Greg Grant

The Tyler Botanical Garden officially turns five years old this month. It is dedicated to retired Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Horticulturist-Emeritus Keith Hansen for his vision and dedication in establishing the garden. Its mission statement: “The Tyler Botanical Garden uses Earth-Kind gardening practices to display sustainable ornamental plant collections for educational purposes.”

Nestled at the south end of the Tyler Rose Garden, the Tyler Botanical Garden is a collection of three distinct gardens. While the property is owned by the City of Tyler, the Smith County Master Gardeners have designed, funded, and cared for these award-winning gardens since the 1990s. The three sections — Heritage Rose Garden, Shade Garden, and IDEA Garden — each offer unique educational themes.

Originally created by the Tyler Lions Club in the 1970s as a sensory garden, the Heritage Rose Garden later evolved under the care of the Gertrude Windsor Garden Club to showcase old-fashioned roses. Since 2006, the Smith County Master Gardeners have managed this space, cultivating antique roses and plants reminiscent of those found in the gardens of our ancestors. Managed using Earth-Kind principles, these hardy survivors require fewer resources and are more disease-tolerant than most roses. The Gertrude Windsor Garden Club continues to support the garden, having contributed the arbor and new pavilion that welcome visitors.

Connecting the Heritage Rose Garden and the IDEA Garden, the Shade Garden is the largest of the three, with a paved pathway winding through mature native trees. Initially planted by the Tyler Camellia Society in the 1960s, this two-acre space has evolved over the years to feature camellias, maples, and azaleas. Keith Hansen also conducted the state’s first hosta and fern trials here. The garden’s renowned collection of Southern-adapted maples is thanks to generous donations from Kluber Lubrication and SFA Gardens. Visitors can enjoy fall color peaking in late November, along with benches, picnic tables, and a newly renovated fountain area.

The IDEA Garden (“Innovate-Demonstrate-Educate-Apply”) was the brainchild of Keith Hansen and the late Master Gardener Sue Adee. It was dedicated in 1999 and has earned multiple awards, including the International Master Gardener Conference’s Search for Excellence Award. Designed to inspire homeowners with practical ideas, this space mimics a suburban backyard, featuring a wide variety of showy ornamentals, many of which are designated Texas Superstars by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. A pergola and benches welcome visitors to sit and take in the colorful annuals, perennials, and tropicals.

The Tyler Botanical Garden, Tyler’s best kept secret, is truly a labor of love. Since its 2019 designation, dedicated Smith County Master Gardeners have volunteered a total of 20,304 hours maintaining the Tyler Botanical Garden. This is equivalent to $608,505.00 in labor according to Independent Sector data. In addition, the Smith County Master Gardener Association has spent a total of $134,267.78 in developing and maintaining the garden including rebuilding the IDEA Garden arbor, expanding the Shade Garden, and upgrading the irrigation in the Heritage Rose and Shade Gardens. If you extrapolate continuous work beginning in the 1990’s, I am sure their contributions value in millions of dollars.

The Tyler Botanical Garden is open daily from dawn until dusk, and admission is free. The Smith County Master Gardener Association is a non-profit educational organization, and the funds used for the garden are raised each year in the annual Earth-Kind bulb sale. If you would like to donate to the development and upkeep of the garden, contact the Smith County Master Gardener Help Desk at 903-590-2994. Smith County Master Gardeners are volunteer educators trained and coordinated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.