Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary
Encyclopedia
Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary (3 acres) are non-profit gardens and a bird sanctuary located at 248 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

. They are open several hours a week, year-round; admission is by donation ($5 recommended for adults).

The garden was begun in 1927 by Elizabeth and Edwin Clarkson around their house. In 1970 they donated it to the Wing Haven Foundation. The Clarksons remained in the home until 1988.

The garden plan resembles a Cross of Lorraine
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine is originally a heraldic cross. The two-barred cross consists of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. In the ancient version, both bars were of the same length. In 20th century use it is "graded" with the upper bar being the shortest...

 with its long path crossed by two shorter, perpendicular paths, and the house sited between the shorter paths. It contains a number of pools and fountains, and is well-planted with a wide variety of ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. The garden also contains an English sundial
Sundial
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...

 from 1705, various terra cotta
Terra cotta
Terracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic, although the term can also be applied to glazed ceramics where the fired body is porous and red in color...

 pieces, a plaque with a poem by Japanese pacifist and reformer Toyohiko Kagawa
Toyohiko Kagawa
thumb|right|200px|At Princeton Theological Seminarythumb|right|200px|Great Kantō earthquake, 1923thumb|right|200px|In America, 1935 was a Japanese Christian pacifist, Christian reformer, and labour activist. Kagawa wrote, spoke, and worked at length on ways to employ Christian principles in the...

, and a statue of Saint Fiacre, patron saint of gardeners.

In 2000, the National Register of Big Trees
National Register of Big Trees
The National Register of Big Trees is a list of the largest living specimens of each tree variety found in the continental United States. A tree on this list is often called a National Champion Tree....

 recognized the garden's chastetree (Vitex
Vitex
Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae Martynov, nom. cons. . It has about 250 species. Its type species is Vitex agnus-castus. There is no universal English name, though "chastetree" is common for many species...

agnus-castus
) as the largest within the United States.

See also

  • Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary (3 acres) are non-profit gardens and a bird sanctuary located at 248 Ridgewood Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina. They are open several hours a week, year-round; admission is $6 per non-member adult.


The garden was begun in 1927 by Elizabeth and Edwin Clarkson around their house. In 1970 they donated it to the Wing Haven Foundation. The Clarksons remained in the home until 1988.

The garden plan resembles a Cross of Lorraine with its long path crossed by two shorter, perpendicular paths, and the house sited between the shorter paths. It contains a number of pools and fountains, and is well-planted with a wide variety of ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. The garden also contains an English sundial from 1705, various terra cotta pieces, a plaque with a poem by Japanese pacifist and reformer Toyohiko Kagawa, and a statue of Saint Fiacre, patron saint of gardeners.

In 2000, the National Register of Big Trees recognized the garden's chastetree (Vitex agnus-castus) as the largest within the United States.

External links

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