Alice Ijams' presence still felt at Homesite

Tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium) and, in the background,
European boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Our policy at Ijams Nature Center is to plant native plants and remove non-natives.

Orange Asian daylily
(Hemerocallis fulva)

But there is a location where this is waived. For over 50 years, horticulturist Alice Ijams lived with her family on the Homesite—the western 20-acres of the park—and many of the popular cultivated plants of that era can still be found there.

We leave them alone as a tribute to her influence on our park and the early Knoxville garden club movement.

Around the Homesite, look for Lenten roses, European boxwood, crape myrtle and, at this time of the year, blooming tiger and orange Asian daylilies.

Several of the slow-growing, evergreen boxwoods can be found around the Serendipity Trail and Miller Building.

- Text and photos by Stephen Lyn Bales