From humble beginnings to world-class status, LGBG celebrates a flourishing legacy.
If you remember Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG) in its early days, you’ll recall it was often referred to as Bloemendaal, Dutch for “valley of flowers.” It opened to the public in 1987, and the entrance to Richmond’s newly minted jewel was a modest shed with a meandering path that led to Bloemendaal House, the garden’s anchor at the time. In front, a garden tended by volunteers was also part of the visitor experience.
The three-acre Flagler Garden came several years later, with a babbling brook and a robust collection of perennials, bulbs, woody plants, and blooming shrubs—all surrounding a grassy glen. “Once the Flagler Garden went in, it really served as a community catalyst to gather additional support,” says Frank Robinson, who joined the garden as its executive director in 1992. The garden’s potential—as an oasis of beauty, an economic driver, a community center, an educational resource, and a way to connect people and plants—was no longer an idea. It was becoming real.
Establishing the Flagler signaled the garden’s possibilities, and as that became clear, the community rallied. The Garden Club of Virginia soon joined the effort to elevate the property and restored the Grace Arents Garden—that original space in front of Bloemendaal House—based on its early 20th-century Victorian design with period-appropriate plants that had an “old fashioned” feel—peonies, roses, bulbs, and a traditional boxwood border. It honored Grace Arents, niece of the wildly successful business magnate Lewis Ginter for whom the garden is named. Miss Arents was also a beneficiary of her uncle’s wealth, and she used her inheritance to buy his Lakeside Wheel Club, a structure he built in 1895 when cycling was all the rage. She renamed it Bloemendaal after the family’s Dutch ancestry.
Back then, cyclists relaxed on the ample veranda with fresh lemonade and homemade ice cream while boaters drifted on the lake below. More than a century later, children run laughing through what was then known as Bloemendaal Farm and couples tie the knot under white lattice arches amidst the classic blooms of Miss Arents’ eponymous garden.
“I knew we were sitting on a gem with enormous potential,” Robinson recalls. He went on to become the garden’s president and is now its president emeritus. In his 23-year tenure at LGBG’s helm, the garden expanded in leaps and bounds, developing more than 50 acres of themed gardens and major public facilities, including a visitor’s center, an education complex, and classical conservatory—additions that elevated the Garden to international acclaim. Today, after 40 years, it’s consistently named as one of the top botanical gardens by all manner of media—from Condé Nast Traveler to USA Today.
Plus, says Brian Trader, LGBG’s fourth leader, “It’s a powerful community connector.”
Trader brings with him an extensive background in leadership management at premier public gardens, his own horticultural expertise, and a belief in the healing power of gardens. “It’s important that our communities see themselves in nature,” he says. He’s witnessed invaluable educational and emotional moments at the garden, recently describing LGBG guests who had never seen a real-life turtle—their first experience with one was at the property’s Sydnor Lake. “When they see one with their own eyes for the first time, it’s magical,” Trader says.
“The evolution of the garden has been a remarkable journey,” notes Mary Wick, longtime LGBG board member and a former board president. “I was around in the early days, and to see how far the garden has come is incredible.”
Flourish is the Garden’s celebration of its four decades, honoring the past, present, and future. Classes, tours, a speaker series, plus favored events and new ones have signaled the milestone all year. As well as hosting multidisciplinary, Richmond-based artist-in-residence Kyle Epps, who’s created tapestries and augmented reality art to enhance the garden experience, LGBG has filled its many gardens with several Flourish plant exhibitions, courtesy of its horticulture team.
Floral favorites from the Victorian era fill the Grace Arents Garden. Lush beauties bloom on the Flagler Garden’s arched entrance. Bog plants thrive in the West Island Garden, kids of all ages connect with nature in the Children’s Garden, and thousands of pounds of vegetables are harvested in the Kroger Community Kitchen Garden that feed Central Virginia’s hungry children and homebound seniors. Plants blossom and flourish all over the garden, and so too does their iconic home. LewisGinter.org
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue.
