Garden Glass

The Garden Glass exhibit features over 350 individual pieces of glass, combined for display into 5 garden beds and 2 ponds. The pieces of glass art have been handmade, designed, and installed into the garden landscape by talented local artists at Hot Glass in Downtown Davenport, IA. A majority of the glass art is installed outdoors, with a feature piece in the tropical Sun Garden. This handcrafted exhibit incorporates shapes, colors, patterns, and movements that compliment and amplify the beauty of the gardens. The pieces were made with the Quad City Botanical Center's landscape as inspiration.

Garden Glass is a permanent exhibit, that will examine for quality each year and refresh as needed. For more information on Hot Glass, visit their website.

Thank you to Garden Glass donors: Regional Development Authority, Sara and Mike Thoms, Mary Lind, Barb and Mark Zimmerman, Julie and Bradley Wuertz, Ray'z Barber Shop, Crawford Company, Joyce and Joe O'Rourke, Jean and Gary Medd, Jenifer Valentine Schermer, Charlotte and David Morrison, XCEL Manufacturing, Sharilyn and Jim Solis, QC Blasting and Coating, Inc.

Plants of the world: people behind the plants
featured through December 2023

Plants of the World honors the personal stories told by Quad Citizens from around the world who now call the Quad Cities their home. Travel through the Sun Garden and learn about their personal connections to plants in our collection such as the banana, papaya, cacao, coffee, and more.

Sponsored by The Adrian and Debra Rantilla Family Charitable Foundation, BankORION, Rock Island Community Foundation

​Content Partners include World Relief, Tapestry Farms, Blackhawk College ESL Program

the children's garden
FEATURED MID-MAY THROUGH SEPTEMBER ANNUALLY

​This whimsical garden is a playful interpretation of the Mississippi River. Surrounded by greenery, flowering perennials and native prairie plants, the intrigue of water play allows children to be carried away by their imaginations. Continue through the garden to the new Headwaters area representing the starting point of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca. ​Splash around and learn at the same time!​ 

​We offer many activities throughout the garden to keep kids engaged in interactive play and even have spots for the adults to relax while kiddos splash around and explore. The Children's Garden features a mock Mississippi River water feature, spraying water features, interactive play elements, natural Headwaters pond, giant Connect 4 games, native and flowering plants, sandboxes, and more. 

storybook landscapes
UNDER CONSTRUCTION:
​COMING LATE FALL 2023

This one-of-a-kind exhibit is designed to encourage exploration and imagination, to elicit memories of storybooks from adult’s childhoods while creating new ones for today’s youth. Complete with a shaded picnic area, a QCBC story-themed photo opportunity, life-sized lincoln logs, a millhouse, wishing well, costume hut and acting area, spider net arbor, a bedtime story plaza and a group reading structure and storyteller’s chair, there is something for both the young and the young at heart. Its location will be right off the garden’s mini-Mississippi river for quick access and is designed to be accessible within ADA standards, leaving no barriers to experience the garden.

The new Storybook Landscapes exhibit was designed by Eric Hornig of Hitchcock Design Group and will be constructed by The Weitz Company. Made possible by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Museum Capital Grant Program.