Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point

Thanksgiving Point Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit farm, garden, and museum complex that draws upon the natural world to cultivate transformative family learning. Using the natural world as a springboard for exploration, Thanksgiving Point combines place and process to shape today’s problem solvers into tomorrow’s makers and innovators. Thanksgiving Point is located at the center of Utah’s popu

lation growth equidistant between Provo and Salt Lake City metro areas. Alan Ashton purchased the land for Thanksgiving Point on Valentine’s Day in 1995 as a gift. The creator of the groundbreaking software WordPerfect, Alan wanted to realize his beloved wife Karen’s dream of building a community gathering place. Following a tour of fabled gardens, the Ashtons hired landscape architect Leonard Grassli to design a garden integrating the best parts of the world’s gardens. A site was selected for the 55-acre garden in the rolling hills of Lehi, virtually invisible from the surrounding area. Fifteen themed garden rooms were planned and built, including a faithful replica of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s imagined earthy place in The Secret Garden. Karen felt the call of central character Mary Lennox and wanted to answer, “Might I Have a Bit of Earth?” for her community. Other themed garden rooms include a Monet pond, Rocky Mountain landscapes, and a rose garden growing 60 different varieties. The gardens were constructed over 18 months and opened to the public in 2000.