Enjoy the splendor of spring this week on a springtime garden walk with your family. Lynchburg's public gardens offer a refreshing way to turn a family walk into a journey to remember. Bring your camera for a family photo shoot at one of these springtime treasures.
The Awareness Garden is located at 1700 Old Langhorne Road at the Ed Page Entrance to the Blackwater Creek Bikeway. This garden, honoring families, friends and caregivers whose lives have been touched by cancer, includes a memorial brick patio, a lovely fountain, and a variety of flowers and flowering trees and shrubs that provide splashes of color from early spring through late fall.
Old City Cemetery is located at 401 Taylor Street, just off 5th Street. The 26-acre public cemetery features hundreds of plantings, including a butterfly garden and lotus pond, shrub garden and a wonderful collection of antique heritage roses. Near the chapel, there's an old-fashioned swing that's perfect for family photos. Each spring, Old City Cemetery hosts the Antique Rose Festival. Peak bloom for the antique roses is the last two weeks of May.
The Dorothy Crandall Bliss Botanic Garden is a hidden gem, located on the campus of Randolph College. The plants in the hillside garden are labeled. There's a peaceful pond and benches as well as a winding path through the gardens. Park on Rivermont Avenue and walk down Norfolk Avenue and you'll see the garden gates.
The Anne Spencer House and Garden is located at 1313 Pierce Street. Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer lived in the house with her husband. Edenkraal, the garden cottage, served as Anne Spencer's writing retreat. Plantings line the fences around the garden and pond. The roses are especially lovely during late spring and early summer.
You'll find gardens filled with wildflowers at Ivy Creek Park, as well as wildflowers growing in the woods around the lake. Ivy Creek Park is located at 118 Clemmons Lake Place in the Lynchpin Industrial Park, down the street from Sheetz on Route 221. Bring your fishing poles and fish from Exploration Pier. From May through September, kayak and canoe rentals are offered from 10-5 on Saturdays and from 1-5 on Sundays. There's also a fun nature playground and picnic area at Ivy Creek.
Enjoy the beauty of spring and the joy of nature with your family this weekend as you make memories in one of Lynchburg's public gardens.
