There’s a whole lot to Highland Park beyond lilacs, although the lilacs, themselves, are reason enough to visit.

Today I spent some time in the lesser known areas of the park. First, the tulip beds on South Ave., behind St. John’s home. These have some unusual tulips of all different colors and are visible from the road, but if you walk the area, you’ll also see a cannon from the battle of Manila Bay and, a few steps further, a children’s playground. Something for everyone.

Next I walked through a pretty wrought iron archway across the street from the Conservatory into Poet’s Garden. This garden was created in 1916 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Along the wooded path, there are some stone benches with Shakespearian quotes inscribed, but they are quite worn, and I couldn’t actually read many of the words. My favorite part was seeing the clumps of trillium in bloom.

The Poet’s Garden leads right to the Iris Garden. This is a newer garden and still a work in progress. Nothing was blooming, and many of the plants looked very young. I’d say it’s not ready for prime time yet, but I plan to go  back in future years to check out the progress.

Then there’s the rhododendrons, azaleas, all the flowering trees and the pinetum. I’ll have to save those for another day.