Six Secrets of the DABG
The Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Gardens are rich with history , culture and intrigue . Discover these little known secrets this summer … only a hop , skip and a jump away !
1 . The Lizard - Find this fella ( near the Hosta Show Gardens ) and find a great time ! The Lizard has been designed with whimsy and with families in mind . The sculpture offers the ultimate summer scavenge with varying degrees of difficulty . Test your nature sense .
2 . The Garden Room Gallery - Within the Heinemann Welcome Center you will find two original wall murals created by local artists Donna Slade and Renee Meyer . These beautiful murals were painted in 2008 to depict favorite DABG scenes .
Also on display is a winsome sculpture of a young boy and girl taking shelter under a large umbrella . The statue originally served as a fountain . It is one of two sculptures that survived the devastating flood of Union Park in 1919 .
offered the structures to the area ’ s non-profit organizations .
The DABG acquired several of these stately lamps and posts . They were sandblasted and rewired , and are now located in the entry and parking lot of the DABG .
6 . The Romance of the Lagen Gazebo Rings
Sixty-nine couples “ tied the knot ” at the DABG in 2015 . To date , sixty-nine reservations are booked for the 2016 season with many more scheduled in 2017 . The showy spirea hedges surrounding the gazebo are sculpted in the shape of traditional wedding rings and are visible from the Heinemann Center second floor viewing deck .
3 . Gruff ‘ n ’ Stuff - A children ’ s garden on the grounds portrays the well-loved tale of “ The Three Billy Goats Gruff .” Three goat brothers and a troll compose the primary characters in the story . The grisly troll figure displayed in the storybook garden was carved by a DABG volunteer years ago from the trunk of a fallen basswood tree found on the Loras College campus . Annually , the unsightly beast is soaked in old motor oil to preserve the wood and to keep the character good ‘ n ’ ugly .
4 . The Gospel Truth - DABG trail hikers are often surprised to come upon a child-size chapel nestled in the woods . This little white church is larger than a dollhouse , but “ smaller than the back of a pickup ,” says DABG Association President Jack Frick . It is also a great location to plan a photo shoot !
5 . The Glow by Evening - In the late 1800s and early 1900s , the streets of downtown Dubuque were lined with gas-operated lighting . Lamplighters moved from post to post in the early evening hours to light the lamps … and again by day to extinguish them .
In 1916 , the gas lights were changed-over to electric . Urban renewal necessitated the removal of the lampposts . The city
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