Blue Springs-area garden now owned by Powell Gardens in Kingsville
Two Kansas City-area gardens are merging under one ownership starting immediately.
Powell Gardens, the botanical garden located in Kingsville 40 miles southeast of Kansas City, announced in a press release Thursday that it has acquired Colonial Gardens, a Blue Springs garden center. As a result, Colonial Gardens will take a new name: Powell Gardens Colonial Farms.
The name preserves the traditions of the garden, 27610 E. Wyatt Road, while “expanding hands-on learning opportunities for families, students, gardeners, and agricultural professionals in the Kansas City area,” according to the press release.
A celebration will take place March 20-21 at Powell Gardens, 1609 NW US Highway 50.
“This is about honoring what people already love while building something even greater for the future,” said Cody Jolliff, CEO of Powell Gardens, in a statement. “Colonial Gardens has deep roots in this community. By bringing it into the Powell Gardens family as Powell Gardens Colonial Farms, we’re preserving a local legacy and expanding access to education, nature, and meaningful outdoor experiences for generations to come.”
The merger comes a year after Kansas City-based DCA Outdoor, a green industry organization that owned Colonial Gardens, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2025.
The now-Powell Gardens Colonial Farms, 27610 E. Wyatt Road, will become a key extension of Powell Gardens’ Midwest Center for Regenerative Agriculture, the press release says. It will act as a hub for hands-on learning and environmental stewardship.
Some of the programming visitors can expect from the revamped Colonial Farms include school field trips, native plant workshops, orcharding and sustainable farming. Community classes for home gardeners and hobby farmers are also expected to take place.
Activities that happened at Colonial Gardens like you-pick berries, flower cutting, the garden center and shopping experience, family-friendly festivals and Whistle Stop Coffee will continue to happen under its new ownership.
“We’re honored to support this major step in furthering Powell Gardens’ mission to inspire appreciation for the importance of the land and plants in our lives and to serve the Kansas City community for generations to come,” the Powell Family Foundation said in a statement.
