Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden

Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden is a nonprofit arboretum and botanical garden in Rockford, Illinois. Covering approximately 155 acres, or 63 hectares, the site combines a historic nursery property, mature specimen trees, native woodland, and a series of organized display gardens. Its identity is rooted in plant conservation, public horticulture, education, and outdoor recreation rather than in the sale of consumer goods. The property began in 1910 as Rockford Nursery. Landscape architect William Lincoln Taylor established the nursery and planted many of the trees that later became part of the arboretum's mature landscape. The site remained associated with nursery production and cultivated plants for much of the twentieth century. In 1968, the Klehm family purchased the nursery and continued maintaining the property. The family later donated it to the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District in 1985, creating the basis for its development as a public arboretum. The transition from nursery to arboretum was developed through planning and horticultural assessment. During the early 1990s, the property was inventoried, a master plan was prepared, and a capital campaign was undertaken. Garden plantings began in 1994. These efforts shaped the present visitor experience, in which historic plantings are complemented by curated collections and themed gardens. A major ecological and historical feature is a pre-settlement bur oak grove occupying about 12 acres, or 5 hectares. The largest oaks in the grove are estimated to be more than 300 years old. The arboretum also maintains a broad conifer collection representing more than 50 species and cultivars and nine geographic or horticultural groups from North America, Europe, and Asia. Examples include firs, junipers, spruces, pines, Douglas fir, yews, arborvitae, hemlocks, Nikko firs, Meyer's spruce, common juniper, and threadleaf Sawara falsecypress. Its woody-plant collections extend across European, East Asian, and North American representatives. European plantings include Norway maple, field maple, pedunculate oak, English elm, European beech, common horsechestnut, mountain pine, Scots pine, European larch, European hornbeam, and spindle tree. East Asian examples include cork trees, Japanese red and white magnolias, flowering quince, and several honeysuckles. North American holdings include American beech, yellow buckeye, cucumbertree magnolia, tulip tree, ponderosa pine, Colorado spruce, and Douglas fir, along with many additional native and cultivated woody plants. The garden areas provide a more designed and educational counterpart to the arboretum's tree collections. They include a Butterfly Garden, Daylily Garden, Fountain Garden, Grass Garden, Hosta Garden, the Nancy Olson Children's Garden, the Ethel Johnson Lilac Garden, several Demonstration Gardens, and a Prehistoric Garden. The latter interprets plant groups associated with ancient or geologically old lineages, including cycads, bald cypress, ferns, ginkgo, horsetails, mosses, bristlecone pine, and dawn redwood. Klehm's public-facing purpose is therefore expressed through stewardship of a historically significant landscape, display and interpretation of diverse plant collections, and access to specialized garden environments. Its principal audience is regional and domestic rather than international, with the Rockford location serving as the institution's central geographic identity.

Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden developed from a nursery founded in Rockford, Illinois, in 1910 by landscape architect William Lincoln Taylor. The original Rockford Nursery provided the foundation for the site's later identity, and Taylor planted many of the trees that now contribute to the arboretum's mature character. The property changed hands in 1968, when the Klehm family purchased the nursery. The family maintained the site for approximately seventeen years before donating it in 1985 to the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District. That transfer established the institutional and public-land framework for converting the former nursery into an arboretum. The conversion was not immediate. In the early 1990s, the property underwent an inventory of its plant resources, a master plan was developed, and a capital campaign was conducted to support the next phase of development. New garden plantings began in 1994. This period helped organize the site around both its inherited trees and a growing program of curated botanical gardens. The arboretum's historic and ecological significance is especially visible in its pre-settlement bur oak grove. The grove covers approximately 12 acres and contains trees whose largest specimens are estimated to be more than 300 years old. Alongside this remnant landscape, the arboretum developed collections of conifers and other woody plants from North America, Europe, and East Asia. The conifer holdings include more than 50 species and cultivars arranged across nine groups, while the broader collections include maples, oaks, beeches, magnolias, pines, spruces, dogwoods, hickories, walnuts, viburnums, and many other trees and shrubs. The garden program expanded the property's role beyond an arboretum of specimen trees. The Butterfly, Daylily, Fountain, Grass, Hosta, Lilac, Children's, Demonstration, and Prehistoric Gardens provide distinct horticultural settings and interpretive themes. The Prehistoric Garden emphasizes plant groups and lineages associated with ancient landscapes, including cycads, ginkgo, ferns, horsetails, mosses, bald cypress, bristlecone pine, and dawn redwood. Today, the 155-acre site functions as a nonprofit arboretum and botanical garden in Rockford. Its public identity rests on preserving an old nursery landscape, caring for mature and historically important trees, cultivating geographically diverse collections, and presenting garden environments for visitors and education. The available reference material does not identify current executives, attendance figures, budgets, admission revenue, or a separate operating company.

