Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park

The Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park is a 112-acre public garden park that has been developing since the mid 1980s. The largest, indigenous trees include: Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera), and Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata). Other common, naturally occurring trees include: Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) and Oak (Quercus sp.).

The 7.5 acre Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden hosts the most unique plants among the entire collection. Plants from the Pinaceae family represent a large portion of the collection and some of the most interesting include Weeping Norway Spruce (Picea abies var. pendula), Weeping White Pine (Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’) and Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica). This garden area re-opens for the season every April with the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival. Yoshino Cherries (Prunus × yedoensis), Higan Weeping Cherries (Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’), Kwanzan and Mt. Fugi Cherries (Prunus serrulata), carry the bloom season for several weeks. 

With the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center, a welcome center, opening in 2010, the Friends of the Garden pursued several woody plant collection projects including Acer, Viburnum, Cercis, Cornus, and Magnolia and special collections focused on Dwarf Conifers and plants with winter interest. The Springfield Botanical Garden also includes several herbaceous gardens including an American Hemerocallis Society Certified Display Garden and American Hosta Society Certified Display Garden.