Three years after renovations, Hickman Wildflower Walk at Meadowbrook Park is showing off its natural beauty to park visitors.

The wildflower walk started over 20-years ago as a gift from Mal Hickman to honor his late wife, Peg Hickman. In 2014, invasive plants began to choke out the wildflower walk. In 2015, Jean (Peg’s daughter) and Byron Balbach gave funding to renovate walk.

But when workers renovate natural areas, it takes a few years to get it looking up to par.

"Now in its third growing season, the planting is doing fantastic and you’ll see different colors and textures each season," said Kara Dudek, Park Planner for Urbana Park District.

Visitors should be on the lookout for beebalm, oxeye sunflower, marsh milkweed, blazing star black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower and purple coneflower.

"The Hickman Wildflower Walk is a major attraction at Meadowbrook Park because of its natural beauty. We thought long and hard before renovating it because so many people enjoyed the walk," Dudek commented.

"But now, we are proud of our renovation efforts and glad people can enjoy beautiful flowers while walking Meadowbrook Park," Dudek concluded.

Meadowbrook Park, at the corner of Race Street and Windsor Road, is open from dawn until dusk 365 days a year.