Highland Park--Rochester, NY
Posted by: 
MrsMcFly
N 43° 07.928 W 077° 36.557
18T E 287773 N 4778793
Site of the world known Lilac Festival
Waymark Code: WM1DHH
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2007
Views: 240
Highland Park is a beautiful park located in Rochester, NY. It offers the Lilac Festival each May, featuring games, crafts, food, music (often located at Highland Bowl) and of course, lilacs. There are over 500 species of lilacs represented by 1,200 shrubs, over a 22 acres area.
The Laberton Conservatory has a collection of plants from around the world. Exhibits change 5 times a year, featuring seasonal floral displays and unique plantings. Hours for the conservatory are from 10:00AM-4:00PM.
Admission is: Free-5 and under; $1.00-6-18 yrs., seniors 62 yrs. and up; $2.00-19-61 yrs. Call 585-753-7270 for more information.
The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The land had been donated by 2 nurserymen, George Ellwanger & Patrick Barry. Their vision was for Highland Park to become an arboretum and they donated specimens of every shrub and tree growing in their nursery to form the core of the abroetum.
The Landmark Society has a map of a walking tour of the park, which can be found at their website:
Landmark Society
Located in the park is Warner Castle Sunken Garden, designed by Alling Stephen DeForest for Rochester attorney and newspaper editor Horatio Gates Warner. The castled Gothic-styled residence is presently the headquarters of the Rochester Civic Garden Center. The sunken garden is a popular site for wedding photographs and can be reserved by calling 585-753-7275 or using their on-line reservation system at the link below.