Growing Green in Worthington

Since 1803, when its founders set aside land for a village green, open spaces and gardens have been an important part of life in Worthington. From the iconic hanging baskets that have adorned city streetlamps since 1992 to the community’s love of trees and its long-running garden clubs, Worthington’s citizens brandish a collective green thumb. Our spring exhibit highlights some of the groups and people who have played a key role in the development of natural spaces.

Worthington’s dedication to flowers and trees is evident along its main street, where, since 1992, the city has displayed hanging baskets of flowers throughout summer. More than 100 baskets filled with begonias and vines line High Street and adorn the municipal building and the service & engineering building, which houses the department responsible for maintaining them.

This commitment to botanical beautification also extends to trees. Since 1989, Worthington has earned the national Tree City USA designation for its investment in healthy and abundant trees city-wide. Worthington’s trees provide shade, beauty, benefits to wildlife and even the city’s infrastructure, as they help lessen the impact of air pollution and flooding.

Worthington is also home to long-running garden clubs. The Worthington Hills Garden Club has been active since 1967; before there were even many homes in the Worthington Hills neighborhood, the club was planting flowers around the entrance sign. The Worthington Garden Club has been active since 1929, and among its many activities are plant sales and shows, educational programs for the public and maintaining a historic garden at the Orange Johnson House.

The city also boasts its fair share of green-thumbed residents. Virdre Laws, Sr. was known throughout Worthington and central Ohio for his remarkable garden; across the decades, it won awards, was the subject of newspaper articles and even a segment on WBNS-TV in the '80s (which, sadly, has been lost to time). Throughout the mid-20th century, Bernice Warner Letson ran a hugely profitable international business from the backyard of her South Street home, selling earthworm castings to gardeners. And Harry O’Brien was known all over the country for his column in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener. He ran an experimental garden on West Wilson Bridge Road and consulted on innumerable Victory Garden projects during World War II.

Whether you enjoy digging in the dirt or relaxing in the shade, spring gardening in Worthington has much to offer; scroll on to enjoy the city’s horticultural bounty!