Miller Nature Preserve

(440) 937-0764

Miller Nature Preserve rests on 145 acres of woodlands in the heart of Avon. Visitors can find a visitor center featuring a café, gift shop, and event hall. The highlight of this preserve is the 5,000 sq. foot Conservatory, the first in Lorain County. Bring your family, friends, and camera to capture the beauty inside and outside.

THE CONSERVATORY

Highlighting the Miller Nature Preserve is the Conservatory, which displays various plant specimens from all over the world. This indoor oasis features an orchid collection donated in part by Dr. Ibrahim Eren of Lorain, in addition to an assortment of long-lived bonsai and jades. Other plant species include a variety of succulents, bromeliads, ferns, palms, cycads, and other tropical plants. Visit us regularly to see new plants in bloom as well as seasonal displays.

THE COLLECTIONS:

Orchid Collection

This collection features the magnificent and ever changing arrangement of orchids from around the world. Various orchid specimens including: cattleya, phalaenopsis, dendrobium, oncidium, vanda, cymbidium, and paphiopedilum.

Bonsai Collection

Exhibiting the 13th century Oriental art of bonsai, our collection emphasizes miniature clouds of foliage on contorted stems that make these plants appear to be ancient. Tropical, as well as temperate region, bonsai are well represented with traditional forms displayed including cascade, forest, windswept, and others.

Palms, Ferns and Cycads

This collection features an array of terrestrial and epiphytic ferns, tree ferns, and palms from both temperate and tropical regions, many of which date back to prehistoric times.

Bromeliads

This display spotlights the colorful flowers and showy bracts of these beautiful and fascinating epiphytes from tropical America.

Desert Collection

This collection features arid region plants and succulents like cacti, agaves, aloe, and many others displayed in a natural setting. This unique setup identifies plants from the old world and new.

Carnivorous Plant Collection

The conservatory hosts the tropical vine-like pitcher plants, of varying sizes. The outside bog features an intriguing assortment of sundews, flytraps, and pitcher plants that are indigenous to the United States.

Seasonal Displays

Our seasonal collection changes several times a year to feature a new theme to reflect the season. Visit each season to see the notable plants that portray each season.

PHOTOGRAPHY OPPORTUNITIES

For info and permits call (440) 937-0764

Miller Nature Preserve, Conservatory, and gardens are the perfect settings to capture your memorable moments. This versatile location allows for endless possibilities.

1-Hour Photography Permits

• Outdoor Photography Permit (available 9 am-5 pm): FREE

• Conservatory Photography Permit (available 10 am-4 pm, up to 20 individuals): $75

  Your count of individuals should include the photographer(s) and any persons required to enter the Conservatory for the session.

Additional hours may be available at the manager’s discretion. The Conservatory will remain open to the public.

Miller Nature Preserve is a public park. Photo Permits do not grant your group exclusive access to any portion of the building or grounds during public hours (10 am-5 pm daily). 

The Conservatory is climate-controlled by an automated system; the timing of regulatory controls (including temperature, humidity, ventilation, and air movement) will not be adjusted to accommodate photo permits.

The Conservatory and grounds host a rotation of thematic displays on a seasonal basis. Removal/relocation of any decorations, furniture, interpretive signage or other items is prohibited.

THE VISITOR CENTER

The visitor center includes a gift shop, cafe, demonstration kitchen, and an outdoor patio. Check the Arrowhead for summer music, cooking classes, and other events.

Many aspects of the facility have followed and incorporated some of the LEED (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design- Green Building Rating System) guidelines. Some of the features include water conservation, conserving construction materials, decreased heat emission, site design, and many aspects of energy conservation especially within the Conservatory.

The Orchid Café

(440) 937-0898 | **Open Seasonally (Memorial Day through Labor Day)**

The Orchid Café serves lunch favorites inside the Orchid Room overlooking the gardens or on the outdoor patio. You’ll find your time here invigorating thanks to the quiet setting and delicious offerings. Check out our menu and plan your visit today!

BUTTERFLY HOUSE

The Butterfly House is free and is open seasonally from mid-June through Labor Day.

Hours: daily 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m.; weather dependent

Come and walk among the butterflies. Witness the life cycle from caterpillar to butterfly, learn which plants attract them, and ideas for creating your own backyard butterfly garden.

Become a Butterfly Buddy for a $10 donation.  You receive a wooden ornament to decorate and display in the butterfly house, pin, activities, stickers, butterfly and garden information, and a ticket for a butterfly feeding.  The money helps to purchase chrysalis which become butterflies for the butterfly house.

HISTORY

Miller Nature Preserve opened to the public in May 2011. However, this park project began in 1999 when Buddy Miller, a longtime resident of Avon, donated 55 acres of property in memory of his late wife, Alice Fowles. She was an avid painter and gardener, and together the couple developed perennial gardens around their home.

Miller Nature Preserve now boasts over 88 acres of woodlands. Come enjoy outdoor gardens, a peaceful patio, butterfly house, event venue, Orchid Café, and the highlight of the park—the Conservatory.