As gardeners, we can’t imagine a better way to spend a gorgeous day than strolling a public garden: discovering new plants, getting inspiration from the work of masterful garden designers and reveling in all that is gardening. Here is just a sampling of public gardens you can visit in the U.S., listed by state. Please do let us know of any you think we should add.
For more public gardens, visit these websites:
American Public Gardens Association (https://www.publicgardens.org/about-public-gardens/gardens)
The Garden Conservancy (https://www.gardenconservancy.org/open-days/open-days-schedule)
Gardenvisit.com (https://www.gardenvisit.com/)
California:
San Francisco Botanical Garden (https://www.sfbg.org/)
Colorado:
Denver Botanic Gardens (https://www.botanicgardens.org/)
Connecticut:
Barlett Arboretum and Gardens (http://www.bartlettarboretum.org/)
Hollister House Garden (https://hollisterhousegarden.org/)
DC:
Untited States Botanic Garden (https://www.usbg.gov/)
Dumbarton Oaks (https://www.doaks.org/)
Hillwood Museum & Gardens (https://www.hillwoodmuseum.org/)
Enid A. Haupt Garden - Smithsonian Gardens (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/haupt-garden/)
United States National Arboretum (https://www.usna.usda.gov/)
Anacostia Community Museum Landscape (https://gardens.si.edu/plan-your-visit/our-gardens/anacostia-museum-landscape/)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/hirshhorn-sculpture-garden/)
Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/folger-rose-garden/)
Mary Livingston Ripley Garden (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/ripley-garden/)
National Air and Space Museum Landscape (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/nasm-landscape/)
National Museum of African American History and Culture Landscape (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/nmaahc-landscape/)
Pollinator Garden at the National Museum of Natural History (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/pollinator-garden/)
Victory Garden at the National Museum of American History (https://gardens.si.edu/gardens/victory-garden/)
Delaware:
Mill Pond Garden (https://millpondgarden.com/)
Winterthur Museum and Grounds (https://www.winterthur.org/)
Georgia:
Atlanta Botanical Garden (https://atlantabg.org/)
Callaway Gardens (https://www.callawaygardens.com/)
Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens (https://coastalbg.uga.edu/)
The State Botanical Garden of Georgia (https://botgarden.uga.edu/)
Iowa:
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/)
Iowa Arboretum & Gardens (https://iowaarboretum.org/)
Reiman Gardens (https://www.reimangardens.com/)
Idaho:
Idaho Botanical Garden (https://idahobotanicalgarden.org/)
Idaho State Arboretum (https://www.uidaho.edu/infrastructure/facilities/arboretum)
Sawtooth Botanical Garden (https://sbgarden.org/)
University of Idaho Arboretum & Botanical Garden (https://www.uidaho.edu/infrastructure/facilities/arboretum)
Illinois:
Chicago Botanic Garden (https://www.chicagobotanic.org/)
Garfield Park Conservatory (https://garfieldconservatory.org/)
Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden (http://klehm.org/)
Lincoln Park Conservatory & Gardens (https://lincolnparkconservancy.org/)
Morton Arboretum (https://www.mortonarb.org/)
Indiana:
Garfield Park Conservatory & Sunken Garden (https://www.garfieldgardensconservatory.org/)
Hayes Arboretum (https://www.hayesarboretum.org/)
Massachusetts:
Berkshire Botanical Garden (https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/)
Arnold Arboretum (https://arboretum.harvard.edu/)
Boston Public Garden (https://www.boston.gov/parks/public-garden)
Botanic Garden of Smith College (https://garden.smith.edu/)
Elm Bank Horticulture Center (https://masshort.org/)
Garden in the Woods (https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/visit/garden-woods/)
Tower Hill Botanic Garden (https://www.towerhillbg.org/)
Naumkeag (https://thetrustees.org/place/naumkeag/)
The Mission House (https://thetrustees.org/place/the-mission-house/)
Ashintully Gardens (https://thetrustees.org/place/ashintully-gardens/)
Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens (https://thetrustees.org/place/stevens-coolidge-house-and-gardens/)
Long Hill (https://thetrustees.org/place/long-hill/)
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate (https://thetrustees.org/place/castle-hill-on-the-crane-estate/)
Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate (https://thetrustees.org/place/eleanor-cabot-bradley-estate/)
Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens (https://thetrustees.org/place/allen-c-haskell-public-gardens/)
Mytoi (https://thetrustees.org/place/mytoi/)
Maryland:
Brookside Gardens (https://www.montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/brookside-gardens/)
Cylburn Arboretum (http://cylburn.org/)
Ladew Topiary Gardens (https://ladewgardens.com/)
Maine:
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (https://www.mainegardens.org/)
Michigan:
W.J. Beal Botanical Garden (http://www.cpa.msu.edu/beal/)
