Public Gardens You’ll Want to Visit in Virginia

When you’re looking for inspiration for your garden design, plant selections, companion plantings and landscape design, don’t miss checking out our local botanical gardens, arboretums and other public-garden spaces. Inspiration aside, these spaces offer so much more — historic importance, learning opportunities, fun events and just what everyone could use — a dose of “happy vibes.”

We’ve put together a list of great places to visit in Virginia where you’ll find plenty of inspiration. Best of all, most are free and open year-round!

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens logo

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

9750 Meadowlark Gardens Ct.
Vienna, VA 22182

Cost: Paid entry, see website for details

At the core of Meadowlark is a wonderful public garden; a pleasure garden for strolling and relaxing, a center for environmental and horticultural education, an outdoor classroom for thousands of public school children, a botanical garden with large ornamental and native plant collections, an exceptional open space endowed by the aesthetic magnitude of Virginia’s rolling Piedmont.

Three lakes provide serene views while neatly tended forest gardens harbor thousands of plants from across the temperate world. Meadowlark is a bold, yet intimate space. Quiet and insulated from urbanity, but replete with nature’s bounty; birds sing, cherry trees bloom, frogs jump, Koi swim intently and dozens of turtles bask in the midday sun. Close by, a Great Blue Heron stalks minnows in a bed of emerging water lilies.

Park Map | Things to Do | Events

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Green Spring Gardens Logo

Green Spring Gardens

4603 Green Spring Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22312

Cost: Free

Green Spring Gardens is a must-visit park, a year-round gold mine of information and inspiration for the home gardener. It’s an outdoor classroom, a museum, and a national historic site.

The park has a wooded stream valley with ponds, a naturalistic native plant garden, more than 20 thematic demonstration gardens, a greenhouse, a plant shop, two gift shops, a historic house, and a horticulture reference library. The gardens and educational programs focus on practical landscaping and gardening techniques that are appropriate for the Washington metro area.

Gardens Map | Events

Green Spring Gardens
Green Spring Gardens
Green Spring Gardens
Green Spring Gardens
Maymont Gardens Logo

Maymont Gardens

1000 Westover Road
Richmond, VA 23220

Cost: Free

Maymont’s 100 acres feature numerous attractions. But for many, Maymont’s magnificent gardens and landscapes can not be rivaled. Visitors to Maymont’s grounds represent a broad audience, ranging from romantic couples and tourists to picnicking families and seekers of solitude.

The grounds and gardens are like nothing else in the City of Richmond—expansive, unique, well-maintained and ever-changing. No public garden today could dream of duplicating Maymont’s magic, to say nothing of its architecture, grand trees or diversity of plants.

Italian Garden | Japanese Garden | Arboretum | Specialty Gardens

Maymont Gardens
Maymont Gardens
Maymont Gardens
Maymont Gardens
Maymont Gardens
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Logo

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

1800 Lakeside Ave.
Henrico, VA 23228

Cost: Paid entry, see website for details

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden offers year-round beauty on a historic property with more than 50 acres of spectacular gardens, dining, and shopping. A classical domed Conservatory is the only one of its kind in the mid-Atlantic. More than a dozen themed gardens include a Children’s Garden, Rose Garden, Asian Valley and Cherry Tree Walk.

Pathways will draw you to parts of the garden that delight you around every turn. Come explore secret spaces, learn about our plant collections, and enjoy our world-class botanical displays. With something for all ages and interests, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a place to learn about plants, to marvel at nature, relax in a beautiful setting, take gardening classes, or have a wedding or a business meeting.

Photo Tour of the Gardens | Garden Map | Visit Planner

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Norfolk Botanical Garden logo

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

6700 Azalea Garden Rd.
Norfolk, VA 23518

Cost: Paid entry, see website for details

With over 60 different gardens to explore, Norfolk Botanical Garden boasts being the largest botanical garden in Virginia and offers attractions for every season and taste. Some gardens showcase styles from different parts of the world, while others are focused on one particular type of plant. They are renouned for their azalea and rose gardens!

They offer gardens that range from intense fragrance and color to those that offer reflective contemplation. There are several that that are moe formal as well as many areas where nature rules. It’s also a great location to scout out local birds and other wildlife.

