Native Butterfly Habitat

Our butterfly garden is a tranquil spot to enjoy some time outside and get ideas on how to plant your own at home. It is our desire to demonstrate how easily a family, school, or office can attract and support the complete life cycle of Dallas' native butterflies. Host plants provide the proper source of nutrition for caterpillars and attract egg-laying adult female butterflies. Nectar-rich plants are a food source for adult butterflies.

Circular Lawn, Callier Garden, & Leftwich Pond

This area was designed by Joe Lambert, one of Dallas’ most prominent landscape architects in the 1950s and 1960s. Based upon a series of overlaying arcs and circles, these gardens feature perennial plantings, numerous flowering shrubs and small trees, and fountains. The Leftwich Pond contains an aquatic plant collection maintained by the North Texas Water Garden Society.

Faerie Blanton Kilgore Heirloom Rose Garden

Enclosed by a Holly and Boxwood hedge, this intimate garden has plantings of antique and fragrant roses along with a delightful selection of perennials. This garden features many of our favorite, old-fashioned plants that are dependable sources of color. Make sure to explore this fragrant garden with your nose!

Grand Allee du Meadows

The Grand Allee was funded and named by the Meadows Foundation and completed in 1988. Our most formal garden, the Grand Allee is lined by Savannah hollies and features a seasonal fan of color behind the show fountain. Butterfly host and nectar plants are interspersed throughout.

Master Gardeners' Garden

If you have ever wondered how to create an attractive landscape while respecting the environment, then this garden is for you. The Master Gardeners’ Garden is a landscape demonstration garden focusing on native and well adapted plants. It follows principles from the Earth-Kind® and WaterWise programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The garden was created and is maintained by volunteers from the Dallas County Master Gardener Association, a non-profit, educational and volunteer service organization affiliated with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, an agency of Texas A&M University. The Master Gardeners are proud to have created an organic garden that displays sustainable gardening practices in this unique urban setting. A list of plants featured in the Master Gardeners’ Garden is available here.

Scent Garden (Marianne Scruggs Herb Garden)

Patterned after a London herb garden, this garden was first built in 1958 as a project of the Marianne Scruggs Garden Club and was the first garden on the grounds. The Scent Garden was originally designed to be enjoyed by people with impaired vision. In 2003, the garden was renovated using City of Dallas bond funds. Today, we encourage you to explore this area with all your senses.

Shakespeare Garden

The Shakespeare Garden showcases flora mentioned in the Bard's many works. Enjoy the antique sundial, a bas-relief panel of Shakespeare himself, and the winding paths of herbs, perennials and small trees. Look for the fig trees and their telltale leaves. "Of all flowers, methinks a rose is best."