Woodward Park

Woodward Park is a 45-acre public park located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, situated between 21st Street and 24th Street, east of South Peoria Avenue. Established in 1929, the park is named after Helen Woodward, the original property owner. It serves as a botanical garden and arboretum, offering visitors a diverse horticultural experience.

The park features several specialty gardens, including those dedicated to spring flowers, tropical plants, and cacti. One of its most prominent attractions is the Tulsa Rose Garden, established in 1935, which showcases over 9,000 roses representing more than 250 varieties. The park is particularly renowned for its azaleas, as well as tulips, irises, dogwoods, and redbuds.

Woodward Park contains notable landscape features such as the Upper and Lower Rock Gardens, created in 1930. These areas utilize honeycomb limestone rocks to simulate streams and small springs, complete with walkways, benches, fountains, bridges, and statuary. The Lower Rock Garden, planted during the 1960s and 1970s, is home to a large number of azalea plants that typically bloom between mid-March and mid-April.

The park also houses the Tulsa Garden Center, located in a historic mansion designed by architect Noble B. Fleming in 1919. This Italian Renaissance-inspired villa has been home to the Garden Center since 1954. Additionally, the park includes a three-acre arboretum showcasing 270 different species of shrubs and trees native to Oklahoma.

In 2005, the Linnaeus Teaching Garden was added to Woodward Park. This 1.5-acre area is designed to educate homeowners on successful techniques for growing various plants at home. The garden is named after Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus and was dedicated on June 8, 2006.

Woodward Park and the adjacent gardens were added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 11, 2014, as the Woodward Park and Gardens Historic District, recognizing its significance as one of Tulsa's finest public gardens established in the first half of the twentieth century.