Dallas Arboretum: Dallas, Texas By Jennifer Claerr on Feb 13, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

After nearly two years of membership, my family has established the Dallas Arboretum as one of our favorite stops.

There are a number of professionally designed tree-houses dotted around the Arboretum. The tree-houses were designed with respect for nature in mind; none of them touches the tree which it surrounds.

The Dallas Arboretum is in bloom year-round, even in the winter. The attention to detail at the Arboretum is far greater than at the Fort Worth Botanical Garden. There is a ceaseless effort to keep the Arboretum fresh and in bloom. I took hundreds of photographs of many beautiful flowers and plants, such as the red Hibiscus, the yellow Shrimp Plant, the blue Wishbone Flower, and the pink Chrysanthemum. There is a reflecting pool surrounded by sculpture and natural beauty.

Tours of the DeGolyer House are available, as is tram transport across much of the Arboretum. Gardens include the DeGolyer Garden, the Jonsson Color Garden, the Lay Ornamental Garden, the Boswell Family Garden, the McCasland Sunken Garden, the Paseo de Flores Garden, the Palmer Fern Dell, and A Woman's Garden I and II. A virtual tour of these gardens is available on the DallasArboretum.org website. I highly recommend this popular vacation destination.