Fernwood Botanical Garden (https://www.fernwoodbotanical.org/)
Matthaei Botanical Gardens (https://mbgna.umich.edu/)
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (https://www.meijergardens.org/)
Minnesota:
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (https://arb.umn.edu/)
Missouri:
Missouri Botanical Garden (https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/)
North Carolina:
Sarah P. Duke Gardens (https://gardens.duke.edu/)
North Carolina Arboretum (https://www.ncarboretum.org/)
North Carolina Botanical Garden (https://ncbg.unc.edu/)
JC Raulston Arboretum (https://jcra.ncsu.edu//)
New Jersey:
Leonard J. Buck Garden (http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/parksfacilities/buck/ljbuck.html)
Colonial Park Gardens (https://www.somersetcountyparks.org/parksfacilities/colonial/Arboretum.html)
Rutgers Gardens (https://rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu/)
New York:
New York Botanical Garden (https://www.nybg.org/)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (https://www.bbg.org/)
Central Park Conservatory Garden (https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/conservatory-garden)
Bailey Arboretum (https://www.baileyarboretum.org/)
Cornell Botanical Gardens (https://cornellbotanicgardens.org/)
Innisfree Garden (https://www.innisfreegarden.org/)
Planting Fields Arboretum (https://plantingfields.org/)
Queens Botanical Garden (https://queensbotanical.org/)
Wave Hill (https://www.wavehill.org/)
Battery Park (https://www.thebattery.org/)
Westside Community Garden (https://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org/)
Riverside Park (https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/riverside-park)
High Line Park (https://www.thehighline.org/)
The Cloisters (https://www.metmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit/met-cloisters)
Washington Square Park (https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/washington-square-park)
Lower East Side Ecology Center (https://www.lesecologycenter.org/)
Ohio:
Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (https://www.fpconservatory.org/)
Chadwick Arboretum (https://chadwickarboretum.osu.edu/)
Cleveland Botanical Garden (https://www.cbgarden.org/)
Dawes Arboretum (https://dawesarb.org/)
Holden Arboretum (https://holdenarb.org/)
Toledo Botanical Garden (https://metroparkstoledo.com/explore-your-parks/toledo-botanical-garden-metropark/)
Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (https://www.stanhywet.org/)
Oregon:
Lan Su Chinese Garden (https://lansugarden.org/)
Portland Japanese Garden (https://japanesegarden.org/)
Pennsylvania:
Chanticleer Garden(https://www.chanticleergarden.org/)
Longwood Gardens (https://longwoodgardens.org/)
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (https://www.phipps.conservatory.org/)
Scott Arboretum (https://www.scottarboretum.org/)
Rhode Island:
Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum (https://www.blithewold.org/)
South Carolina:
Brookgreen Gardens (https://www.brookgreen.org/)
Riverbanks Zoo & Garden (https://www.riverbanks.org/)
South Carolina Botanical Garden (https://www.clemson.edu/public/scbg/)
Tennessee:
Cheekwood Botanical Garden (https://cheekwood.org/)
Dixon Gallery & Gardens (https://www.dixon.org/)
Knoxville Botanical Garden & Arboretum (http://knoxgarden.org/)
Memphis Botanic Garden (https://www.memphisbotanicgarden.com/)
Texas:
Fort Worth Botanic Garden (https://fwbg.org/)
Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden (https://www.dallasarboretum.org/)
Mercer Botanic Gardens (https://www.hcp4.net/parks/mercer/)
Chandor Gardens (https://weatherfordtx.gov/170/Chandor-Gardens)
Clark Gardens (https://www.clarkgardens.org/)
Houston Botanic Garden (https://hbg.org/)
Beaumont Botanical Gardens (https://www.beaumontbotanicalgardens.org/)
McGovern Centennial Gardens (https://www.hermannpark.org/visit/mcgovern-centennial-gardens/)
San Antonio Botanical Garden (https://www.sabot.org/)
Zilker Botanical Garden (https://zilkergarden.org/)
South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center (https://www.stxbot.org/)
Texas Discovery Gardens (https://txdg.org/)
El Paso Municipal Rose Garden (https://txmg.org/elpaso/projects/rose-garden/)
Grapevine Botanical Gardens at Heritage Park (https://gograpevine.com/listing/botanicalgardens/)
Virginia:
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (https://www.lewisginter.org/)
Green Spring Gardens (https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/green-spring)
Maymont (https://maymont.org/)
Hahn Horticulture Garden (https://hahngarden.vt.edu/)
Norfolk Botanical Garden (https://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/)
Washington:
Bellevue Botanical Garden (https://bellevuebotanical.org/)
Bloedel Reserve (https://bloedelreserve.org/)
Wisconsin:
Boerner Botanical Gardens (https://boernerbotanicalgardens.org/)
Green Bay Botanical Garden (https://gbbg.org/)
Olbrich Botanical Gardens (http://www.olbrich.org/)
Wyoming:
Cheyenne Botanic Gardens (https://www.botanic.org/)