The Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center or Nathanael Greene is a beautiful place. Gaia Scandella, senior, and I went to visit the Nathanael Green Gardens on February 3rd. it was a surprisingly nice day. However, everything in the park was still dead. Within the park, there are multiple different gardens, as well as trails leading to each of these.

    The Hosta garden was a cute fenced-off area filled with plenty of tables and chairs to have intimate conversations or meetings with others. The fencing around the small area said it was fenced off to prevent geese, which is very reasonable considering the numerous amounts of geese there. Also with all the table and sectioned-off sitting areas; a beautiful rock fountain was towards the right end of the small area. 

    On our way to the next garden –the dwarf conifer garden — a lot happened: a crime scene was sectioned off, a dog got loose and tried to attack another dog and a bible was found. Not letting these “interesting” events stop the exploration, Gaia and I soon visited the bridge which overlooks all of the park creating a very scenic view. The lush trees, which are soon to bloom in spring, danced upon the path giving the whole area a “Central Park” vibe, and there were tons of geese swimming in the lake and families walking happily through the gardens and trails. 

   The Dwarf conifer garden is one of the cutest little gardens ever. The trees were still young, meaning they are on the smaller side. A small bridge was in the center, and behind it was a tiny version of the rock fountain from the Hosta garden. Fish are usually located within the pond in this area, but I think the cold has hindered the habitat.The garden finished off with a nice cobblestone path — everything was amazing and pleasing to the eye in this section.

   I plan to go back to these gardens when the weather warms up. A good picnic place along with an amazing running path around the lake. Though I wouldn’t recommend taking any dogs that would case after geese, or anyone who’s scared of geese.

   I give it a 4/5 due to it being winter though. The landscape, layout, and massive size of the gardens were perfect. Just a little on the chilly side that day. Also, very important note it took a while to find parking.