Perkins Woods Garden

Cleveland, Cuyahoga County
Cleveland East Quad
2 acres

Significance

The two-acre Perkins Woods Garden on the eastern side of the Natural History Museum contains canopy remnants of three forest types, Oak-Chestnut Forest, Hemlock Northern Hardwood Forest and Mixed Mesophytic Forest. The forest and the Museum sit along the northern edge of a unique geological feature, the Lake Warren Beach Ridge. The beach ridge formed along glacial Lake Warren, a fore-runner to modern Lake Erie. The elevation of Lake Warren is approximately 100 feet higher than Lake Erie. Large tulip trees, a distinctive member of the Mixed Mesophytic Forest Community are the dominant members of the forest canopy; however, there are several black oaks along the southeastern side of the forest. The three forest types represented within the Woods Garden Forest are the same as those present at the North Kingsville Sand Barrens and Cathedral Woods in Ashtabula County, 65 miles east of the Museum.

Brief History

When the Museum moved from Euclid Avenue to University Circle, a high quality natural forest stand was present on the eastern section of the Wade Park property. The Garden Club of Cleveland and Director Bill Scheele joined forces to promote protecting the remnant native forest stand. The Garden Club and Director Scheele convinced the Museum Board of Trustees to maintain the forest and restore native wildflowers and shrubs to the forest remnant.

In 2002, the Perkins Garden underwent a complete makeover. New enclosures were built for the animals that reside in the outdoor area, and the pathway was re-routed. During the renovation, most of the herbaceous plants in the garden were destroyed. Native plants rescued from development sites around the Cleveland region were used to restore the garden to its former glory. The Garden Club of Cleveland and the Akron Garden Club were instrumental in assisting Museum volunteers and staff with removing the plants from these threatened sites and transplanting them into the Perkins Garden. Thousands of large white trilliums were taken from the Akron Garden Club’s dig site in Medina County, along with hundreds of blue cohosh, wild geranium, ginger, squirrel corn, hepatica and a few plants of drooping trillium.