Kansas Staycation: Ted Ensley Gardens, Topeka

Flowers are the music of the ground.

 From earth’s lips, spoken without sound.

 – Edwin Curran

As I was sitting in the Topeka ExpoCentre arena last week for the church annual conference, I could hear the rain pounding on the roof. After nearly 12 inches of rain at home and flooding throughout Kansas and neighboring states, my first thought was, "Not again!"

But, by the time the afternoon session was over, the rain had stopped, so Randy and I visited the Ted Ensley Gardens near Topeka's Lake Shawnee. And the rain that I was bad-mouthing had decorated the flowers there like frosting on a cake.

It couldn't have been more beautiful. (And, bonus! It hadn't rained at home!)

 

The gardens comprise 37.5 acres on the west side of Lake Shawnee. The lake was built as a Work Progress Administration project and completed in September 1939. The gardens are named after Commissioner Ted Ensley, who formed the idea for a rose garden in 1978. From there, the rose garden expanded into waterfalls, fountains, streams, flower beds, a gazebo, a garden pergola, walkways and bridges.

We entered the garden via a 60-foot covered bridge over a rocky stream just north of SE 37th Street and West Edge road.

 The gardens feature a panoramic view of the lake...

  ... as well as plenty of places for sitting and enjoying the view and listening to the splash of the water in the fountain.

 

The pathways lead to tucked-away spots to find even more flowers and greenery.

The Shawnee County Extension Master Gardeners help maintain a Woodland (Shade) Garden as one of their demonstration gardens (below).

In May, staff and volunteers plant more than 90,000 annual flowers and plants. By the time we visited, those flowers were in full bloom.

 

The May planting comes after Tulip Time at the gardens, when horticulturists from the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department, with the assistance of volunteers, plant more than 80,000 tulips and daffodils. They are in full bloom in April during the city's Tulip Festival.

And speaking of flowers, the garden includes 1,200 varieties of perennials and 300 varieties of annuals, roses, trees and shrubs.

I loved the old-fashioned roses in all different colors. They are the most fragrant.

 

But there were also the more traditional "florist-shop-type" varieties, all glistening with raindrops.

There are also meditation gardens and water gardens throughout the complex.

The arboretum features 450 trees, including 87 varieties, some rare to Kansas, including a zelkova tree that will grow 100 feet tall and buckeyes, among others. But many of the trees enable visitors to see how a mature tree would look in their own home landscaping. It also demonstrates which trees grow best in that area of Kansas, which are most disease resistant and which have the best growth habits for withstanding wind, ice and snow.

In 2009, a statue was added to honor a little girl named Katie, who, upon seeing the gardens for the first time, exclaimed, “I’m so happy!” I understand the sentiment.

People aren't the only ones who like the flowers. So do the spiders, who left behind their handiwork in colorful settings.

Even in the carefully-manicured gardens, an interloper caught my eye ... and maybe reminded me a bit of the reality of home.

Weeds are flowers, too, 

once you get to know them.

--Winnie the Pooh

I know them all too well. Maybe that's why I can appreciate all the work that goes in to keeping the botanical gardens so manicured and beautiful. 

Topeka can be a great Kansas staycation destination. Besides the State Capitol, we also enjoy the Topeka Zoo and Discovery Center where we've been multiple times with Kinley and Brooke. While I was at church conference, Randy and Kinley spent the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at Sports Center, a family entertainment center, where they played 18 holes of Goony Golf and rode the go-karts. 

Now that the girls are getting older, our to-do list includes the Kansas Museum of History.

For casual dining, we like The Burger Stand. We tried The Pennant for the first time this trip, and I'm sure we'll be back, now that Jill & Eric and the girls are moving back to Topeka. The Blind Tiger Brewery and Restaurant is another local eatery. 

Find out more about Topeka eateries and attractions at Visit Topeka.