The Bonnie H. Smith Prayer Garden

Location: Surrounding Hayworth Chapel

Featured plants: Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) and Sally Holmes climbing rose cover the arbor, Cape jessamine (Gardenia), sweetbox (Sarcococca), and daphne (Daphne) perfume the garden

History: One of the Arboretum’s original gardens, the Chapel Meditation Garden is a place of inspiration and reflection. Visitors can pause under the beautiful arbor overlooking a serene fountain.  In recent years the gardens have been enhanced with the addition of bulbs, many new flowering shrubs and perennials which primarily flower white.  In winter of 2013-14 a renovation of the eastern side of the chapel added many white-flowering plants which also tend to have fragrance.  

Devoted affiliates of Hayworth Chapel made this garden a reality, and it has become a popular place for weddings and a respite for reflection on campus. The garden is home to white camellias, gardenias, roses, peonies, confederate jasmine, and a variety of weeping flowering apricot called ‘Bridal Veil’. The garden includes a fountain, a gift from the Student Government Association from 2002-2004, as well as the Memorial Lamp, a gift from the Class of 2014, which hangs beneath the arbor.