The Sunken Gardens shouldn’t work as well as they do. It’s a Depression-era project — built in 1930-31 to give unemployed men work, on top of an old neighborhood landfill — that got a $1.7 million renovation in the early 2000s and came out the other side as one of the prettiest small gardens in the Midwest. Two lily ponds, a cascading waterfall, a Healing Garden modeled on the White Garden at Sissinghurst, and thousands of annuals replanted every single year around a new theme.
The local rhythm: tulips in spring (the city’s official line is “tiptoe through the tulips,” and people do), full color all summer, and twice a year the beds get turned over by volunteers at the “Wake Up the Beds” planting in May and “Put the Beds to Bed” composting in November. If you’ve lived in Lincoln long, you’ve been to a wedding here or been dragged to one.
It’s open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily and admission is free — donations accepted at the entrances on 27th & C and 26th & D. Combine it with the Hamann Rose Garden and the Teacher’s Fountain across the street for the full loop.