Botanical Gardens in the Southeast (8 Amazing Places)

Posted by Sep 28, 2024 Uncategorized

I absolutely love botanical gardens! Flowers and plants are one of my favorite things ever, and I don’t think botanical gardens get enough love when people go on vacation. There are always things in bloom and things to do no matter what time of year you go. For example, there are festivals in spring, scarecrow contests in autumn, Christmas lights in December… you can always find something to do in botanical gardens.

So as you can imagine, when we go on a trip, I always have to find a botanical garden somewhere! I’ve been to quite a few of them, especially around the Southeast since that’s my region. Here are the botanical gardens that I think are the best the Southeast has to offer, and many of them I’ve been to personally.

1. Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is my favorite botanical garden ever. It’s not just because it’s the closest to my house. I truly think they have the most diverse selection of plants of any of the botanical gardens I’ve visited. 

Springtime is my favorite time to go. In late March, BBG hosts the Sakura Cherry Blossom Festival, which is always packed with people. But there are awesome events happening all throughout the year. 

Some of my favorite gardens are the Japanese Garden (there are so many turtles and koi fish in the pond) and the Dunn Formal Rose Garden, where there are many different varieties and colors of roses. I also love the cactus garden in the Conservatory, because that’s something we don’t get to see a lot of in Alabama. 

They also have a gift shop full of plants, books, jewelry, and other fun items. And the best part? Birmingham Botanical Gardens is free to visit!

2. Huntsville Botanical Garden

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is another beautiful botanical garden in Alabama, and my favorite time to visit this one is in the fall. In September and October, Huntsville Botanical Garden hosts Festifall, which is full of fun pumpkin displays and the Scarecrow Trail, full of fun and unique scarecrows. 

During the holiday season, HBG also has the Galaxy of Lights, running from mid-November until the end of December. There are options to walk through or drive through with amazing Christmas light displays, and there are even some nights that you can bring your dog with you!

One of my favorite gardens at this botanical garden is the Damson Aquatic Garden, full of waterlilies and tropical aquatic plants. Looking at this garden just gives me a feeling of peace and tranquility. I also love the Purdy Butterfly House, an open-air butterfly habitat and balanced ecosystem designed to support butterflies at all stages of their life. The best time to visit the butterfly house is May through September.

3. Cheekwood

Cheekwood in Nashville, Tennessee is another botanical garden that I visited in the fall. They create these cool “pumpkin houses” that I saw on Instagram, so I just had to go see them in person. The pumpkin houses are part of the Cheekwood Harvest event, which happens from mid-September to the end of October. They also have a Christmas event, Holiday Lights, which runs from around Thanksgiving to the middle of January.

I love the Wills Perennial Garden at Cheekwood and the Burr Terrace, an Italian-esque garden that was designed to resemble the oldest surviving botanical garden in the world. There’s also a really cool sculpture trail.

The Cheekwood Estate is also on the Cheekwood grounds, and you can tour the gardens only or the gardens and mansion. We didn’t have time to do both, so we just visited the gardens, but I’m sure the estate is just as beautiful.

You may also like: How to Spend a Weekend in Nashville Tennessee with Kids

4. McKee Botanical Garden

We visited McKee Botanical Garden on our way back to Alabama from West Palm Beach after a cruise. It was technically wintertime, but in true South Florida fashion, there was certainly no winter weather. This is another botanical garden that I saw on Instagram; a beautiful alley of tall palm trees drew me in, so I knew I had to make it a stop on our way home.

I have to say, this is truly one of the most beautiful botanical gardens I have ever seen. The landscaping was incredible. It was right after Christmas when we went, so there were Christmas lights everywhere, but that added to the magic for me. 

McKee also has a Children’s Garden, which I thought was really cool because some kids find botanical gardens extremely boring (at least my daughter does). So, the Children’s Garden adds a bit of fun for the kiddos as well. A visit here will quickly show you why I think this is one of the best botanical gardens in the Southeast.

5. The North Carolina Arboretum

The North Carolina Arboretum is a combination of an arboretum and botanical gardens in Asheville, North Carolina, surrounded by the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. There are 65 acres of gardens as well as over 10 miles of hiking and biking trails.

We visited during the winter, so the Winter Lights event was happening during our visit. They had some of the most unique Christmas lights I had ever seen. But since we went at night, we didn’t get to see a lot of the gardens. It was still well worth it though, and I would love to go back another time during the day to see more of the plants and gardens.

One of the really cool things about the North Carolina Arboretum is the Bonsai Exhibition Garden. They have a collection of over 100 bonsai specimens, influenced by traditional bonsai but with a contemporary Southern Appalachian influence. Any lover of bonsai trees should go check it out!

6. Gardens and Grounds at the Biltmore Estate

Also on our trip to Asheville, we visited the Biltmore Estate to see the mansion decorated with Christmas lights. But the gardens and grounds at the Biltmore Estate were just as beautiful, and we spent most of the day leading up to our tour exploring the gardens. 

There are six formal and informal gardens as well as a conservatory and nature trails to explore. It was unusually warm for North Carolina the year we went, and we were able to see plenty of plants that were blooming even in late December. But you can also visit in the fall to see the fall foliage in the surrounding Appalachian Mountains, and in the early spring to see all the daffodils and tulips. In the summer, you can see hydrangeas and lilies, among other summer-blooming plants. So it truly is a year-round destination.

Although we toured the house and gardens and grounds on our visit, you can buy tickets to visit only the gardens and grounds if you’re limited on time or want to save a little money.

7. Heathcote Botanical Gardens

We found Heathcote Botanical Gardens on our way to McKee Botanical Gardens while coming home from West Palm Beach after our cruise. We stopped because they had a bonsai tree exhibit, and my husband loves bonsai trees.

Although Heathcote is smaller than some of the other botanical gardens on this list, I think it is definitely underrated because it’s really beautiful, and pets are also allowed on the grounds (except during the Garden Of Lights holiday event).

They also have a butterfly garden and children’s garden at Heathcote, but my favorite thing was the two cats we saw hanging around the grounds. Overall the cost was really reasonable, and it was a quick but fun stop on our way to other attractions in the area.

8. Atlanta Botanical Garden

I’ve never actually been to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, but I’ve heard and seen really awesome things. Like the Huntsville Botanical Garden, Atlanta also has a scarecrow event called Scarecrows in the Garden that runs from October to November. I’ve also heard that their Garden Nights, Holiday Lights event during the holiday season is spectacular. 

There are also some really cool events and classes held throughout the year. A unique feature of the Atlanta Botanical Garden is the Fuqua Orchid Center, with over 2,000 species of orchids on display. The Dwarf and Rare Conifer Garden is another unique feature of the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Although I haven’t been to this botanical garden yet, I hope to visit really soon. I will update this post once I do.

This is certainly not an all-inclusive list of botanical gardens in the Southeast, but these are just the ones that I’ve been to or have heard really good things about. As I continue to explore and visit more botanical gardens, I will update this list. Until then, I hope you get the opportunity to visit some of these botanical gardens on your travels as well!

About Savanna

Hi, I'm Savanna and I live in Alabama with my husband, my daughter, our little Chihuahua mix, and three cats. I love to travel; road trips and weekend trips are my favorite! I also love plants, flowers, and gardening. I hope that you enjoy reading my posts.
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