Mary's Garden and the Sweet Gum Nature Trail are open for self guided walks during daylight hours.

Guided tours of the Nature Trail and Kingfisher Cabin are offered the first Wednesday of each month at 11 a.m., weather permitting.

Mary's Garden

Mary's Garden was established in 1991 in memory of Macon artist Mary Essie Scruggs Hulgan (1920-1991), a well known watercolorist.

Her painting "A Basket of Love" was selected for the National Watercolor Exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta. In 1995, the Museum of Arts and Sciences hosted a retrospective show of her works, and her painting "Playmates" is featured in the Museums permanent collection.

Mary Hulgan's children, Joy, Jan, Jil and Jef, initiated the funding for what soon became Mary's Garden at the Museum of Arts and Sciences. Central to the garden is Young Pan, a statue by local artist Marshall Dougherty, a gift from The Middle Georgia Art Association.

Frank Funderburke, former Bibb County Extension Agent and Master Gardener, designed and laid out the handicapped accessible path. After that, donations, numerous gifts of flowers, bulbs and trees, as well as countless volunteer hours brought the garden to fruition.

In Mary's Garden, there are hand carved benches inspired by Mary Hulgan's artwork.

Daffodils, iris, gardenia, forsythia, azalea, hyacinth, Confederate jasmine, Japanese and Southern magnolia, Yoshino cherry trees, tulip poplar, and crepe myrtle are a few of the flowers, trees, and beautiful plants abounding in this peaceful garden.

Georgia Power Sweet Gum Trail and
Elam Alexander Outdoor Classroom

Offering visitors a wonderful view of native plants and animals, a pond, and the historic Kingfisher Cabin, the writing retreat of Henry Stillwell Edward, the Georgia Power Sweet Gum Trail is available for guided and unguided tours.  Both the nature trail and outdoor classroom are used for educational programming.