Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark

Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark
The butterfly house at the MetroPark
Interactive map of Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark
TypeBotanical garden and park
Nearest cityDayton, Ohio
Coordinates39°39′13″N 84°13′40″W / 39.65368°N 84.22789°W / 39.65368; -84.22789
Area189 acres (76 ha)
Created1962
Operated byFive Rivers Metroparks
WebsiteOfficial website

The Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark is a 189 acres (76 ha) arboretum and park located at 6733 Springboro Pike, Dayton, Ohio (in Miami Township, south of the city proper). It is open daily without charge. Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark is one of many Dayton area parks within the Five Rivers Metroparks system.

James M. Cox Jr. purchased farmland in the early 1950s that became a nature getaway that his family called Spring Running. In the 1960s, an effort to construct a housing development on the land was prevented when an extended Cox family member, Jean Mahoney, persuaded James M. Cox Jr to preserve the land as an arboretum. The family donated the property to a nonprofit foundation, and Jean Mahoney became the first director. Mahoney collaborated with Ruth Burke and Marie Aull to cultivate the arboretum. In 1972 the land was given to Montgomery County Park District, now known as the Five Rivers Metroparks, in a public/private partnership.[1][2][3]

The arboretum contains a shrub garden with over 500 varieties of trees and shrubs, butterfly house and garden, small lake, children's maze, conifer knoll, crab apple allee, herb garden, ornamental grass collection, perennial garden, rock garden, water garden, woodland wildflower garden, and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of walking trails.

Cox Arboretum is a resource for gardeners and arborists with research and a publication on ivy plants.[4][5][6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cox Arboretum MetroPark". Birding Hotspots. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  2. ^ Fisher, Mark; Blizzard, Nick; Frolik, Cornelius (January 31, 2020). "6 ways Cox family helped shape Dayton area with philanthropy". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  3. ^ DeLuca, Leo (April 4, 2024). "The Roots of Cox Arboretum". The Dayton Magazine.
  4. ^ Totemeier, Carl (February 15, 1981). "Gardening; COLD, DROUGHT MAY AFFECT SPRING PLANTS". New York Times. p. 20. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  5. ^ Fowler, Elizabeth M. (October 24, 1989). "Careers; Arboretum Directors Are Sought". New York Times. p. 15. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  6. ^ Land, Leslie (March 26, 1998). "Garden Q.&A". New York Times. p. 10. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  7. ^ Faust, Joan Lee (February 9, 1984). "GARDENING; GIVING IVY PLANTS A HAPPY MILIEU". New York Times. p. 12. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cox Arboretum and Gardens MetroPark.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.