Native Medicinal Plant Garden

Yellow flowers in bushes with a wooden structure.

About the Garden

The Native Medicinal Plant Garden is a place to learn about native plants and their use for medicine and food. It is also where we conduct some of our field research on native and medicinal plants.
Our street address is: 1865 E. 1600 Road, Lawrence, Kansas

Where to Find Us

We are located less than 10 miles from downtown Lawrence, KS.  The garden is open to the public dawn to dusk. We ask that you leave pets at home, as this is a research garden and our intent is to keep it as clean as possible.  We are part of the KU Field Station, which includes 1,600 acres of research land with public trails three miles north of the garden.

Directions to the Garden: From downtown Lawrence, travel north across the bridge and follow Highway 59 to Highway 40. Turn east and travel 1.5 miles to East 1600 Road, then half a mile north to the garden. Please be careful at the intersection of Highway 40 and East 1600 Road.

Alternate bike route: From downtown Lawrence, head north across the bridge. At the north end of the bridge, take an immediate right (heading east) onto the Kansas River levee trail. Follow the trail approximately one mile to the North 8th Street and Oak Street access point and head north half a block to Oak. Turn right (east) for one long block to North 9th Street/East 1550 Road, the city limit, then four blocks north to Maple Street/North 1650. Turn east onto the gravel road and travel half a mile (the factory will be on your left) to East 1600. Turn left (north) and travel a total of two miles, passing under I-70 and across Highway 40; the garden is half a mile north of Highway 40. Be very careful crossing Highway 40.

At the Garden you will find our Demonstration Garden, showcasing the use of native plants in a garden or home landscaping setting. You will also find interpretive signs for many of the plant species which have been used historically as medicine. We partner with the Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners to maintain the show garden and provide educational opportunities.

Demonstration Garden

At the Garden you will find our Demonstration Garden, showcasing the use of native plants in a garden or home landscaping setting. You will also find interpretive signs for many of the plant species which have been used historically as medicine. We partner with the Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners to maintain the show garden and provide educational opportunities.

Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners

Purple Rose Verbena blooming in the foreground in an area of green grass and bushes..

The central portion of the garden in a series of research rows, each home to 2 – 4 species of native and medicinal plants, planted in mass.

Two students working with small plants in the dirt.

Student interns planting Echinacea purpurea in the research row.

Close up of small purple blooms on green stems.

The flower stalks of the False Blue Indigo (Baptisia australis) growing in one of the research rows at the Garden.

Close up of pink flower with blurry green background.

Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa), one of the plant species grown in the research rows at the Medicinal Native Plant Garden.

Radishes lined up on the dirt next to a garden.

KU Community Garden

The KU Community Garden is located on the north end of the garden, This garden is managed by KU students, staff, and faculty. Pictured are radishes harvested by the KU Community Gardeners.

KU Community Garden X

At the west end of the garden, you will see several honeybee hives managed by the KU Beekeeping Club.

Three students working together to move bees in a hive.

Students of the KU Beekeeping Club tending their hives at the Native Medicinal Plant Garden. Photo by Meg Kumin

A small red box with a jayhawk on the side in a prairie.

One of the original beehives of the KU Bee Club

Nearby prairie area:  Rockefeller Prairie, an exceptionally diverse tallgrass native prairie with unusual and rare prairie species, is located only three miles north of the garden at the KU Field Station.  See the map to Field Station sites and the public trail system map of the KU Field Station to plan your trip.