This place feels magical from the moment you drive in. Incredible variety of garden decor, indoor and outdoor plants. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. read more

A real hidden gem located on the outskirts of Princeton. A family owned and operated nursery specializing in perennial flowers,plants and trees. They even have aquatic plant options. Even if you are not in the market for new additions to your garden,their Botanic Gardens and Arboretum is worth the visit. The grounds and layout are just breathtaking. This is one of the best nurseries I have ever visited. read more

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Family owned since the late 80's this part nursery, part botanical gardens and part arboretum is a sheer delight. It is a well hidden gem that you have to look up directions to find located off the beaten path on the outskirts of Princeton in rural Bureau County. We found it after following about two hundred American White Pelicans that were circling above us and we had to go see where they landed which was a nearby marsh. Then we spotted the sign for the gardens and I looked it up. Such a happy accident! The service is excellent and they have many knowledgeable staff to answer questions. The selection of plants is stellar with annuals, perennials, tropical, prairie, aquatic, shade loving plants just to name a few. I bought a one gallon coneflower for $12.99 which looked so strong and healthy. Trees and bushes, statuary and fountains, garden tools and decor as well as cute pots for plants are artfully displayed are also available for sale. There are wagons to help with carrying your selections. One spot on property that I didn't get a pic of was "The Barn" which is an adorable event venue. There was a wedding in progress. Gorgeous! read more

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Lovely grounds and friendly personnel! They have plants I have never seen anywhere else. This place is worth going out of your way for!

The varied plants are worth the visit. Wonderful! Then, the grounds are planted & labeled; trees, shrubs & many gardens, some over 30 years old, are a beautiful look at possibilities for us all. From the ponds, ravines & park-like vistas, Hornbakers is an inspirational delight! read more

Far, far from the Burbs of Chicago but absolutely worth the drive. One of the prettiest plant nurseries that I have ever seen in my life. Not cheap but with a variety of plants, specially hostas that is impressive. What I like about them is that the surroundings of the nursery are one of the prettiest landscaped gardens that you will ever see. Ponds, waterfalls. Water lilies. Really beautiful. In the league of the arboretums of Chicago. We will be back for sure Oh so do this. Buy your plants and then go to Rips Tavern to eat fried chicken. Omg. Awesome! read more

When I visit my parents, we always make time to stop here. It's a bit pricey, but they have unique items along with plants. While there, you can tour the property's gardens and shop in the nurseries and store. They have great ideas and have great displays. Highly recommend a visit here! read more

Hornbaker Gardens - Part of the walk through gardens. - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - Princeton, Illinois

I visited there recently and loved the place. Although I only live about 10 miles away I have never been there. It's a bit tricky to get to since the road is somewhat narrow. Go slow and you'll be ok though. The place is very organized and it gives you great ideas on landscaping. They are very knowledgeable in everything there. If you want to know about the plants there just ask someone. A fun place just to spend some time and look over everything they have to offer. I will be going back since I know now what is there. Definitely recommend a visit. read more

I placed the order one week ago. The order shipped 3 days ago and arrived today! The plants were packaged like little gifts. Not exactly, but, they were packaged so carefully and arrived in excellent condition. I've purchased bare root plants for years, but never have I received plants in such good condition as these. And, we're located 900 miles away from Hornbaker Gardens. Ordering couldn't be simpler. Customer service was very helpful. These people know their way around keeping customers happy! read more

If I could live here, I would! I absolutely love coming to Hornbaker Gardens and spending hours walking around, looking at flowers and the animals. They have done a tremendous amount of work building beautiful walkways, taking great care of their flowers and land and allowing people to step into what feels like a whole other world. It's always worth the drive to see everything they have there and see the beautiful landscaping. Everyone we've run into are extremely friendly and knowledgeable and always happy to answer questions. Their bathrooms are also clean for the most part. Overall, Hornbakers is just a wonderful place to visit and a great experience and well worth it! Make sure you take a walk through their pathways and give the ponds a visit! read more

The gardens are spectacular, the plant selection to amazing. And the staff so helpful.

"Hornbaker's" is a second generation plant nursery and much more. He does landscaping and a few years ago he built a large event center on the property. It has become a very popular wedding venue, but book early. His prices are comparable to other nurseries, but its unique presentation of its plants makes it a special place to go for a pleasant walk. As a customer, you will be invited to the appreciation dinner. The artisan fair is a special event where you can meet artisans as they display their creations. read more

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. read more

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!! read more

Was recommended to come here from a family who was loyal to this company for years. My husband and I came to this nursery in Mother's Day, and we were really impressed. We ended up purchasing over $2000 worth of landscaping and accessories. When it came time to pay and load up our truck, the cashier gave us a tone about having to help us load the 400 dollar bird feeder on our truck. In her words, "you didn't want any of the other feeders?" Which meant, why wouldn't you get a bird feeder that was Easier to load. We then paid extra money for Richards crew to deliver and plant the 7 trees purchased, since we live in Frankfort. They cancelled on us 2x and finally came at 10 am to Plant all the trees. What should have take most of the day, as I know this from other landscapers who planted trees for us, only took the 2 men 3 hours. Long story short the "drip line" for all my trees are about 24 inches in diameter. Some of the holes they dug are not even supporting the trees. 4 out of the 7 trees are DEAD. When I asked for help, Richard kept telling me water them. Then he would say you're watering too much. Never came back out to replace the trees. Finally, I had an arborist come to my house to consult, and his words: "who put in your trees, because they have them such an injustice?!" Needless to say, I have to now pay to get the trees removed and replaced. You would think HORNBACKERS would help out since they are a very highly recommended , family owned business. But no! I just cut my losses and decided to WARN other consumers not to get SCAMMED and/or ripped off by this company. AT YOUR OWN RISK. read more

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. read more

We had our daughters wedding at the barn at Hornbaker's. It was an amazing experience! It is a beautiful venue with amazing options no matter what the weather turns out to be that day. The pictures turn out amazing on the beautiful grounds. Lindsay the wedding planner was amazing and couldn't have been more accommodating. read more

My mom LOVES this place. I have ordered gifts from them and had them delivered, (I live in CA) they have always been friendly and professional. read more

The place was nice but when we paid for the entire day to spend my sisters wedding, they had random people coming in and out of the facility and walking through our belongings as we were all trying to get ready for our big day. They were not setting up in a timely matter because they were too concerned about giving tours to people and promoting our decorations etc. the coordinator was not readily available because she was constantly pulled away to promote future weddings. They were more concerned about their money than about our big day. read more