Love wandering through blooms and beauty? These fascinating gardens on the East Coast offer serene paths, historic landscapes, and vibrant seasonal displays—perfect for day trips, dates, or inspiration.
If you are in a hurry, I recommend:
Unique Gardens on the East Coast:
1. Take in stunning ocean views from Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
Stretched along the waterfront on Barters Island Road, overlooking Boothbay Harbor, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a popular botanical garden that features a modern visitor’s center, seasonal café, and gift shop.
The Gardens are home to a range of interesting and informative gardens, including the Giles Rhododendron Garden with a breathtaking multi-level waterfall; the manicured Rose & Perennial Garden; the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses – see, hear, feel, touch, and taste your way through; the Bibby and Harold Alfond Children's Garden, which offers two acres of fun for the whole family inspired by Maine children's literature; the Burpee Kitchen Garden; the Slater Forest Pond; and Vayo Meditation Garden – a haven of peace and tranquility.
The waterfront Fairy House Village encourages children to use their imagination to build homes for fairies and folk of the forest without disturbing the environment, while adults can admire the many sculptures by local artists that are scattered throughout the gardens.
Address: 105 Botanical Gdns Dr, Boothbay, ME 04537, Phone: (207) 633-8000
2. Explore the Children's Garden at the United States Botanic Garden, Washington D.C.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1820 more than 200 years ago and based on the grounds of the United Stated Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is the oldest continually operating botanic garden in the U.S.
The historic botanic garden and living plant museum focuses on the importance of plants to earth's fragile ecosystems and the people and animals that live in them.
The USBG proper consists of three different locations, namely the Conservatory, Bartholdi Park, and the Production Facility.
The Conservatory is made up of individual rooms that simulate different environments, including the Garden Court, Rare and Endangered Plants, Orchid, Hawaii, and Garden Primeval.
The Jungle boasts a high catwalk in order to view the canopy from both above and below, and a special Children's Garden offers a courtyard with a magnificent display of temperate annuals to encourage an interest in plants.
Address: 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20001, Phone: (202) 225-8333
3. Stroll through 50 acres at Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware
Founded in 1935, Mt. Cuba Center is a beautiful botanical garden and historical preserve located in the gentle rolling hills of the Delaware Piedmont.
Established to inspire and educate visitors about the beauty and value of native plants of the region. The gardens feature pastures, fields, forests and woodlands, and are home to some of the most spectacular displays of wildflowers in the mid-Atlantic region. Mt. Cuba Center’s breathtaking display gardens are spread over 50 acres, with an impressive plant collection of eastern North American flora, focusing on the Appalachian Piedmont.
The gardens encompass a broad range of landscapes and display gardens, ranging from the more formal gardens of Lila Alleé and the South Terrace to the natural terrain of the Dogwood Path, Pond Garden, Rock Wall, and Woods Path. The gardens are open from April through November.
Address: 3120 Barley Mill Rd, Hockessin, DE 19707, Phone: (302) 239-4244
4. Admire Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Bayard Cutting Arboretum, New York
Bayard Cutting Arboretum is a park in the Long Island State Park Region that was donated by Mrs. William Bayard Cutting and her daughter, Mrs. Olivia James, in memory of her husband, William Bayard Cutting.
Located in the hamlet of Great River on Long Island, the gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the last remaining estates on the South Shore of Long Island.
The gardens at Bayard Cutting Arboretum offer a range of activities, tours, workshops, and programs for the whole family. There is a beautiful nature trail to walk, as well as a variety of recreational programs, the Hidden Oak Café for homemade refreshments, and a gift shop at Westbrook.
Address: 440 Montauk Hwy, Great River, NY 11739, Phone: (631) 581-1002
5. Visit Sailor’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, New York
Sailor’s Snug Harbor is a cultural center formed around a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings along the Kill Van Kull on the north shore of Staten Island.
Once a home for aged sailors, the center also boasts a beautiful botanical garden and is a National Historic Landmark.
Forming part of this important cultural center are the Staten Island Botanical Gardens, which include the White Garden, an exquisite garden inspired by Vita Sackville-West’s famous Sissinghurst Gardens, and the New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, which is an authentic Chinese Garden built to reflect the famous gardens of Suzhou.
Another highlight of the gardens is Connie Gretz's Secret Garden, which boasts a mysterious walled secret garden, winding maze and a castle.
Address: 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301, Phone: (718) 425-3504
Romanticc Gardens on the East Coast:
6. Admire tropical at Flamingo Gardens, Botanical Gardens and Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary, Florida
Flamingo Gardens, Botanical Gardens and Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary is a tropical paradise set in the heart of Florida’s Everglades. Home to over 3000 species of rare and exotic, tropical, subtropical, and native plants, as well as some of the largest trees in the state of Florida, the Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary also hosts a variety of permanently injured and non-releasable birds and animals, and native wildlife.
