Arneson Acres

Arneson Acres, 4711 W. 70^th St., is a unique park that is home to the Edina Historical Society, Edina Museum and City of Edina greenhouse.

The home and 13.2 acres were donated to the City of Edina by Morton and Katherine Arneson in the late 1970s. Prior to that time, the Arnesons used their property as a commercial tree nursery.

Today, the park’s 28 gardens are maintained by the Park and Recreation Department.

Begin your tour of Arneson Acres in the Terrace Room on the ground level of the Arneson house. The gardens surrounding the stone terrace were planted by the Cloverlane Garden Club, part of the Edina Garden Council. Showy annuals are planted each year against a backdrop of perennial daylilies.

Walk out the door of the Terrace Room and down the driveway to the greenhouse. The Arnesons, avid gardeners, donated their property with the stipulation that the City build a greenhouse for the purpose of growing the annuals that the City plants in its parks and more than 100 public spaces.

Tim Zimmerman Horticulturist

On the west side of the greenhouse, you will find a woodland garden. This area had become infested with the noxious weed buckthorn. The buckthorn was removed in the spring of 2004 and replanted with native woodland flowers donated by the Edina Garden Council. You will find trillium, ferns, trout lily, wild lily-of-the-valley, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, columbine, bloodroot, Virginia bluebell and many others. These will be at their showiest in April and May.

On the east side of the parking lot, you will find a daylily garden. More than 800 clumps of tetraploid daylilies were donated by Marion Hagerstrom, a daylily breeder, for this area. The rainbow display of color will be at its peak in mid-July.

Cross the parking lot and pass through the opening in the Miss Kim Lilac hedge. Surrounding the gazebo you will find Asiatic lilies, clematis and colorful annuals. The gazebo is 36 feet in diameter and its interior was constructed using pine, put together in tongue and groove. There are five pillars from the former Wooddale School that were incorporated into the gazebo interior. The floor is made of peach and burgundy colored concrete. The roof is made out of cedar shakes. The gazebo was donated by the Edina Garden Council.

From the gazebo, you will proceed into the formal gardens. This area consists of 18 gardens. The middle beds are planted in annuals that are changed each year to a different color theme. The outside of the formal gardens have four 120-foot perennial beds. New varieties of perennials are added to these beds each year. Bloom times in the perennial beds start in April and ends in late October, weather permitting. This area can be rented out for weddings, anniversaries, formal gatherings, birthday parties and garden tours. A new fountain is under constructed and will be completed in early June. The fountain will be located in the center of the formal gardens and is donated by the Edina Garden Council. The Garden Council will dedicate the fountain in August.

Continuing along the perimeter, you will find a Hosta glade under the shade of conifers. The Hostas were donated by Savory’s Gardens, a family-owned Edina business established in 1946 by Robert P. Savory.

The perennial borders contain a wide variety of perennials, which put on a dazzling display May through the fall. To mark the North American Lily Society meeting held in Bloomington in 2003, many Asiatic lily bulbs were donated. Enjoy them at their peak bloom during mid-July. Watch overhead for hawks and songbirds.

The south end of the gardens are flanked by a semi-circle of crabapple trees, which bloom profusely in early May. To the east is a daffodil garden, which will be at its peak in late April. Note the entrance to the Memory Garden. Here, visitors can rest on the bench surrounded by azaleas and magnolias, which bloom in may. Also featured here are Northern Red Bud, viburnums and euonymous.