[3] Across the park's 90 acres are six gardens dedicated to specific plants or styles, a greenhouse, two playgrounds, shaded lawns, natural areas, a baseball field, splash pad and a small food and drink stand.

[4] The park hosts numerous community events throughout the year including plant sales, art shows, concerts and a holiday light display.

[6] While the park does gradually gain elevation heading north to south, it is not uniform as the area is very hilly throughout.

Newspaperman and entrepreneur Francis Cook purchased 160 acres of land on the South Hill and named the area Montrose after the wild roses which grew there.

Cook financed the Spokane and Montrose Motor Railroad, a streetcar connection to downtown meant to entice homebuyers to the area.

[11] Today some remnants of the zoo can still be seen, such as an iron bar sticking out of a rock that was once part of the bear cages.

A formal 3-acre (1.2 ha) European Renaissance-style garden with a large granite fountain at the center and a gazebo at the south end.

Planting typically begins in May and the gardens are maintained until the arrival of regular frost in October or November.

After the zoo closed the area sat vacant until 1940, when John Duncan designed a garden for perennial plants.

The to southernmost wings and central dome are now open to the public and feature a variety of tropical and desert plants not suited to Spokane's climate, while the three northern wings still serve to grow plants and flowers for other areas of the park.

[21] The garden features a large koi pond fed by an artificial waterfall and traversed by a bridge surrounded by numerous varieties of Japanese trees and sculptures.

Flanked by colonnades on the north and south ends of the garden, Rose Hill is a popular venue for photography and weddings.

Prior to development of Rose Hill, the site was home to a spring-fed pond and the elk and moose exhibit at the Manito Park zoo before it was closed in 1932.

It is located in the northwestern portion of the park, below and to the north of Rose Hill and otherwise surrounded by areas largely left to nature.

[10] In the park's early days the pond was sometimes referred to as a lake and was advertised for its recreational opportunities and deemed to be safe as it was only two and a half feet deep.

As a result, in 1912 the city secured the northern and western limits of the pond and over the years gradually filled in the eastern section.

That process was completed in 1974, as part of city beautification efforts ahead of hosting Expo '74, with the construction of a concrete wall along what is now the eastern end of Mirror Pond.

[29] In addition to the gardens, Manito Park features broad grass lawns, some under a canopy of shade trees and others open to the sun, and areas that have been largely left to nature.

[4] During the summer months, the Park Bench Cafe is open daily selling food and beverages.

The Friends of Manito host plant sales every spring with proceeds benefiting the park.

[32] The Friends of Manito also put on an art festival in the park on a June Saturday and in the weeks leading up to Christmas create a walk-through light display.

[33] On Friday evenings during the summer months, free concerts are held at the Park Bench Cafe.