There are three unique components to the Literary Garden. The first component connects selected reading passages with natural elements in the landscape. For example, Laura Ingalls Wilder writes beautifully in her book Little House on the Prairie about her experiences on the prairie. The Horticulture Center has a well-established three-acre prairie which serves as a connection to her writings.

The second unique component is that this is an audible garden. Selected literary passages are tied to nature (gardens) using signs that contain QR codes. Guests at the Center can use their smart phones to follow QR codes which play recordings on their devices and connect each passage with the inspired piece of nature. A visitor will be able to listen to excerpts from the Little House on the Prairie while standing in the Horticulture Center’s prairie.

The third unique component lies in the fact that a visitor coming to the Center to view the Literary Garden will traverse many of the gardens on site as they seek and find the signs throughout the Center.

The establishment of the Literary Garden is an important contribution to our community, because it educates individuals of all ages about our environment which includes native prairie and diverse gardens while preserving the eloquent words of our Midwestern authors.

To date, the following authors are represented in the gardens:  Wendell Berry, Gene Stratton-Porter, Aldo Leopold, Eliza Farnham, Carl Sandburg, Willa Cather, Edgar Lee Masters, Shel Silverstein, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.