• 1994

  Garden plantings begin

  [1]Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  Planting of the site's organized garden areas begins as part of its post-nursery development.

• 1990

  Inventory, master planning, and capital campaign

  [1]Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  During the early 1990s, the property is inventoried, a master plan is prepared, and a capital campaign supports its transformation into a developed arboretum and garden.

• 1985

  Property donated for arboretum development

  [1]Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  The Klehm family donates the property to the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District, creating the public foundation for the arboretum.

• 1968

  The Klehm family acquires the nursery

  [1]Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  The Klehm family purchases Rockford Nursery and continues to maintain the property.

• 1910

  Rockford Nursery is established

  [1]Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org

  Landscape architect William Lincoln Taylor establishes Rockford Nursery in Rockford, Illinois, beginning the site's horticultural history.

A regional public horticultural destination that combines a historic nursery landscape, mature native and introduced trees, curated botanical collections, themed gardens, and educational interpretation.

• Arboretum collection

  Pre-settlement Bur Oak Grove

  A roughly 12-acre remnant grove of bur oaks that predates modern settlement in the area. The largest trees are estimated to be more than 300 years old, making the grove one of the site's principal ecological and historical features.

• Arboretum collection

  Conifer Collection

  A collection of more than 50 conifer species and cultivars representing nine groups from North America, Europe, and Asia. Its examples include firs, junipers, spruces, pines, Douglas fir, yews, arborvitae, hemlocks, Nikko firs, Meyer's spruce, common juniper, and threadleaf Sawara falsecypress.

• Themed garden

  Nancy Olson Children's Garden

  A garden area designed for children's engagement with plants and outdoor environments. The available reference material identifies the garden as a named feature but does not provide further details about its programming or facilities.

• Themed garden

  Ethel Johnson Lilac Garden

  A named garden devoted to lilacs within the arboretum's broader series of specialist and display plantings.

• Themed garden

  Prehistoric Garden

  A themed planting that presents plant groups associated with ancient or geologically old lineages, including cycads, bald cypress, ferns, ginkgo, horsetails, mosses, bristlecone pine, and dawn redwood.

• Themed gardens

  Butterfly, Daylily, Fountain, Grass, and Hosta Gardens

  A group of specialized gardens that organize the visitor landscape around particular plant types, habitat themes, or design treatments. Together with the Demonstration Gardens, they broaden the site beyond its tree collections.

• 1990

  Plan the property's conversion into an arboretum and botanic gardenStrategy

  Background

  After the property was donated to the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District in 1985, the former nursery required assessment and a coordinated development plan to support its public arboretum role.

  Action taken

  During the early 1990s, the site was inventoried, a master plan was prepared, and a capital campaign was undertaken.

  Aftermath

  Garden plantings began in 1994, and the property developed into a 155-acre arboretum and botanical garden with historic tree resources, geographic plant collections, and themed gardens.

  Source

1. 1Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Gardenen.wikipedia.org