Attractions in the sanctuary include the Wray Botanical Collection, which boasts the largest tree in Florida, and the Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary, which has the largest collection of Florida native wildlife in the State, as well as a premiere River Otter breeding program.
Enjoy a fully narrated tram ride through the gardens, which takes you through some of South Florida’s last remaining jungle, a unique hammock of 200-year-old Live Oaks, and tropical fruit groves.
Visit the Wray Home Museum to get a glimpse of life in South Florida in the 1930s.
Address: 3750 S Flamingo Rd, Davie, FL 33330, Phone: (954) 473-2955
7. Relax next to the lily pond at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, Washington D.C.
Built in 1816 by Martha Washington’s granddaughter and her husband and home to five generations of her descendants, Tudor Place Historic House and Garden is a beautifully preserved Federal-style mansion in historic Georgetown, D.C.
A National Historic Landmark, Tudor Place connects visitors to the history of the landscape and a sense of what it was like to live and work there from the 18th to 20th centuries. Set on 5½ acres, the gardens at Tudor Place boast manicured lawns, garden structures and ornamental garden rooms that act as a historical record of changing land use over time.
The gardens can be explored via a network of walking paths through “garden rooms” that identify past and present uses, including orchards, rose gardens, tennis lawns, quiet groves and fountains. The grassy Bowling Green features a charming lily pond.
Address: 1644 31st St NW, Washington, DC 20007, Phone: (202) 965-0400
8. Admire the rhododendrons at Heritage Museum & Gardens, Massachussetts
Heritage Museum & Gardens is located in historic Sandwich, Massachusetts and features three galleries for American Folk Art, automobiles, special traveling exhibitions, and beautifully maintained gardens. The highlight is the collection of thousands of rhododendrons, including the world-renowned Dexter variety, with the garden attracting visitors in flocks to see them in bloom from Memorial Day Weekend to mid-June.
Other horticultural areas of interest within the gardens include lovely heather, hosta, herb and daylily gardens, as well as a host of trees, shrubs and flower species.
The gardens are also home to the Hart Family Maze Garden and the Cape Cod Hydrangea Garden, as well as the Old East Mill, a beautifully restored 19th-century windmill, and a Marty Cain-designed labyrinth.
Address: 67 Grove St, Sandwich, MA 02563, Phone: (508) 888-3300
9. See colorful displays at Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, New York
Designed by world-renowned landscaping architect Frederick Law Olmsted, conservatory architects Lord & Burnham and botanist John F. Cowell, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens are one of America’s most beautiful botanical landscapes, located in South Park in Buffalo. The gardens feature a variety of both indoor and outdoor habitats and plant species from all around the globe, laid out in an easy-to-follow landscape. Specialty gardens include Florida Everglades, Panama Rainforest, Peace Garden, Healing Garden, Winter Garden, Cacti and Succulents, Ivy, Bonsai and Carnivorous Plants, and Ancient Rainforest, among others.
The gardens also feature a number of artistic and photographic exhibitions and events throughout the year, as well as offer educational programs and workshops for both adults and children.
Address: 2655 South Park Ave, Buffalo, NY 14218, Phone: (716) 827-1584
10. Take a guided tour of Mounts Botanical Gardens, Florida
Located in West Palm Beach in Mounts Botanical Gardens is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest public garden with over 2,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants from around the world. Mounts Botanical Garden’s fourteen acres feature a range of flora from Florida natives, edible landscapes, and the rarest of tropical fruits, to temperate North American trees, aquatics, and arid-land plants.
The gardens offer a variety of programs, events, and workshops throughout the year.
Browse the beautiful collections to find your favorite, ask the Master Gardener any questions you have regarding the flora of the gardens, or stroll around the bookstore for the best reads on Florida gardening and nature.
Enjoy guided tours through the gardens, plant sales, lectures, and special family workshops.
Address: 531 N Military Trl, West Palm Beach, FL 33415, Phone: (561) 233-1757
📔 I get asked this a lot so I decided to include it:
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Q: What makes gardens on the East Coast worth exploring?
- A: From the oldest garden in the country to the largest collection of tropical bonsai trees in the world, gardens on the East Coast of the United States are well worth exploring.
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Q: What can visitors expect from a weekend trip to these gardens?
- A: Plan a weekend trip to one of these stunning gardens and relax surrounded by beautiful colors and unique landscaping with waterfalls, bridges, and walking trails.
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Q: When is the best time to visit East Coast gardens?
- A: Many of the gardens that made our list are spectacular year-round, while others are at their best in the spring, summer, and fall.
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