Dreaming of Tulips & Spring at the Dallas Arboretum

It’s been a long time tradition for us to visit the Arboretum to see the Dallas Blooms around this time of the year. Spring at the Dallas Arboretum is a special time and one of the best places in Dallas to see tulips and spring flowers. We take Miss Peachy to the garden to celebrate her April birthday and take photos there pretty much every year. Every year but this year…

Dreaming of Tulips & Spring at the Dallas Arboretum - outsidesuburbia.com

And this happens to be a very special year! Miss Peachy here turned 21! Since this year’s spring got hijacked by the novel coronavirus aka Covid-19, I’m reliving my memories and dreaming of spring at the Dallas Arboretum through these photos. (see this post if you want to go back memory lane with me).

Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum
The theme for 2015 as the Dallas Arboretum

Dallas’ 66-acre floral paradise has been mentioned in multiple magazines and websites. TripAdvisor chose the botanical garden as the number one entertainment spot in the city, and USA Today named the Dallas Arboretum one of the top ten best botanical gardens in the United States. “This Dallas landmark is being admired internationally for its breathtaking views and displays. According to Architectural Digest, the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden has been named the second most-breathtaking garden in the world, ranking high among the likes of gardens in Versailles and Rio de Janeiro.” claimed NBC!!

Here are a few photos from a previous visit…

Spring Blooms at the Dallas Arboretum

Every year there is usually a theme for the Dallas Blooms. One year it was “Deep in the heart of Texans“, it might have been 2015. I look forward to going to Dallas Arboretum and Botanical gardens every year, where else in Dallas can you escape the concrete jungle and be surrounded by hundreds of Tulips, Hyacinths, Camellias, Narcissus. The cherry blossoms, azaleas and the Japanese maples put on quite a show too.

Camellias are the first thing I look for when visiting the garden. They bloom in the late fall to early winter. The Camellia Garden is located on the Paseo under some beautiful cherry trees and some azaleas nearby in shades of pink and purple.

…the azaleas are always so vibrant!

Crape Myrtle Allee, Dallas Arboretum

Sweeping crape myrtle trees enclose a stone walkway to create the magnificent Crape Myrtle Allee. It is pretty bare in spring but beautiful in summer and fall. This longhorn topiary was by the alley one year. This natural tunnel leads visitors to the popular toad fountain feature, “Toad Corner.” (There is also a photo of this one at the top)

The DeGolyer House, Dallas Arboretum

The DeGolyer House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the Texas Register of Historic Places. Landscape architects Arthur and Marie Berger designed the 4.5-acre DeGolyer Gardens for the DeGolyer family in 1940. Many of the original garden features remain, including the Magnolia Allee, the Sunken Garden and the Octagonal Fountain. The McCasland Sunken Garden and the Boswell Family Garden were renovated and reopened in 2006 and is a popular place for weddings. The house is open daily for tours.

The DeGolyer House also houses the DeGolyer Restaurant.

The DeGolyer Restaurant, Dallas Arboretum
Lunch with a beautiful view at the DeGolyer Restaurant

We usually bring a little picnic of food and drink to enjoy it in our favorite part of the garden, usually on the lawn by the kiss sculpture. But a seated tea or lunch at the DeGolyer Tea Room is always a special way to celebrate birthdays or special occasions at the Dallas Arboretum.

After lunch, and some gooey tres leches cake laced with caramel, we walked around the Arboretum… the area near the DeGolyer house has some of the best daffodils, how awesome are these multi-petaled ones!

We then paused at several spots on the Paseo, the meandering pathway serves as the central walkway of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden for admiring the tulips and taking photos.

With grandpa

The Lay Family Garden is always a serene place to stop by. It is a 2.2-acre garden filled with lots of perennials and woody plants. Set against two amazing water features, the Lay Grotto boasts a waterfall and koi pond, and on the other side, a set of cascading water walls you can walkthrough.

The Woman’s garden is probably my favorite part of the garden. It has this wonderful sculpture of a woman and a beautiful view of White Rock Lake behind the infinity pool. It is peaceful to just sit among sweet-smelling wisteria and flowing water. Why can’t my backyard be like this… I just need to borrow a gardener or two from the Arboretum! I’m thankful for the one wisteria plant in my yard and a pot of Spanish lavender that blooms every spring though…

Love this part of the garden with the wisteria
Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill - Dallas Arboretum
…and this one with the crimson maples
Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill - Dallas Arboretum
Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill - Dallas Arboretum

We then walked through the Nancy Rutchik Red Maple Rill, a two-acre garden featuring an incredible collection of Japanese Maples planted along with water features and a bubbling stream. The 80 some maples complete with the spring blooms and put on quite a show!

It was a beautiful day, the sun decided to come out and show her face a little… we walked around the gardens took some pics. After a few hours, exhausted but didn’t want to leave yet we sat on a bench watching the kids in their wagons, families taking their Easter pics and girls in big gowns taking their Quinceanera pics in the gardens.

A few Tips for Capturing Memorable photos at the Dallas Arboretum

Spring is the perfect time to get to the Dallas Arboretum and it is a beautiful time for capturing some memorable photos.

Get to the flower level. Squatting and getting into a lower position makes the flowers look fuller and puts you in the middle. The shorter depth of field will make flowers look beautiful and you can avoid getting the crowds in the photo.

Get off the main area, the garden is huge (66 acres) and there are so many nooks and corners all filled with beautiful blooms and photo ops. See the gardens listed above. Crape Myrtle Allee with the tree tunnel good creates a nice field of depth.

Visit multiple times and different times of the day or better yet bring a picnic and spend the whole day. Try taking pictures first thing in the morning for a fresh look and then again in the late afternoon for that golden hour glow.

The Women’s Garden is a beautiful place to capture White Rock Lake and also nice water reflections. I love just sitting there and watch people take photos 🙂 It is a popular spot for senior photos, wedding photos and more.

You can see a stunning sunset(weather permitting) over the Dallas and cityscape from the lawn past the Palmer Fern Dell and Jonsson Color Garden.

Tips for Capturing Memorable photos at the Dallas Arboretum - OutsideSuburbia.com

Visit the Dallas Arboretum virtually

There is always something blooming at the Dallas Arboretum, check their website for what is in season. While the gates of the Dallas Arboretum are closed now, you can still enjoy the flowers virtually, Dave Forehand, VP of gardens takes you on a virtual tour and talks about what is blooming. I loved seeing the spring flowers and tulips I missed seeing in person this year.

Did you know there are 150 Yoshino cherry trees at the Dallas Arboretum, yep those same trees you see around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC? All these years of visiting the arboretum, I never actually caught the cherry blossoms in full bloom but I got to see them on the virtual tour.

A few other gardens that we have been to are Lotusland near Santa Barbara which is considered one of the best gardens in the world, Buchart Garden, a beautiful garden in Victoria, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, the highest elevation botanical garden in the world situated at 8,200′ near Vail and Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden near Cape Town.

You might also like: Chihuly at the Dallas Arboretum, Zimsculpt at the Dallas Arboretum

If you see this post, I would so appreciate if you would take a second to wish Miss. Peachy a Happy Birthday! Thanks and sending you my love…

Happy Birthday, Sneha!

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