Thirteen intertwined gardens with statues, fountains, flowers and other plants form the Cathedral Gardens, 1314 Hebron Church Road, Henryville, Indiana. Visitors may enter the grounds for tours at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday from May 1 through October 31 each year. After the tour, one can stay in the gardens — in fact, bringing a picnic lunch is encouraged! The cost is $15 for a first visit, and half of that for every return visit.

The gardens are the personal vision of David L Daugherty, who purchased the land in 1993. At his retirement in 1996, “and continuing full time on an almost frantic basis for the following eight years”, he and his staff transformed the area. He explains, “Dredged from the creek bottom which bisects the gardens, we peeled up brownstone…some two thousand tons in weight. These treasures were hand-laid piece by piece into numerous terrace walls. Plants were trucked in from around the country and greenhouses were erected to supply over ten thousand annuals each spring. Dams were stair stepped down the valley to produce a cascade of lakes into which fountains were implanted which throw thousands of gallons of water into the air every minute. Unique pavilions were built by hand with architectural styles varying from Jeffersonian to Moorish to oriental. And now a Venetian garden displays a plaza and pavilion with the grace of Italy and the Mediterranean.”

For the first decade, the gardens were Daugherty’s “personal sanctuary with no signs nor wish for notoriety”, but public notice eventually convinced him to open the area to the public for tours. The greenhouses and grounds produce many plants for sale, too.