Champaign County Idea Garden

The Idea Garden, located on the University of Illinois Arboretum in Urbana at 2000 S. Lincoln Ave., is 18,000 square feet of planted space. Volunteers work more than 4,500 hours each year in the garden to provide a source of inspiration, relaxation, and continuing education for our community and its visitors. Since 1997, the Idea Garden has been maintained as an educational tool to demonstrate garden design and maintenance ideas, to encourage novice and experienced gardeners to experiment with new plants and techniques, and as a site for public workshops.

Visit our Full Website to find more information about the Idea Garden, including plant lists organized by section (North Border, South Border, East Border, West Border, Children's Garden, Serenity Garden, Vegetables and Herbs, Rock, Conifer and Crevice Garden, Gazebo Container Garden, The Photo Garden, Native Plant Garden, Trial Garden, Small Shrubs Garden, The Small Fruits Garden and The Rose Garden).
 

Colorful flowers at the Idea Garden

Demonstration Garden

The Idea Garden creates and demonstrates ideas for garden design and maintenance.
A group standing in front of a shed behind some flowers listening to a speaker

Champaign County Master Gardeners

Master Gardeners teach others how to care for and maintain plants in the garden.
A buckeye butterfly on top of orange flowers at the Idea Garden

Butterfly List

The Idea Garden attracts many species of butterfly. See which ones you might find during your visit.