For a few weeks each spring, a quiet Guilford square becomes the tulip capital of Baltimore. Sherwood Gardens — six acres of formal gardens around Stratford Green — erupts with some 80,000 tulips in swirling beds, framed by flowering dogwoods, azaleas and rare trees. In a city famous for rowhouse marble steps, this explosion of color is Baltimore’s beloved spring ritual.
The gardens began in the 1920s as the passion project of oil executive John W. Sherwood, who imported bulbs from the Netherlands and opened his private Eden to everyone. Today a foundation keeps the tradition — gardens open year-round, but tulip season (typically peaking in late April) is the main event, drawing picnicking families and photographers at dawn.
Sherwood Gardens sits at Stratford Road and Greenway in Guilford, free and open to the public. It’s a residential garden — visit gently, stay on the paths, and bring a blanket, not a crowd.
