America’s most popular gardens include the following:
• ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden (Albuquerque, NM; www.cabq.gov/biopark/garden)
• Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (Detroit, MI; www.belleisleconservancy.org)
• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, AZ; www.desertmuseum.org)
• Atlanta Botanical Garden (Atlanta, GA; www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org)
• Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (Vail, CO; www.bettyfordalpinegardens.org)
• Brookgreen Gardens (Murrells Inlet, SC; www.brookgreen.org)
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Brooklyn, NY; www.bbg.org)
• Callaway Gardens (Pine Mountain, GA; www.callawaygardens.com)
• Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, IL; www.chicagobotanic.org)
• Descanso Gardens (LaCanada Flintridge, CA; www.descansogardens.org)
• Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver, CO; www.botanicgardens.org)
• Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix, AZ; www.dbg.org)
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables, FL; www.fairchildgarden.org)
Popular Gardens USA Photo Gallery
• Fort Worth Botanic Garden (Fort Worth, TX; www.fwbg.org)
• Franklin Park Conservatory (Columbus, OH; www.fpconservatory.org)
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Austin, TX; www.wildflower.org)
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (Richmond, VA; www.lewisginter.org)
• Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, PA; www.longwoodgardens.org)
• Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (Chanhassen, MN; www.arboretum.umn.edu)
• Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, MO; www.mobot.org)
• Oldfields – Lilly House & Gardens (Indianapolis, IN; www.imamuseum.org/visit/oldfields-lilly-house-gardens)
• Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Garden (Pittsburgh, PA; www.phipps.conservatory.org)
• San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum (San Francisco, CA; www.sfbotanicalgarden.org)
• The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (Boston, MA; www.arboretum.harvard.edu)
• The Bloedel Reserve (Bainbridge Island, WA; www.bloedelreserve.org)
• The Huntington Botanical Gardens (San Marino, CA; www.huntington.org)
• The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens (Carlsbad, NM; www.livingdesert.org)
• The New York Botanical Garden (New York, NY; www.nybg.org)
• The United States National Arboretum (Washington, DC; www.usna.usda.gov)
• United States Botanic Garden (Washington, DC; www.usbg.gov)
The 2016 Readers Choice Awards poll by 10Best (www.10best.com), a USA Today travel site, ranked the Best Botanical Gardens as follows:
1. Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, PA)
2. New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, NY)
3. Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis, MO)
4. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (Richmond, VA)
5. Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Grand Rapids, MI)
6. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay, ME)
7. Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden (Dallas, TX)
8. Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, IL)
9. Cheekwood (Nashville, tN)
10. Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix, AZ)
Rose Gardens
Among specialty gardens, rose gardens are the most popular. Founded in 1924, the International Rose Test Garden (Portland, OR) is the oldest public rose garden in
the United States. There are more than 10,000 roses in the garden.
The following are other popular rose gardens:
• Berkeley Rose Garden (Berkeley, CA)
• Elizabeth Park (Hartford, CT)
• John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Rose Garden (Sarasota, FL)
• Longmont Memorial Rose Garden (Longmont, CO)
• Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden (New York, NY)
• San Jose Municipal Rose Garden (San Jose, CA)
• The Park of Roses (Columbus, OH)
27.4 Exhibitions At Gardens
Following the trend of museums using exhibitions to boost attendance, botanical gardens have begun developing art exhibitions. The colorful glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly continue to be popular at gardens throughout the U.S. At Fairchild T ropical Garden in Miami ticket sales for Chihuly at Fairchild doubled the garden’s usual six-month attendance to 300,000. Chihuly in the Garden drew 120,000 visitors at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. And Glass in the Garden drew record attendance at the Missouri Botanical Garden, as did Chihuly at the New York Botanical Garden. Chihuly exhibitions have also been featured throughout at Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix, AZ), Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Grand Rapids, MI), Cheekwood Botanical Garden (Nashville, TN), Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, and Denver Botanic Gardens.
Stories in Sculpture: Selections from the Walker Art Center Collection opened in 2016 at the Denver Botanic Garden.
Dale Chihuly will be featured in a major exhibition at The New York Botanical Garden in 2017.
Brookgreen Gardens (Murrells Inlet, SC) is home to the Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington sculpture collection, a permanent exhibition.
American Public Gardens Association, 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348. (610) 708-3010. (www.publicgardens.org)
Maybe You Like Them Too
- Top 10 Islands You Can Buy
- Top 10 Underrated Asian Cities 2023
- Top 10 Reasons Upsizing Will Be a Huge Travel Trend
- Top 10 Scuba Diving Destinations
- World’s 10 Best Places To Visit
