Formal Garden

Step, literally, into a land of sights, smells, and sounds like no other. For more than 40 years Cantigny's Formal Garden, created by famed landscape designer Franz Lipp, have provided a fragrant respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Calm and free-flowing, they demonstrate the difference between a relaxed Midwest display landscape and a more structured botanical setting.

With 19 individual gardens located in the Formal Garden, you will find a variety of plants that are acclimated to growing in the Midwest. Whether it is the magnificent European Beech trees that are found in the European Tree Garden, the spectacularly shaped Douglas Fir amidst the Douglas Fir Garden or the boldly colored and textured Morheim Colorado Blue Spruce Trees that stand so dominate in the Dryland Garden, the Formal Garden have a feature for everyone. The Formal Garden also has extensive display of annual and perennial flowers in the Upper and Lower Burr Oak Gardens which are located directly on the main garden path. These two gardens not only show incredible designs of flowering plants, but also demonstrate the wide variety of shrubs that grow at the Cantigny estate.

Visitors are encouraged to stroll the gardens throughout the year to witness the ever-changing beauty of its seasonal glory.