(Des Moines, IA) -- Hundreds of lilac bushes are blooming at a Des Moines park. The Ewing Park Lilac Arboretum is expected to peak over the next two weeks. Des Moines Park and Rec says there are more than 100-lilac varieties in the park in the 53-hundred block of Indianola Road on the city's south side.
Harry Piper Parkway will be open to vehicles one way only from Indianola Road west to McKinley Avenue. The lilac overlook parking area will be open daily 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In 1937, the former 357-acre Ewing Farm became the city’s largest public park. The City of Des Moines dedicated and began developing 35 acres of the park to a future lilac garden in 1939 and the arboretum first opened for public enjoyment in 1947.