WHITE RIVER GARDENS

WHITE RIVER GARDENS INDIANAPOLIS ZOO 

1200 West Washington Street 

Indianapolis, IN

The Herb Society of Central Indiana partners with the White River Gardens of the Indianapolis Zoo to create a beautiful and fragrant herb garden. We are the only garden club to design, plant, and maintain a garden within the Design Gardens. Since 2000, our volunteers have primarily maintained the garden, while horticulture staff assists with watering, mulching, and produces our signage. 

We started in the Sunken Garden. When it became too shady, we moved one garden north, to what had been the Secret Garden. Large shrubs were removed, and we gained a sunny spot and a brick wall for vines. We added a raised planter along one edge that is wheel chair accessible. It features herbs that encourage touching and smelling. We have four Design Pots in front of the brick wall. Each is changed annually and designed by local designers and nurseries, featuring the Herb of the Year when possible. They provide attractive ideas for those with less garden space. 

We enjoy sharing our herb knowledge with Zoo visitors and often share the scents of lemon balm or one of our mints or thymes. We especially like to show children “how” to smell an herb. We provide a list (botanical and common names) of our over 100 plants, and use ephemeral signage to point out featured blooms and plants.