Features

Check out our current features, and get a taste of what is to come!

• A native pollinator garden:  This garden, with three garden rooms, will be planted entirely with plants native to South Central Indiana.

  • Garden room 1: The first garden room, planted May 1, 2021, highlights the plants themselves.  Be sure to check out the art installation "Faces" made by Ivy Tech students!  Eventually we will have identification signs in this garden to help you know what each plant is!

  • Garden room 2: The middle garden room, planted in spring of 2022, is the children's educational garden. 

    •  Features include:

      • A science touch table with fun finds from the Outdoor Learning Lab

      • An outdoor ball run

      • Root viewing stations 

      • A weaving gate (with ribbon in a mailbox next to the gate)

      • A gravel pit for truck/ dino play (Please bring your own truck or dino toys)

      • A trio of playhouses for imaginative play

      • The floor is lava obstacle course

      • A few benches for families to relax while the little ones play.

  • Garden room 3: The last garden room, planted in fall of 2022, is a wildlife garden, featuring a butterfly garden, a hummingbird garden, and a bee garden.  Relax under the arches or watch the bees pick up some pollen!

• Bees: What good is a pollinator garden without pollinators?

  • Honey Bee hive: Honey bees are critical to pollinate our food crops, yet are in decline; hit hard by a variety of pressures, such as colony collapse disorder.  Check out the bees visiting our plants, or the hive - just don't get too close!  (Note: When entering the Outdoor Learning Lab, the garden is to the right, and the bee hive is a ways to the left.  It is not visible in the garden, so if you have curious children but sting allergies, you can still play in the garden without your little ones even knowing a beehive is present!).  

    • 2026: Our bees sadly did not make it, so at the moment we do not have a beehive in the lab.

  • Native pollinators: Even before we got our honey bee hive, our garden was a buzz with native pollinators.  Native pollinators are solitary, so don't have a hive to defend, so you have to be squeezing them in your hands to get them to sting!  Be sure to check out the native bee habitat and art wall at the end of the garden, crafted and installed by our Fine Arts program!  For more information about the history of this garden feature as well as some fun activities you can try yourself, check out the "Native Bee Habitat" page!

• Wooded trail: Take a walk on the trail through our 6.2 acre woods.  We have six trails in our woods, plus an extension into the northern portion of the arboretum.  A trail map is coming soon!

• A native tree arboretum: Enjoy a walk in the shade of our 34 native trees planted in spring of 2023.  Use the QR codes to connect to student made informational websites about each tree that include activities to help families learn more, and better connect with, trees!   For more information or to learn about the trees before visiting, check out the "Arboretum" page.  Or, use the QR codes on the tree markers to learn more about each tree, as well as some fun activities to learn more about trees!

• Forest Classroom: Attend a program in our forest classroom!

• Coming soon: Our pond: Although our pond goes dry during periods of low rain, at some times of the year it is full of water and teaming with amphibians.  Head out on the floating dock to do a little frog spotting!

• Coming soon: Picnic Pavilion: Picnic in our picnic pavilion while enjoying the view of our gardens.

• Coming soon: Bird Blinds: Explore the various species of birds found in the Outdoor Learning Lab!