAVID AND PAMELA GROSS FAMILY SPRING FLOWERING WALK
Along this walk, visitors in the spring find thousands of flowering bulbs along with flowering trees and shrubs. Flowers begin blooming in March and last into May. It’s the home of a dozen different kinds of magnolias and many types of crab apples. Shrubs include redbuds, dogwoods, and serviceberries while bulbs include crocus, grape hyacinth, and daffodils.
SUNPU CASTLE GATE AND MT. FUJI REPLICA
The first icons of the future Japanese Garden were dedicated in October 2005. Both are located at the garden’s symbolic entrance. The real Mt. Fuji in Japan is approximately 400 times larger than Lauritzen Garden’s scaled replica.
Visitors pass through a kabunk gate through the Sunpu Castle Gate to reach the replica’s base. They’ll note on the replica Mt. Fuji ten volcanic stones. These represent the ten stations of Mt. Fuji that climbers pass to ascend to the shrine at the mountain’s peak. A granite shrine and red torii gate from Shizuoka, Omaha’s sister city, sit atop the replica.
A gift from Mr. Yoichiro Suzuku and Mr. Tsutomu Asada of Shizuoka of 24 carved stone lanterns, representing many different styles, line the path to the gate and Mt. Fuji. These lanterns range in size from 2.5 feet to 11 feet tall.
In 1995, Yuichi Kawai of Shiuoka, Japan made a personal financial commitment to creating a Japanese Garden for Lauritzen Gardens. He commissioned a Japanese garden design by Shinichiro Abe of ZEN Associates. The design was presented to the City of Omaha and the garden in 1996 in celebration of the Omaha Sister Cities Association 30th anniversary with Shizuoka, Japan.
The design includes a focus on a one-acre pond with streams and waterfalls that flow into the pond. It will also have a ceremonial Japanese teahouse and dry sand and stone garden. Due to climatic differences between Japan and Nebraska, it will not have Japanese plants. Instead, it will house representational ones.
Lauritzen Gardens’ Japanese Garden will be the largest between Chicago and Denver. Plans are for it to have a million bulbs. Once funding is achieved, it will take two years to build. A construction start date has not been set.
HERB GARDEN
This garden, one of the oldest, was developed in collaboration with the Omaha Herb Society. It consists of nine different plant beds under a prairie-style arbor providing anchorage for climbing plants. Each bed is themed: culinary, medicinal, natural dye, or ethnic culinary. Visitors find such herbs as a dozen kinds of thyme, garlic chives, chocolate mint, lemon balm, and lavender.
The brick pathways connecting the beds consist of engraved bricks given as memorials and tributes. Bricks can be purchased for $100 each which includes engraving and installation.
FOUNDERS GARDEN
Located in Lauritzen Garden’s rear, visitors find the first planted garden. It was established in 1993 in collaboration with the Shady Choice Hosta Society. People also brought plants from their own garden.
The Founders’ Garden straddles the roadway. The garden to the west is the original one. In the fall of 1999, the garden to the east side was added. It contains a restroom facility and drinking fountains. Its wrought iron gate was once the entrance to Lauritzen Gardens.
The garden represents nearly 50 varieties of hosta including one of the largest leaf varieties “Sum and Substance.” It also has more than 150 varieties of shade-loving perennials and ferns. These include paperbark maple, meadowsweet, Lenten rose, hydrangea, Jacob’s ladder, corkscrew willow, viburnum, astilbe, jack-in-the-pulpit, and many others. More than 10,000 spring bulbs are planted annually.
While in this garden, take time to notice Doe-icelli's Birth of Venus by local sculptor Jacqueline Eihausen. It is her representation of the 15th century painting Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.
CONSERVATION DISCOVERY GARDEN
Conservation is not forgotten at Lauritzen Gardens. The goal is to inspire a love of the land and foster a sustainable relationship between people and nature. This garden weaves the conservation program into Lauritzen Gardens’ landscape via diverse plant communities, water conservation features, native plants, and interpretative signage.
Visitors notice an oak woodland restoration planted with oaks grown from seed. This garden emphasizes trees and plants best suited to the local environment so less water is used. In a small greenhouse, plants are grown for research and restoration efforts. A nearby conservation laboratory, not open to the public, includes a seed bank for “at-risk” plants.
