photo by: University of Kansas

Visitors learn about individual native plants and their uses at a tour of KU's medicinal garden.

The community is invited to the semiannual tour of the University of Kansas Medicinal Plant Garden on the summer solstice.

The tour will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 21. The garden is located just east of the Lawrence Municipal Airport next to the Prairie Moon Waldorf School, 1865 East 1600 Road in Douglas County. The garden pathways are ADA-compliant, and the site is open to the public from dawn to dusk.

At the event, Kelly Kindscher, a senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and professor in the KU Environmental Studies Program, will show the research plantings on the site, highlight important species and lead the group on a tour of the garden.

While the tour of the garden will end before dark, people are invited to stay and watch the sunset just before 9 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes, bring a water bottle and a lawn chair if desired.

The event is weather permitting, and people can check for updates on the Facebook event page at https://shorturl.at/t52EH. No RSVP is required.

The KU Native Medicinal Plant Garden was established in 2010, and the garden also serves as a gateway to the KU Field Station trailheads along East 1600 Road north of Highway 40 and to the Field Station’s core research area.