Twenty minutes and 100 years south of Wichita, the Bartlett Arboretum greets visitors to the peaceful Kansas community of Belle Plaine.

The privately owned tree plantation has been a growing attraction since Dr. Walter E. Bartlett transformed the 15 acres of flat, once-treeless property in 1910. Following his death in 1937, Bartlett’s son, Glenn, continued his father’s horticulture legacy, bringing to the arboretum his passion for French gardens and landscapes. In 1997, Bartlett Arboretum became the unexpected des­tination of Texas teacher and founding Dixie Chicks singer Robin Macy, who stumbled upon the prized plantation while traveling across Kansas.

“I had never owned a piece of property in my life, but I saw a for-sale sign and let myself in the gate,” Macy says. “It was like The Secret Garden – jumbled up and a little broken, but it had a fabulous spirit about it.”

A geometry teacher at Wichita Collegiate School, Macy now devotes her spare time to restoring Bartlett Arboretum and relies on generous volunteers like the Soil Sisters – a group of women who regularly tend portions of the property. Macy has reinstated weddings and concerts in the arbore­tum’s gardens and made it available for business events and garden clubs. Fundraisers help support the arbore­tum, including the annual Summer Solstice Garden Party. That event brings more than 300 Kansans out for a night of croquet, Southern food and music, the latter of which Macy remains pas­sionate about 10 years after trading in the spotlight for a shovel. Her new CD, Songs from the Garden, was inspired by reflections on her country and com­munity and a passionate call to steward the now revitalized arboretum.

“This is just a beautiful place where generations of Wichitans have enjoyed a Sunday drive for the soul,” Macy says. “It speaks to a lot of people.”