Ashton Gardens

Ashton Gardens is part of the Thanksgiving Point activities to do list. It is a real garden, that has several sub gardens within it. Normally, admission is between $20-$30 throughout the year (and especially during the Tulip Festival), but all throughout August, every tuesday, all day long until closing, anyone can attend for $2. This is an excellent value, even though it is not during Luminaria or the Tulip Festival (Luminaria in November and December, Tulip Festival March - May). However, the gardens are still absolutely gorgeous and amazing to walk through and experience.

The gardens can literally take all day to walk through. There are so many flowers, lakes, rivers, and even waterfalls. It is very peaceful and quiet. From Roman Gardens, to Shakespeare, Greek, and even the Secret Gardens. There is a lot to see and do . Each garden has different plants and flowers within. The Shakespearan gardens were some of my favorite. Statues and rivers wind all the way through. In the bigger parts of the river and the lakes, there are koi fish that pop up to eat food that you can purchase for them. Lots of trees surround the area and provide shade for hot sunny days. Many people will come in with their lunches and their books to enjoy the serenity and peace from the gardens. There are the romantic gardens as well which have the elaborate gazebos and archways decorated with roses and tulips. Many wedding engagement and wedding photos take place here.

In the center of the gardens, there are the greek columns and giant flagpole where luminaria takes place in the winter season. If you follow the windy path down, you can see the statues gardens where roman and greek statues sit as well as religious statues and biblical statues. They each represent a story from the bible or other religious book. There are some water features like waterfalls and mini water fountains that help beautify and add to the gardens beauty. If you look hard enough, you can find the entrance to the secret garden in the tunnels. It actually looks just like the secret garden from the book. You walk in through the door and the entire secret garden is enclosed by giant trees with several water fountains and statues decorating the center. Lots of benches are in place around the garden to help add to it.

In the very back of the garden, there are plants and herbs growing as sponsored by doterra. You can see a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs growing for product and consumption use later.

One of my favorite parts about Ashton Gardens was the carousel in the middle of the garden. Made entirely of wiring and plants, a huge carousel sits in the center and it actually moves to music. It is spectacular and beautiful to see. I also love the water fountain amphitheatre and the utah replica. The water fountains are massive and come crashing down in the amphitheatre. I also love going behind the water fountains and to the top where mini caves and water fountains are. There are several statues of moose, deer, elk, and squirrels to represent the natural forests and parks in utah. I highly recommend Ashton Gardens. It is a fun and beautiful place to go, but make sure to keep your kids entertained as no running is allowed through the gardens.