The Helen Avalynne Tawes Garden

Sometimes referred to as “Annapolis’s best kept secret” the Tawes Garden is nestled amid state government office buildings that include the headquarters of the Department of Natural Resources. The garden is named in honor of Mrs. J. Millard Tawes, a former first lady of Maryland. She and Governor Tawes were the state’s gracious hosts from 1959-1967.

Sprouting from a flat cinder lot in 1975, the garden has matured into an Annapolis destination with representations of the state’s various geographic areas featured in this five-acre garden in the heart of the city. In addition to pleasant ponds and many cultivated plantings, the barrier-free garden has a “Maryland-in-miniature” theme containing a Western Maryland forest, a streamside environment and an Eastern Shore peninsula.