Outdoor Fun at the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden

Looking for an outdoor spot that not only has beautiful scenery, but is also a place the whole family will enjoy? Then the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is the place for you.

Located in Owensboro, Kentucky, the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is an 8.5 acre garden that was donated to the city of Owensboro. When you arrive you will find a box to leave your admission fee. There is not a staffed entrance, so be sure to have cash on hand.

Every year in June they have a Daylily Festival, which this year they called the “Dazzling Daylily Celebration,” since they had to make some changes due to current restrictions. They had a map that showed where all of the attendees had traveled from to come to the celebration, and the kids enjoyed looking to see who had come the farthest.

There are two daylily gardens that provide many of the plants for the annual Daylily sale and contain around 500 different varieties. We were there at the perfect time, because peak bloom season is mid-June to mid-July, and some varieties will rebloom until the frost comes. You could dig your own daylilies for $15 or $20 depending on the variety.

Through this arch is a lovely rose garden with a fountain in the middle that makes for a perfect picture spot. The rose garden started with around 120 donated roses of different varieties and has grown over the years. The garden is surrounded by a 6 foot tall fence that was modeled after the fence in the rose garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

We had a hard time getting the kids to move on from the Rose Garden. They wanted to stay and enjoy the fountain.

Throughout the garden there are playful wind sculptures that were made by an artist named Lyman Whitaker. It wasn’t very windy when we were there, so we didn’t get to see them move too much, but they were still fun to look at.

The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is a big supporter of conservation and education as seen by the 16-foot Smartflower that you will find on your visit. The Smartflower is an all-in-one solar system that produces electricity that is used in the garden.

When the sun comes out the Smartflower automatically unfolds, turns toward the sun, and begins its magic. It will move throughout the day following the sun. The petals of the flower close up as the sun sets. This particular model can produce up to 3650 kWh per year and there is a monitor in the education classroom that displays the amount of electricity that is generated.

In the heart of the garden, you will find a gorgeous basket sculpture named “Bouquet for Marjorie.” This basket stands a commanding 21 feet tall, and holds an impressive 45,000 pounds of dirt. Another thing that makes it unique is that it’s also a sundial.

The Moonlite Children’s Garden is so much fun for kids! First of all, there’s a rainbow road. Hadassah was so excited about this part.

Silas is an amazing big brother and spent some time walking along the rainbow road with Hadassah, even though he probably would’ve rather explored other areas.

The Moonlite Children’s Garden is made up of several smaller gardens designed for kids to have fun while learning about nature. Hadassah also enjoyed finding fun places to sit down and take a break from the heat. This horseshoe loveseat was very unique!

And of course the butterfly chair was also a favorite! She didn’t want to let anyone else take a turn in this special seat.

Cullan was the first to discover these beautiful paintings, and was excited to see characters from Alice in Wonderland. He loves all things related to the arts, so he spent some time admiring the artwork and pointing out different things that he noticed.

There is also a Koi pond in the Moonlite Children’s Garden and we were impressed with how large some of the fish were. It’s a fun yet peaceful area and there’s a cute bridge nearby that the kids can cross.

I am always amazed at how many times we find Wizard of Oz related items when we travel. Cullan is the biggest Wizard of Oz fan and is always finding creative ways to tie the movie into our travels. Well, this time he didn’t have to try very hard. There is a yellow brick road that leads to an adorable little playhouse that is filled with toys and a kitchen for kids to learn how to cook with items from the garden. (I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of the yellow brick road, but you can see Cullan and the yellow brick road in our YouTube video HERE). The playhouse was closed during our visit due to current restrictions.

Cullan also loved the Mary Takahashi Japanese Memorial Garden and spent some time sitting and enjoying the peaceful setting. There is a Japanese stone lantern in the middle and to honor Japanese culture, the garden is not to be entered, but rather enjoyed from the outside.

The Kentucky Symbol and Quilt Garden includes several sculptures that represent different Kentucky symbols, plants special to Kentucky that are arranged in a quilt pattern. One of the Kentucky icons represented is Bill Monroe, who is known as the “Father of Bluegrass music.”

In the herb garden we were able to see some pineapple, which was a surprise! We didn’t know that pineapple would grow in Kentucky, so we were pleasantly surprised when we saw some in the citrus corner of the herb garden.

The kids were also surprised to see a big area of cactus growing in the herb garden too. They weren’t expecting to find cactus growing in Kentucky either.

The Western Kentucky Botanical Garden is a great place to spend a few hours outside with your family, taking a stroll and enjoying the beautiful scenery. For another look at our visit to the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden in Owensboro, Kentucky, check out our YouTube video below.

This is Day 2 of our trip, go HERE to read about Day 1 and our visit to Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana.

After our visit to the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden we made a stop at the largest known Sassafras tree in the world. It’s approximately 300 years old, and is located right in Owensboro. At one point the tree stood over 100 feet tall and is 21 feet in circumference. We noticed that it has been trimmed down quite a bit, but we still found it to be rather impressive since most sassafras trees only grow to be 30 to 50 feet tall, with a few topping 60 feet. If you’re in the area, plan to stop by this tree as well.

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