Spring Blooms
Presented by Wild Birds Unlimited
Spring Blooms
Museum Hours
As the days get longer and the sunshine gets stronger, Newfields bursts to life with Spring Blooms presented by Wild Birds Unlimited. This year’s fantastic floral extravaganza will begin inside with Art in Bloom presented by Barnes & Thornburg LLP and The Botanist Islay Dry Gin and will crescendo in early April with more than 40,000 new blooming bulbs speckled throughout The Garden.
Outside, the early days of spring impress with flowering trees and shrubs, including a breathtaking apple blossom in the Rapp Family Ravine Garden and Gene & Rosemary Tanner Orchard, and thousands of award-winning orchids will delight in the Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse.
The Beer Garden at Garden Terrace will open the first week of April and is the perfect place to refuel with a chef-designed menu that features a seasonally rotating selection of sandwiches, salads, and sausages alongside favorites like the giant Bavarian pretzel with house-made cheese. Pair your meal with best-in-style beers from Germany, Belgium and your local Indy favorites.
Throughout April beds of hyacinths and daffodils will give way to tulips complimented by magnificent lupines. Meanwhile, spring ephemerals will linger in The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park all spring season as the Wild Birds Unlimited Native Pollinator Meadow wakes up.
Come early and often to experience the fusion of art and nature all season long at Spring Blooms presented by Wild Birds Unlimited.
March 21 - May 12, 2024
The Garden at Newfields
Included with general admission and free for members
Thursday, March 28
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #1: Deadly Slipper
Lilly House at Newfields
6–7:45 PM
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #1: Orchids turn from mysterious to fatal in the first volume of Michelle Wan’s orchid murder mystery series, Deadly Slipper: A Novel of Death in the Dordogne. Join Orchid Specialist Ian Wilhite on Floor 2 of Lilly H ...
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Bird ID Hike with Wild Birds Unlimited
The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields
9–11 AM
Take a hike with Wild Birds Unlimited in The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park on Free First Thursday.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Garlic Mustard Pull with INPS
The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields
10 AM–noon
Protect the Park! Head out to The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park with the Indiana Native Plant Society for a springy Saturday morning garlic mustard pull.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #2: The Orchid Shroud
Lilly House at Newfields
6–7:45 PM
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #2: The Orchid Shroud. Orchids, murder, and mythological beast roam the countryside of France in the second book in Michelle Wan’s series Death in the Dordogne.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Mini Orchid Bowl
Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse at Newfields
6–8 PM
If you've admired the orchid bowls throughout the IMA Galleries and Lilly House, here's your chance to make your own! You'll learn all the tricks and techniques the greenhouse team uses to create these beautiful displays.
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Orchid Mounting
Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse at Newfields
6–7:30 PM
Did you know? Orchids are epiphytes, which means they do not grow in soil. In this class, you’ll learn how to mount and grow orchids the way they do in nature.
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Macrame Air Plant Holder
Lilly House at Newfields
1–3 PM
Make your own macrame air plant holder in this 2-hour guided session in Lilly House. You’ll learn to knot a beautiful and functional macrame holder for a Tillandsia, commonly known as an air plant, and will leave with knowing how to care for your n ...
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #3: A Twist of Orchids
Lilly House at Newfields
6–7:45 PM
Orchid Murder Mystery Book Club #3: We take our third orchid hunting trip to the Dordogne in A Twist of Orchids, the third novel in Michelle Wan’s orchid murder mystery series.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
White River Clean-Up with Friends of the White River
The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at Newfields
9 AM–noon
Join Fairbanks Park and Friends of the White River in a clean-up of the White River floodplain in and around Fairbanks Park.
Saturday, May 11, 2024 & Sunday, May 12, 2024
Mother’s Day Weekend
Newfields
11 AM–3 PM
Celebrate your mom and mother figures throughout Newfields on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 from 11 AM to 3 PM. The Garden at Newfields will be in full bloom for the last hurrah of Spring Blooms presented by Wild Birds Unlimited.
Thursday, May 16
May 2024 Orchid Basics
Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse at Newfields
6–7:30 PM
Bloom, baby! One of our most popular classes is back. Newfields’ own Horticulturist and Orchid Specialist Ian Wilhite guides you through the basics of orchid care.
Spring Blooms is presented by
Spring Blooms is presented by Wild Birds Unlimited. Lead support for the River of Bulbs is provided by Catherine M. Turner.