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The lush blooms create a living tapestry beneath dogwoods and redbuds. Tinted with pink, red and white hues, thousands of azaleas awaken each spring, beckoning Richmonders to come enjoy their short-lived beauty at Bryan Park.
Situated at the city park’s southeastern edge, the masses of flowers have dazzled visitors for decades and, for the rest of the month, will be on full display.
People can walk through the 17-acre garden every day from sunrise to dusk. This year, however, the park is offering a special opportunity for guests to drive through the azalea garden loop one day a week.
“We talked the city into letting us open the gate on Sundays,” says Janet Woody, a volunteer with Friends of Bryan Park. “It’s only a big deal because the gate is usually locked, so people usually have to park and walk.” Each Sunday in April this year, the gate will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for drivers.
Friends of Bryan Park has worked for years to help restore the space to its original splendor. Volunteers roam through the grounds with pruners to tidy up the land, especially from invasive plant species. “We try to take invasive plants off the azaleas,” Woody says. “Porcelain berry, honeysuckle and white mulberry grow all over the azaleas and smother them.”
As the group members work, they often uncover new azaleas or find skeletons of old ones. “Last year we tried to prune everything we could find,” Woody says. “There were newly discovered ones that we uncovered a lot of this winter.”
Volunteers also keep an eye out for azaleas that might be partially hidden in the overgrowth. “This time of year, we walk around and see blooms inside all the weedy vines,” Woody says. “Sometimes you’ll see a little bloom and say, ‘Let’s go save that!’”
Bryan Park azaleas at their peak between 1960-70 (Photo courtesy Friends of Bryan Park)
In the past, visiting the beautiful azalea garden was considered a rite of spring in the city. Families, friends and couples would flock to the park to enjoy the colorful blooms, an eagerly anticipated event made possible by one man.
Robert Harvey, former superintendent of grounds and structures for the Richmond Department of Parks and Recreation, first attempted to create an azalea garden in Forest Hill Park during the late 1940s, but the plants, finicky about the soil, failed to thrive. After careful consideration, he planted azaleas at Bryan Park a few years later.
Harvey received a donation of 5,000 azaleas from the Norfolk Botanical Garden to establish the garden in Richmond. He meticulously designed the space and often journeyed around the city asking residents for azalea clippings, which were also planted.
The Bryan Park Azalea Gardens pond on the cover of “A Traveler’s Guide to North American Gardens” (Image courtesy Friends of Bryan Park)
The azalea garden was officially established in 1952 and quickly became a top Richmond destination. During its heyday in the 1960s and ’70s, as many as 400,000 visitors each spring would travel great distances just to see the spectacular display, which at one point featured over 50,000 azaleas.
The garden fell into disorder during the 1980s when maintenance ceased. A decade later, however, volunteers were inspired to save the shrubs. “A lot of people remembered how beautiful it was,” Woody says. Last year, Friends of Bryan Park created three new beds, but most of the azaleas are the originals.
While there’s still much to be done, the group has accomplished a lot and is excited for people to come see this iconic natural landmark — an experience bound to forge lasting memories for a new generation.
“People have memories of it, probably, because their mothers and grandmothers would want to go look at the azaleas,” Woody says. “It’s a typical Richmond plant people put in front of their houses. It’s a very Richmond thing.”
