By Jill Draper
The drive to Powell Gardens heading southeast on U.S. Highway 50 is not that long, about 35 or 40 minutes from many parts of south Kansas City. But it takes you to a different world, one of rolling prairies, shady woodlands and multi-colored water lilies floating in a pool at lake’s edge.
The property, known as Kansas City’s botanical garden, is marketed as displaying a Midwestern sense of place. The grounds are tidy, but not heavily manicured nor filled mainly with topiary and exotic species. Instead there’s an emphasis on natural landscapes, native plants and special collections that thrive in our summer heat, and support for birds and wildlife.
The vibe begins when visitors drive beneath a 17-foot-high sculpture called “Sheaves Of Wheat” at the entrance off the highway. This 4,000-pound bronze artwork celebrating wheat and corn was acquired from the Kansas City-based Board of Trade Building when it closed in 2013.
The drive winds into a parking lot where motorists are welcomed by a distinctive visitors center designed by E. Fay Jones, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose prairie style-architecture also shapes the gardens’ chapel and meadow pavilion.
The visitors center includes a small conservatory with rotating exhibits and a gift shop. An easy, mostly level concrete pathway leads out the back to a 12-acre lake surrounded by woods and a restored prairie. The highlight is an island garden featuring aquatic plants and a living wall with succulents, ferns and perennial flowers tucked into crevices.
The walkway takes you across the island, past a sloping field and into the woodland and perennial gardens. (A manmade bubbling stream is currently dry and may be under repair.) When you reach the end of the path, wait a few minutes and a trolley or six-seater electric cart will whisk you around to the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel which overlooks the lake and is a favorite spot for weddings, celebration of life ceremonies and holiday concerts.
Take the trolley in the other direction to wind back to the visitors center or a bit further, the Missouri Barn and harvest garden.
If you have impatient children, however, you may want to skip the walk out back and head straight through the visitors center side door to the interactive fountain garden, where getting wet on a hot, sunny day is expected. Just beyond the fountain is Fortopia, a collection of eight play structures surrounding a large sandpile.
A second play area near the quilt garden features oversized chairs, a balance beam and other climbing structures. Grapevines border a corner of the yard and both kids and adults are welcome to sample their fruit.
Speaking of food, picnics are allowed on the grounds (but not alcohol) or you can purchase sandwiches, charcuterie, snacks and drinks from a refrigerated case in the visitors center gift shop.
The Powell Gardens property is 970 acres and used to be a Boy Scout camp. Visitors are limited to a fairly small portion of that acreage, but there are two unpaved nature trails, 1-mile and 3.25-miles, that loop through wilder areas including lotus-filled ponds and meadows.
One of the gardens’ most popular events, especially with families, is the annual Festival of Butterflies. This summer it runs July 18-August 4.
Butterflies and chrysalises can be viewed up close in the conservatory, and seven types of moths are on display in the basement-level “moth cave.” Outside you can enter a tent filled with native Midwestern butterflies flitting throughout the enclosure.
This year the festival explores butterflies on a weekly basis through world cultures: Latin American is July 20; Polynesian, July 27; and Celtic, August 3. Corresponding adult evening events on three Saturdays offer performances, themed cocktails and optional dinners.
General admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $8 for youth ages 5-12. Festival pricing varies, but it’s a bit more. Group rates also are available, and dogs on a leash are welcome every third Sunday. Powell Gardens is at 1609 NW US Highway 50, Kingsville, MO. For more see powellgardens.org.
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