Public Gardens & Wildlife Spaces
If you'd like to escape the crowds and get in touch with nature, there are many spaces in Johnson County where you can do just that. Whether it's experiencing beautiful landscapes, getting gardening tips from the experts or enjoying family-friendly activities, these public gardens and wildlife spaces offer something for the nature lover in all of us.
Public Garden Tours
Behind the Garden Gates: A Rare Look Inside Johnson County’s Most Inspiring Private Landscapes
Every other summer, visitors get a rare opportunity to step beyond the garden gate and explore six private landscapes usually closed to the public during the Johnson County Extension Master Gardeners’ biennial Public Garden Tour.
Maintained by passionate gardeners, these spaces showcase a remarkable diversity of style. From vibrant native plant sanctuaries alive with pollinators to romantic French country gardens, whimsical cottage landscapes, serene backyard retreats and productive gardens where vegetables and flowers grow side by side. Visitors can meet the gardeners behind the landscapes, gather practical design ideas for their own spaces, and learn how regional plants and sustainable practices thrive in the Kansas climate.
The event also features the Dennis Patton Garden Gallery Demonstration Garden, a public garden open year-round that serves as a hub for gardening inspiration and education. During the tour, the site hosts a Garden Thyme Marketplace with handcrafted garden-themed goods and an Extension Expo where visitors can connect with experts and discover local horticulture, natural-resources, 4-H, home and family, nutrition, food safety and health education resources.
For World Cup visitors looking to explore the Kansas City region beyond the stadium, the self-guided tour offers a uniquely local experience — an invitation to discover the creativity and community behind some of Johnson County’s most beautiful hidden gardens. Tickets are available online.
Demonstration Gardens
The Johnson County Extension Master Gardener program maintains 10 demonstration gardens across the county, many tucked within popular destinations—making them easy discoveries during a day out. These “gardens within destinations” offer a simple way to experience local landscapes in places visitors are already exploring. On select workdays, visitors can meet the gardeners who design and maintain these spaces.
You’ll find extensive gardens at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead in Overland Park, near the region’s largest youth soccer complex. The site features pollinator gardens, edible landscapes, and regional plantings within one of the area’s most beloved family destinations, now also home to the Kansas City area’s first American Hosta Society National Display Garden.
Additional demonstration gardens can be found at the Overland Park Arboretum, Shawnee Indian Mission, and other locations throughout the county, creating a connected network of accessible garden experiences.
Wonders of Discovery
Olathe is home to the Pollinator Prairie, a 1.5-acre conservation site with a public walking path meandering between seven small gardens, creating a unique space where people and wildlife coexist. Nestled within a suburban neighborhood, the site contains some of the native plants that grow in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem, which once covered over 140 million acres in North America, including much of the Kansas City metro. The Pollinator Prairie boasts iconic prairie plants such as purple coneflower, foxglove beardtongue and coreopsis, creating a colorful display of blooms throughout June.
Each year, “Wonders of Discovery,” a signature event by the K-State University Extension Master Naturalists of Johnson County, draws hundreds of visitors to the Pollinator Prairie to celebrate National Pollinator Week. The free, family-oriented event takes place this year on Thursday, June 18 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., featuring wildlife exhibits, games, and booths for children and adults. The Pollinator Prairie is an ecological and cultural resource that is open to the public every day.
