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Green Roof  

An extensive green roof system was installed on a pergola roof that covers the main entry in to the building. This installation is a joint effort between Minnetrista staff and community volunteers, such as local architects, professors, and roofing contractors, made possible by the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District through their White River Watershed Project.  
Photo gallery of the installation

The Tree Gathering Space
Location: River overlook across from the Mary Lincoln Home
This area provides a peaceful location to observe the river inhabitants. The overlook features plenty of seating for a peaceful afternoon lunch and a permanent binocular to view wildlife.

Children’s Garden (est. 2000)
Location: Surrounding the L. L. Ball Home
This garden is a series of themed gardens such as the Garden Railroad, Vegetable Garden, Secret Garden, Pizza Garden, Farmyard Garden, and Butterfly Garden. In the Children’s Garden you can wander through a hornbeam hedge maze to discover the Secret Garden or watch the fish playing in the pond.

Colonnade Garden
Location: Bed East of the L. L. Ball House Parking lot
Sit and relax in a peaceful escape amidst limestone columns draped in wisteria, intricate mosaics, and capitals set in lush, shade-loving perennial plantings. The columns and capitals are artifacts from the Minnetrista House after it burned.

Oakhurst Gardens
Location: Oakhurst Home (G. A. Ball Home)
Oakhurst, built in 1894, was the home of George, Frances, and Elisabeth Ball. This home was named Oakhurst to reflect its oak grove surroundings. Some garden features have survived one hundred plus years to remain much like they were when the family lived here. Please stay on the paths while visiting these gardens.  Oakhurst Gardens include:
Photo gallery of Oakhurst Gardens

Courtyard Garden
Location: Surrounding the back porch at G. A. Ball Home
This shaded garden is overflowing with ferns and native ephemerals like trilliums, mayapples, Virginia bluebells, and celadine poppies. Ephemerals grow, store nutrients, and flower during the early spring before the leaves emerge on the trees, and then go dormant during the summer months. The path and stream that meanders through the courtyard was restored during the 1991 reconstruction and was original to the property.

Sunken Garden
Location: Right side of Oakhurst Dr.
The Sunken Garden contains a rock wall garden. Along the top of the rock walls you find a shady haven to woodland plants such as lungwort, epimedium, geranium, and ferns.

Formal Garden
Location: To the right of Oakhurst
The Formal Garden is a curved garden bed filled with perennials, shrubs, and annuals for all-season color. This garden is a popular spot for weddings. During renovation of this garden, Aunt Emma’s Path was discovered and raised from decades of debris and now provides the southern access to the Formal Garden.

Oakhurst Woodland
Location: Throughout Oakhurst Gardens, the naturalized parts of the garden
The woodland is filled with plants native to Indiana and Europe. It is a carpet of blue scilla in the spring following the yellow clusters of winter aconite. Spring transforms this garden from winter brown into a lush woodland. Check out Elisabeth Ball’s Doll House adjacent to the Courtyard Garden. Continue on the garden path and you will come to the Discovery Cabin. Stop by the front desk of the Minnetrista Center Building to arrange a guided tour of the gardens.

Greenway Planting (est. late 1990s, added to 2005 and on)
Location: Narrow bed between the boulevard and the Greenway
This area is lined with daffodils in the spring and shade-loving perennials in the summer. The trees are Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry.

The Fiddlehead Gathering Space
Location: South of the Greensward between the Minnetrista Boulevard and the White River
Relax on a bench and take in perennials planted in mass around Heritage Birch and Quaking Aspen trees.

Greensward (est.1994/95)
Location: Across from the Catalyst sculpture
This grassy area is a favorite for visitors wanting a sunny location to picnic.

Riverbank
Location: The three-acre stretch of riverbank between Walnut and Wheeling
Catch views of the White River through the mature wooded riverbank. This actively managed site is home to many animals such as beavers, turtles, mink, herons, hawks, and wood ducks.

The Leaf Gathering Space
Location: South of the Museum building along the Greenway
Take a refreshing drink from the water fountain while enjoying the small-scale rain garden that captures storm water from the surrounding sidewalks before it heads to the White River.

Rose Garden (est. 2000, David Austin bed replanted 2005)
Location: Tucked in against south side of The Center building 
Hybrid tea roses surround the Gazebo. Along the limestone arbor is another rose bed planted with David Austin or English roses.

Rain Garden
Location: East Lawn
The Rain Garden uses its 6,200 square feet to capture storm water. It is designed to hold water for up to two days, allowing it to slowly filter back into the soil. Native perennials thriving in this natural area are tolerant of the fluctuating water conditions.

The Acorn Gathering Space
Location: Corner of Walnut and Greenway
Learn about the history of the Appeal to the Great Spirit sculpture or continue on the Greenway trail across Walnut Street to visit the other green spaces found in Muncie.

Wishing Well Gardens (est. 2000)
Location: Surrounds wishing well sculpture overlooking the East Lawn 
Originally designed by the Delaware County Master Gardeners. The Wishing Well Gardens include:

Butterfly and Bird Garden
This garden runs along the top of the tallgrass prairie slope, around two water features, and in front of The Minnetrista Center. This garden will interest and educate home gardeners with perennials that attract birds and butterflies by providing nectar, shelter, seeds, and water.

Four Seasons Garden
This garden provides year-round interest that extends along the right side of The Orchard Shop building to the Wishing Well Moon Garden.

Culinary Herb Garden (est. Spring 2005)
Location: In front of Orchard Courtyard brick wall
Culinary herbs are considered to be the parts of plants that are used to season foods.

Moon Garden
This garden has circular beds that surround the wishing well sculpture. The Moon Garden is a garden to appreciate in the evening when the blues, whites, yellows, and silvers are enhanced by the moonlight.

Nature Area (est. 1999–2004)
Location: Across St. Joseph St. from the Orchard Shop
 The Nature Area at Minnetrista features three representations of Indiana native habitats. A tallgrass prairie; a manmade pond, with water naturally filtered by a series of swales; and a woodland area, featuring more than nine varieties of Indiana trees combine to encourage wildlife to frequent the Nature Area. *Special Note: The Nature Area has rugged terrain and hills. Visit the Minnetrista Center Building to schedule a cart ride through this area.

Annual Gardens
Location: Throughout the Minnetrista campus
Many gardens are planted with beautiful annual flowers. These dramatic plantings change each year. The gardens in the Orchard Courtyard, surrounding the Catalyst sculpture, and surrounding the Columns Artifacts near The Center building are among the many Annual Gardens at Minnetrista.

Appeal to the Great Spirit
Location: Corner of Walnut Street and Granville Avenue
Features a bronze equestrian monument, sculpted in 1929, by Cyrus Dallin. This memorial statue was presented to the City of Muncie by Mrs. Bertha C. Ball in tribute to her husband, Edmund Burke Ball, who died in 1925. This monument proudly serves as the symbolic trademark of the City of Muncie. Minnetrista horticulture and the Delaware County Master Gardeners help to maintain this city park.