Idaho Botanical Garden
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The Idaho Botanical Garden has been a cooperative labor of love since the first seeds were sown in 1984. The Garden was the vision of Dr. Christopher Davidson and has grown through contributions of time and labor from innumerable donors and volunteers.

The Garden occupies 42 acres that originally served as the farm and nursery for the Idaho State Penitentiary. The Old Penitentiary shut it's gates in 1973 and for twelve years the land lay dormant. Dr. Davidson and the first Board of Directors negotiated a lease in 1984 and transformed the area from rock, weeds and rubble into beautifully cultivated gardens.

Today the Idaho Botanical Garden has blossomed into ten specialty gardens that include not only the historic grounds of the Old Penitentiary, but fragments of Boise's history such as the Eastman Building Arch, fashioned from the same native sandstone as the Old Pen. Visitors to the Garden are not only surrounded by the beauty and tranquility of nature, but by lovely reminders of early Boise.

The Garden is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Weekends 10 - 6.
Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and free for children 5 and younger. Group rates are available.

For further information please call the Garden at 208-343-8649 or email us at idbotgar@micron.net.

Idaho Botanical Garden
2355 N. Penitentiary Rd.
Boise, ID 83712

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*All times and prices are subject to change, please call the museum for updated information.