2505 ConservatoryDrive - Indianapolis - Indiana - 46203
Winter Hours: 10am - 5pm Daily: Oct 11 - Apr 22
Summer Hours: 10am - 9pm Daily: Apr 23/ - Oct 10
For safety reasons, the Sunken Garden may remain locked during inclement weather conditions. Animals must always remain on a controlled leash within the park.
The Sunken Garden includes three acres of European classical formal gardens. The garden's graceful historic fountains, paved walkways and benches throughout the landscape, make it a gorgeous and relaxing retreat from city life. The gardens are planted with three different seasonal displays a year. Both the gardens and the conservatory are completely handicap accessible.
GARDEN RENOVATIONS:
* Please note that the fountains will be undergoing some major renovations
this spring (2010) that may cause certain areas of the Sunken Garden
to be dug up or large equipment to be present.
Most of the renovations will be located between the north small fountain and the central main fountain. We fully intend to have the renovations completed by May, but due to the age and extensive scope of work we are unable to guarantee that the renovations will be completed on time.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause on your visit to Garfield Park. *
SUNKEN GARDEN HISTORY
On October 29, 1916 the Sunken Garden was dedicated and opened to the public. Like the Conservatory, the Sunken Garden was built by the design of respected German landscape architect George Edward Kessler. It included brick walks, three lighted fountains and concretes vases at the walk intersections seen in the picture belowBy the end of the 1930's the Sunken Garden had grown and matured. The plantings were lush, but their general layout still conformed to Kessler's original formal design. The formal gardens were originally surrounded by outlying informal perennial planting beds and curving fish ponds that are no longer present (below).Today the areas that were formerly outlying perennial beds are now large formal turf areas used frequently throughout the warmer months for wedding ceremonies and an ongoing summer concert series known as Music in the Garden. There are 3 main floral displays that change each year in the Sunken Garden: spring tulips which generally peak in mid-April, summer annuals that peak June-August and fall mums that flower in September and October.
Heard about "Keep What You Pull Day"?
