allen centennial gardens

For the limited amount of space devoted to the Gardens, this place is a gem of a stopover whether visiting the UW-Campus or driving by on University Avenue. Easily walkable in 15 minutes or take it slower for some floral splendor.

This garden is outstanding in the beauty of its displays and its diversity -- it is a peaceful oasis in a rather busy campus area.

This is a great place to chill out for a while... most of the flowers were done blooming when I was here (Sept), it was still nicely maintained and was very peaceful. I walked here from my hotel (a couple of miles away) and the walk over was enjoyable too. It is a little hard to find if you aren't familiar with the area, but my hotel gave me a map and I found it without too much trouble.

These gardens are right on campus, and they are so lovely. It didn't take too long to walk around, but there were several things to look at. There is no fee to enter either so it is worth a visit.

I agree, obviously I am photographing all of the time and there is so much subject matter in a small space. Right now, in addition to floral scenics, we have so much insect life - many additional faunal subjects! Thanks for the review!

Thanks for that wonderful review - even with limited labor and funding, a lot of hard work from dedicated volunteers is key to what allows to offer what we do to the best of our abilities! We love it and are glad you do to!

Some people see our small size (2.5 acres) as a negative but many love the fact that it is intimate and easy to negotiate - they can leave without thinking they missed large areas. And we pack things in and probably maximize our impact more than most others! Glad you enjoyed your visit!

I'm so glad you didn't let the parking intimidate you. It is our biggest challenge getting people in to enjoy the Gardens. Everyone, please keep in mind, parking in surface lots and meter parking is only enforced M-F 8:00 am-4:30 pm, and in those times there is a parking ramp across the street. After 4:30 and on weekdns (with the exception of football Saturdays) parking is no issue so yuse your weekend and evening time to come in easier and utilize the Gardens! And the Gardens are run by one full-time director, 4 paid interns in season and a cadre of dedicated volunteers. You might be surprised, most plants in the Gardens are generally available, you can always email me and I will help you track plants down!

Peggy,We love our regulars and we work hard to make it the kind of space you describe! We hope you continue to enjoy!

Thanks for your review. It is comments like yours that inspires a group of very dedicated volunteers to put in countless hours of work so we can offer our "hidden gem" to anyone and everyone absolutely free 365 days a year! And we do it 100% self-funded!

Deb,Your comments are exactly why we do this and are happy to offer the Gardens for free for everyone to enjoy. One of our donors/volunteers/Friends board member Sally Bilder can also often be found in her garden at the front of the house, if you see her stop and say hi. We love our regular visitors!

Thanks for the kind comments. We sometimes see our small size (2.5 acres) evaluated as a negative but others love it because they can't visit, see everything and leave without feeling like they missed areas!

We love our "regulars"! Thanks for posting images and for the kind comments. We work very hard to provide this lovely and educational setting with no financial assistance from state or University. 100% of all operational expenditures including salary and benefits are self-funded. So we are pretty proud to offer the site absolutely free every day of the year!

Thanks for the kind comments! We try very hard to meet our goals of our mission statement to be an outdoor classroom. If anyone ever has a question that isn't answered, always feel free to contact me via email, which you can find on our web site. Our goal is to assist you with all of your gardening questions and needs!

PLEASE visit us in season and you will see color galore! You came just as we have successfully put the Gardens to bed for the winter, which obviously eliminates much of the color. The bare beds you saw are filled with thousands of bulbs for glorious spring color which is then followed by riotous seasonal plantings. You would be hard pressed to find more color in any northern Midwest garden this time of year, we hope you still enjoyed the remaining perennials, trees & shrubs and garden structure. Like most public gardens in the northern Midwest, the best time for COLOR is May through mid-October. Next year's theme 25: Functional, Fashionable, Fabulous & Fun will jazz us up even more as we add even more displays to help celebrate our 25th anniversary.