Spring Gardens | Summer Gardens | Fall Gardens | Winter Gardens | WOW Children’s Garden | Year Round Gardens

Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden logo

Virginia State Arboretum
Blandy Experimental Farm

400 Blandy Farm Lane
Boyce, VA 22620

Cost: Free

If you’re the type who enjoys soaking in the outdoors, marveling at magnificent trees and gardens, and sharing space with wildlife in their natural environment, you’ve found your place at the State Arboretum of Virginia at historic Blandy Experimental Farm.

The Virginia State Arboretum stands in the central 172 acres of Blandy Experimental Farm, and surrounds the picturesque Historical Quarters building. Come explore our labeled tree and shrub collections that date back the early 1930’s from all over the world. Wandering through these remarkable plantings makes you feel as if you’re traveling through a foreign forest.

Walk through the largest Conifer collection in the Southeast. Experience a 300 hundred tree Ginkgo grove in the fall season. Stand under our many towering Virginia State Champion trees. Browse America’s largest boxwood library and stroll down a Cedar of Lebanon allee. Bring the dog, the kids, or your favorite walking buddy next time you visit Virginia’s State Arboretum.

Virginia State Arboretum
Virginia State Arboretum
Virginia State Arboretum
Virginia State Arboretum
Virginia State Arboretum
Virginia State Arboretum
Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech logo

Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech

200 Garden Lane
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Cost: Free

The Hahn Horticulture Garden encompasses nearly six acres of teaching and display gardens on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Established in 1984 by Horticulture faculty, the garden serves undergraduate students and the local community as a learning resource for plant material, landscaping concepts, and environmental awareness.

The garden features hundreds of species of woody and herbaceous plants from around the world, showcased in various features: a multi-acre shade garden, “hot” perennial border, spectrum mixed border, xeriphytic garden, two water features including the Jane Andrews Memorial Stream Garden, Pavilion tent lawn and folly, meadow garden, and the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion.

Hahn Horticulture Garden
Hahn Horticulture Garden
Hahn Horticulture Garden
Hahn Horticulture Garden
Hahn Horticulture Garden

Virginia sure does have a wealth of public gardens to visit! So many great spaces. So many planting ideas. So many places to just tuck yourself away and enjoy the experience. We hope you get a chance to visit all of them. And after you do, come by and tell us all about your visit! 

Happy gardening!

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Coreopsis: Perennial with Plenty to Offer

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Public Gardens You’ll Want to Visit in Washington, DC

When you're looking for inspiration for your garden design, plant selections, companion plantings and landscape design, don't miss checking out our local botanical gardens, arboretums and other public-garden spaces. We've gathered a comprehensive list of great places to visit in Washington, DC where you'll find plenty of inspiration and good vibes. Best of all, many are free and open year-round!

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Russian Sage: Proven Winners’ Denim ‘n Lace

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Rose Mallow: Proven Winners’ Summerific® “Holy Grail”

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Rose of Sharon: Proven Winners’ Blue Chiffon®

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Reston Farm Garden Market Carries Raw Honey from Golden Angels Apiary, VA

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Let’s Plant a Spring Moss Container

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Autumn Garden Beauties You’ll Fall For

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Perennials Offer Style and Convenience

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Proven Winners’ Supertunia Mini Vista® Pink Star Petunia

Proven Winners’ Supertunia Mini Vista® Pink Star Petunia

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Reston Diggs Local Business Spotlight on Reston Farm Garden Market

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Salmon Paninis Need This Secret Ingredient

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Fall cocktails filled with fall flavors are more fun!

Fall cocktails filled with fall flavors are more fun!

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The secret ingredient behind Berry Delicious Razzle Sauce is….

The secret ingredient behind Berry Delicious Razzle Sauce is….

Use our Red Raspberry Preserves to create a yummy drizzle for your grilled fish, shrimp, pork and more. Visit Reston Farms Garden Market for yummy foods, gorgeous plants and plenty of smiles.

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We are the legendary Reston Farm Garden Market, originally established in 1976. Located in Reston, Virginia, we’re passionate about serving our local Northern Virginia community by providing premium annuals, perennials, natives, herbs, veggie plants, and shrubs; organic gardening supplies; locally-sourced farm-fresh goods, and family fun. We hope to see you soon!

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