Hornbaker Gardens

This place is so peaceful and serene and the owners are extremely warm and good people. Been here a few times now, over the last couple of years. Rich and his kids (Molly and Dave– folks who own and run this place) do an amazing job and are very passionate at what they do. It certainly shows. Its a small piece of paradise, out in the country, in a small Midwestern town in Southwestern Illinois. They also do weddings for upto 200 people, which I think is great. All the folks that work here are very friendly and help even gardening novices like myself, find exactly what I want. Definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone I know. Coming from Chicago or a neighboring town/​city even, it is totally worth the drive. Prices for services they offer are very competitive and much cheaper than anywhere in the city.

My wife has been wanting to come here for years — she heard of Hornbaker’s on the web in one of her gardening messageboards. We planned a Mother’s Day weekend trip around this and another stop this past weekend.
To say she had a blast looking at (and buying) all the many different varieties of hostas (and other plants, trees, and shrubs) would be an understatement. We spent well over an hour (and many dollars — we filled the entire back of the van) and she could have spent a lot more of both here, easily and willingly. LOL
All the employees we dealt with were fantastic and knowledgeable. We’ll be back!

I love Hornbakers — it’s located in the country, along a narrow road that winds through woods and hay fields. They have a huge selection of hostas, lilies and other perennials on a beautifully landscaped farm.
If you like to garden you can spend hours here, wandering, enjoying the scenery and shopping for plants. They have a landscaped glen with a path, a bridge and a little pond. All along the paths are mature hostas of every size, shape and color. There are even picnic tables if you want to bring a snack and enjoy the surroundings.
You won’t really want to sit though, because there are so many plants to see. They also have a good selection of planters and garden furnishings. So far I’ve managed to resist the locally-​made metal animal sculptures (there’s an alpaca wearing chain mail that greets you at the entrance), but it’s only a matter of time.