VISITOR AND EDUCATION CENTER
The 32,000 square foot Center includes a 5,000-square-foot floral display hall. Its education wing contains two classrooms and one of the region’s only horticultural libraries. Adults can take such classes on floral design, painting, practicing wellness, or learning about edible plants. Special programs and events are planned on a regular basis. Lectures range from floral design to photography. For more information, go to their web site.
Leashes at Lauritzen runs now through October 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Family dogs can be brought to the garden for a walk on garden trails. It’s an opportunity to learn about local dog-related nonprofits and enjoy treats/samples with your pup.
Patriot Perches Exhibit runs to July 14. See 51 handcrafted birdhouses by Richard Yost combining art, geography, horticulture, and birding. The purpose is to educate visitors about state birds and flowers as well as how to attract wildlife to their own garden space.
The Center houses a great hall, community room, café, and gift shop. The Conagra Café features sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts. No outside food or beverage can be brought onto the grounds. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. daily year round.
The 2,000 square-foot gift shop is ideal for those of all ages who enjoy gardening. It offers the tools and books you need to maintain your garden. In addition, it offers such items as home decor, cards, clothing, jewelry, nature related toys and games, lotions, soaps, and scents.
KENEFICK PARK
Across from Lauritzen Gardens, visitors find Kenefick Park. Besides documenting Union Pacific Railroad’s role in the development of Omaha and the west, it’s home to two massive locomotives. The park is named after Union Pacific Chairman and CEO John C. Kenefick.
Centennial 6900 is the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built. It was designed to carry heavier loads farther, faster, and with less maintenance. It had its first run in May 1969 bound for Ogden, Utah and the 100th anniversary celebration of the Golden Spike. It retired after logging nearly two million operating miles.
Big Boy No. 4023 is the world’s largest steam locomotive. It was built in 1944 as one of 25 of its type. It purpose was to support the nation in World War II. Built for speed, the coal-burning, stoker-fired Big Boys guaranteed Union Pacific’s status as the nation’s fastest railroad. The industry and press called them the most powerful, heaviest, and longest steam engines ever built. Her last run was July 20, 1959. She retired in 1962 after logging 829,295 miles.
Trams touring the 100-acres of gardens from May through October make a stop at this park. Two trams run on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the half hour. The weekend schedule is until the Gardens close every half hour. The narrated ride costs $5 per person and lasts 55 minutes. It stops at the Rose and Conservation Discovery Gardens. On days with high pedestrian traffic, it may not run for the safety of Lauritzen Garden’s guests.
DETAILS
Kenefick Park is open to the public with no admission charged. Free parking is available at Lauritzen Gardens. It is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. From mid-May through mid-September, it is open until 8:00 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays. For more details, call (402) 346-4002.
You will find Lauritzen Gardens at 100 Bancroft Street in Omaha. Phone (402) 346-4002 for more information. Hours are the same as Kenefick Park. Admission is $10 plus tax for adults, $5 plus tax for children ages 6 to 12, and free for those younger than age six.
Entrance to Gardens Through Visitor and Education Center
Conservatory at Lauritzen Gardens
Temperate Area of Conservatory
Wonderful Cat Statue in Temperate Area of Conservatory
Tropical Area of Conservatory
Plumeria in Tropical Area of Conservatory
Entrance to Victorian Gardens
Victorian Garden's Interior
Strorz Gazebo, Only Remaining Structure from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898
Entrance to Lithuanian Garden
Eglė, Queen of the Serpents by Aurimas Šimkus from Kurtuvėnai, Lithuania
Lithuanian Shoe Sculpture by Aurimas Šimkus
Railroad Garden Bridge
Central High School, Omaha's Oldest Active High School
Color Burst - One of the Beautiful Borders
Border Near the Japanese Garden
Japanese Garden with Its Two Gates
Entrance to the Rose Garden
Enjoying the Many Species of the Rose Garden
Sundial in the Rose Garden
Incredible Color Combination Found in the Rose Garden
Another Interesting Flower from the Rose Garden
Founders Garden With the Original Gate
Big Boy 4023, World's Largest Steam Engine - Kenefick Park
Centennial 6900 - Largest and Most Powerful Diesel-Electric Locomotive - Kenefick Park
Overlooking Lauritzen Gardens from Kenefick Park