Area 4 acres (0.016 km) Open All year | Created 1970 (1970) | |
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Type Arboretum and public park Location Paris, Kentucky, United States Operated by The Garden Club of Kentucky, Inc. | ||
The Nannine Clay Wallis Arboretum 4 acres (1.6 hectares) is a non-profit arboretum located at the Garden Club of Kentucky, Inc.'s State Headquarters, 616 Pleasant Street, Paris, Kentucky. The Arboretum is open to the public, sunrise to sunset, free of charge.
The Wallis Arboretum is considered one of the finest old-tree collections in central Kentucky. Its first trees were planted in the mid-1850s, around the 1851 house that is now the headquarters of The Garden Club of Kentucky. Most of the planting was under the direction of Nannine Clay Wallis, in the first half of the 20th century. Mrs. Wallis was a founder and later president of both GCKY and The National Council of State Garden Clubs.
The Arboretum now contains about 70 varieties of trees including many varieties of flowering dogwoods, as well as a rose garden, an herb garden, a reflecting pool, a daylily garden, and a pavilion. The largest trees at the arboretum include a Small-leaved linden (Tilia Cordata), Ginkgo (Ginkgo Biloba), Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), Tulip Poplar, (Lireodendren Tulipfera), Sugar Maple (Acer Sacrum) and a Cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata).