Comfortable spring weather is teasingly sparse and fleeting in Northeast Ohio. Deep into the first months of the year, the temperature persistently demands the detritus of winter -coats and hats and gloves. But at the historic Rockefeller Park Greenhouse, it’s always comfortably warm with a gentle filter of sunlight through the glass ceiling panels.
The starkly striking cactus are thriving, fat bulbs hint at bloom to come and the lush greenness teases to the promise of outdoor gardens. It’s a good place to be.
Greenhouse manager Perrin Verzi has overseen this one-acre garden of glass for two decades, her job expanding to include the sprawling 290-acre Rockefeller Park adjoining it on East 88th Street. Both are owned by the City of Cleveland. Getting a dose of summer year-round is free.
Playing Favorites
A plant tender for most of her 51 years, Verzi’s garden interest was nurtured by her mother who took her along to garden centers near their Dayton home to see what was growing.
Verzi studied horticulture at the University of Minnesota, and eventually landed the job at the greenhouse. She says her own home gardens on a large lot in the city of Cleveland are limited to areas close to where she can enjoy them. She leaves the large-scale gardening to her workplace where city employees primarily maintain the grounds and greenhouses. Volunteers tend the popular Willott Iris Garden and two vegetable plots.
One of Verzi’s favorite areas of the greenhouse is the Tropical House with its intoxicating fragrance of citrus blossoms in February and exotic banana plants and fruit trees. Outdoors, she’s partial to the recently renovated Japanese Garden. “It’s very serene and green and you just feel calm when you’re walking there. It’s right next to the street but you don’t know it.”
Garden Visit Tips
Gardens are second nature to Verzi, but if you’re new to garden tromps, she has a few suggestions. “Take time to sit and take time to take it in. Notice not just the canopy above but also what’s at your feet as well, the color, the insects. Allow your senses to take in what’s there.
Plants to Put On Your Radar
Rockefeller Park and Greenhouse manager Perrin Verzi says these are some of her favorite Northeast Ohio plants and gardens.
- Turtlehead – These grow in the Peace Garden near the greenhouse. A lush, unusual easy-to-grow perennial that tolerates shade and partial shade, it always garners a lot of questions from visitors when it blooms each summer.
- Bear’s Breeches -This is a large, spiky perennial with shiny green leaves and white and purple blooms. Sculptural, dramatic and bold, it grows in full sun and part shade.
- Sunpatiens – A showy annual with brightly colored blooms, it’s a seasonal showstopper in a flower bed near the greenhouse parking lot each summer.
Other Gardens to Consider
- The flowering crabapple grove at Holden Arboretum -The white, pink and red blooms usually erupt during the first two weeks in May.
- The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and RainForest -The RainForest has more than 10,000 plants, according to the zoo website. Throughout the rolling zoo grounds are interesting flower beds and displays.
- Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Nature Center and Edgewater Park – Both have natural areas with plants that celebrate each season of the year.
Marie Elium inherited both her name and her love of gardening from her grandmother. She tends her own sprawling beds on a village lot in northern Portage County.
And More
We asked members of the Emerald Necklace Garden Club (emeraldnecklacegardenclub.com) for their favorite local gardens. Club member Donna Hessel writes a garden blog for Northeast Ohio Boomer and Beyond. You can read it at northeastohiothrive.com.
Cleveland Botanical Garden
11030 East Blvd., Cleveland
216-721-1600
The large herb garden created and managed by Western Reserve Herb Society is outstanding with labeled plants. Hershey Children’s Garden is great for kids. Beautiful rose and Japanese gardens. The Glasshouse features both a spring desert of Madagascar and butterflies-filled rainforest of Costa Rica. Admission fee.
Cleveland Cultural Gardens
750 E. 88th St., Cleveland
Each garden is a tribute to the area’s ethnic heritage. Free.
Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Nature Preserve
portofcleveland.com/environment-infrastructure/cleveland-lakefront-nature-preserve
8701 Lakeshore Blvd. NE, Cleveland
216-377-1348
Well-maintained grass trails; benches; great views of downtown Cleveland; bird-watching; ENGC member recommendation: Go in spring and summer for native perennials in a natural setting. Free.
Daffodil Trail
3100 Brush Rd., Richfield
Summitmetroparks.org/furnace-run
330-867-5511
40,000 daffodils in bloom in the spring. Free.
F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm
1828 Smith Road, Akron 44313
330-865-8065
Hiking trails in wooded areas; lectures by various groups; rock and herb garden. Free.
Hemlock Creek Picnic Area/Bedford Reservation – Cleveland Metroparks
14800 Button Road., Walton Hills
ENGC Member recommendation: Walk the trail along Tinkers Creek for an unbelievable display of native spring wildflowers and ephemerals. Free.
Holden Arboretum
9550 Sperry Road, Kirtland
440-946-4400
Gardens, trails, Murch Canopy Walk and Kalberer Family Emergent Tower. Canopy walk and tower open April 1-November1. The arboretum is open year-round.
Don’t miss the rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom in June. Admission fee.
Kingwood Center Gardens
50 N. Trimble Rd., Mansfield
419-522-0211
Opens April 1.
Blooming dates for various flowers are listed on the home page. Admission fee.
Miller Nature Preserve
2739 Center Rd, Avon 44011
440-937-0764
Conservatory plants, scenic gardens, wooded areas. Free.
Rockefeller Park and Greenhouse
750 E. 88th St., Cleveland 44108
216-664-2512
Seasonal floral displays in the greenhouse, which opened in 1905. The Betty Ott Talking Garden for the Blind has audio description for sight-impaired visitors. Also visit the Willott Iris Garden, the Latin American Garden, the Japanese Garden and the Peace Garden and The Mall formal garden.
The spring bulb display is April 3-May 1. Friends of Greenhouse spring plant sale is May 14-16. Free.
Schoepfle Garden
Lorainmetroparks.com/schoepfle-garden
11106 Market St., Wakeman
440-965-7237
70-acre botanical garden and woods bordered by Vermillion River. Collections of rhododendron, roses, lilies, hostas, and others plus trees. Free.
Secrest Arboretum
2122 Williams Road, Wooster
330-263-3761
110 acres; outdoor lab and landscaped gardens, theme garden
Open dawn to dusk, 365 days a year. Free.
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
714 N. Portage Path, Akron 44303
70 acres; themed gardens. Admission fee.
And Consider
Cleveland’s Garden Walk – usually in July – private homes, self-guided touring – “good ideas on smaller/realistic scale.” Admission fee.
Outdoor retail areas: Eaton Square (Woodmere), Pinecrest ( Orange), Legacy Village (Beachwood) and Crocker Park (Westlake) all have imaginative container floral displays throughout the open-air shopping areas. Free.
