Cultivated by dedicated volunteers, the Pioneer Herb Garden, offers visitors a visual treat and an educational opportunity.

Cultivated by dedicated volunteers, the
Pioneer Herb Garden, offers visitors a visual
treat and an educational opportunity.

If you visited the Woods only in the winter, you would miss an important feature that a dedicated group of volunteers makes possible—our wonderful gardens. The Pioneer Herb Garden, the Weavers and Dyers’ garden, the Faust Wildflower Garden, the Naturescape area (along the path from the parking lot to the Interpretive Center), and the flower beds around the Interpretive Center are all cared for by a talented and devoted team of volunteers.

The Pioneer Herb Garden, cared for by July Oplinger, Kathy Brown, and Karen Baron, and the Weavers and Dyers’ garden, nurtured by Paulette Quinn, are located near the Pioneer Cabin and function as both a beautiful attraction as well as an educational opportunity. Each plant is labeled and we encourage visitors to come often to see the plants in the bud, blossom, and seed stages.

Our Faust Wildflower Garden is considered a local treasure. This premier woodland wildflower garden has been cared for by Audrey Loewer for many years, with recent assistance from Rose Burdick and Steve and Linda Garner. A-Team members John Gilrein, Linda Church, Randy Nonenmacher, John Allen, and Rose and Ken Burdick care for the Naturescape and beds around the Interpretive Center.

We thank all these volunteers for their willingness to get their hands and knees dirty to keep our gardens in tip-top shape for visitors to enjoy!

Bee balm blooms in the Faust Garden in August .

Bee balm blooms in the
Faust Garden in August .

Many of our gardeners will be at our annual native plant sale May 17 and 18 to offer advice and answer questions.

Gardeners will find native plants that will beautify any home garden and provide food and habitat for birds, bees, fireflies, and butterflies.Through the choices that each home gardener makes on what to plant and how to care for those plants, we can be part of the solution to maintain healthy populations of these essential pollinators!