Date:  January 8, 2009  |  

Verna Cook Garvan dreamed of transforming her 210-acre property on Lake Hamilton into a world-class botanical garden, so in 1985 she donated her Hot Springs land under a trust agreement to the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. Upon her death in 1993, the department of landscape architecture began painstakingly documenting every plant species on the property and work began on the public garden’s infrastructure, with the garden opening in 2002 and the Anthony Chapel following in 2006.

Verna Cook Garvan dreamed of transforming her 210-acre property on Lake Hamilton into a world-class botanical garden, so in 1985 she donated her Hot Springs land under a trust agreement to the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. Upon her death in 1993, the department of landscape architecture began painstakingly documenting every plant species on the property and work began on the public garden’s infrastructure, with the garden opening in 2002 and the Anthony Chapel following in 2006. The Anthony Chapel was designed by Jennings + McKee Architects of Fayetteville in the style of E. Fay Jones’ Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs. Massive pine columns support its 57-foot ceiling, while the soaring windows take in the view of gardens, which are resplendent in seasonal flora, from colorful foliage in the fall to daffodils and tulips in the spring.