The Cann Memorial Botanical Gardens (4 hectares / 10 acres) are botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

s located at 1500 East Grand Avenue, Ponca City, Oklahoma

Ponca City, Oklahoma

Ponca City is a small city in Kay and Osage counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which was named after the Ponca Tribe. Located in north central Oklahoma, it lies approximately south of the Kansas border, and approximately east of Interstate 35. 25,919 people called Ponca City home at the...

, USA.

In 1975 the Lester A. Cann private home (circa 1908) and gardens were donated to Ponca City by Elsie Cann Brown, daughter of L.A. and Mary Cann. Lester A. Cann was a civic leader in Ponca City, serving over 25 years as a commissioner and City Manager

Council-manager government

The council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...

. The estate was donated with the stipulation that it would be maintained as a memorial garden for the residents of Ponca City.

Workshops and seminars are held in the magnificent two-story prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 home. Renovations were completed in 1977, including 2,500 feet of brick walkways. Visitors may stroll under a wisteria

Wisteria

Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Aquarists refer to the species Hygrophila difformis, in the family Acanthaceae, as Water Wisteria...

 arbor, past a gazebo

Gazebo

A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...

, around a lily pond, and through beds of perennials, herbs and annuals

Annuals

Annuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence....

. More than 70 species of trees have been planted since 1980.

The garden is open to visitors 7 days a week, and there is no charge for visiting. A garden employee is present on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to answer questions concerning the plants, flowers, and trees in the garden.

Ponca City's Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Garden Club hosts an annual herb festival on the grounds of the Cann Memorial Botanical Gardens. One of the region's premier events, the Ponca City Herb Festival was founded by club member Mary Anne Potter in 1993. Attendance is estimated to average well over 20,000. Plants, primitive bird houses, yard ornaments, potting sheds, quilts, herbal vinegars and oils, handmade baskets, candles, soaps, furniture, potpourris, stoneware, and much more are provided by over 95 vendors from Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

.