Gardens

Arboretum Garden & Features

The Horticultural Gardens and Displays at The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky provide visitors with year-round color and change throughout each season. In the gardens you will see a large and diverse community of plants from around the globe. We partner with horticultural clubs and groups, University of Kentucky professionals, and plant breeders to bring the newest selections of annuals, perennials, roses, trees, and shrubs to the gardens at The Arboretum. You will find many of these inter-planted with proven favorites that thrive here in the Bluegrass.

The gardens at The Arboretum are designed to stimulate your olfactory and visual senses--fragrances, colors, textures and forms abound--and are a contemplative place to observe the natural environment. If you are looking for ideas for your own yard and gardens, visit our gardens for inspiration.

The Horticultural Gardens are composed of a collection of smaller gardens. These include the Home Demonstration Garden (further divided into garden rooms such as Woodland Shade Garden, Pond Garden, Herb Garden, Vegetable Garden, Pollinator Garden, etc.), the Flight 5191 Memorial Rose Garden, the Fragrance Garden, the Perennial Teaching Garden, the Witch Hazel Dell, and displays along paths throughout the core garden area surrounding at the Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitor Center.

Ever wonder how to use Garden Explorer to locate trees, plants or memorials? Click here to watch a short video on how easy it is to use!