Featured Listings
125 Arborway
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone: 617-524-1718
This 265 acre site is part of the emerald necklace of Boston parks designed in the late 1800s by Frederick Law Olmsted. The arboretum is a major center for plant research, with about 14,000 woody plants representing nearly 5,000 botanical classifications. The living collection is supported by comprehensive documentation, herbaria containing more than 1.3 million specimens, extensive library and archival holdings, and a state-of-the-art research center. The Visitor Center has maps and self-guided tour brochures; exhibits about the Arboretum and plants, and seasonal art exhibitions; a shop featuring books and educational items for children and adults; activities for children; and restrooms.
Hours: Grounds open year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Visitor Center open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays; and noon-4 p.m. Sundays. Closed holidays.
Admission: Free.
15 College Lane
Northampton, MA 01063
Phone: 413-585-2740
Today, the Botanic Garden includes thousands of plants, including those grown under glass in the Lyman Conservatory and outdoors in the campus areboretum — our landscape for learning — and various specialty gardens around campus. Additionally, there are 60,000 pressed specimens available for research in the herbarium. Botanic Garden activities and collections include not only plants but also books and other resource materials (including our newsletter, Botanic Garden News), an international seed exchange, research and conservation, and diverse events.
Major events include the two-week Spring Bulb Show and Fall Chrysanthemum Show.
Hours: Daily year-round.
Admission: Free.
Route 103A / P.O. Box 276
Newbury, NH 03255
Phone: 603-763-4789
The Fells Historic Estate & Gardens is one of New England's finest examples of an early 20th-century summer estate. Come and discover 84 conserved acres of beauty and tranquility; learn the legacy of its founder, diplomat and statesman John Milton Hay, during historic guided tours of the 22-room Colonial Revival home; explore forest succession and nature's diversity while walking woodland trails; and enjoy the renowned gardens.
Outstanding gardens, a 100-foot perennial border, and a view of Lake Sunapee from the Rose Terrace. A brook trickles to a Japanese water lily pool in the hillside rock garden, which includes a large collection of alpine and native plants. Hidden behind masses of rhododendron, a walled secret garden awaits discovery.
Hours: Gardens and trails, open year-round, daily. Shop and Main House open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as follows: weekends and Monday holidays from May 26 to Columbus Day; Wednesdays through Sundays, June 20 through Labor Day; daily during the July 4 week. Main House and Shop are in winter.
Admission: Adults, $7-$10; seniors and students, $6-$8; children ages 6-17, $3-$4. Winter admission (December through March) is $5 per household.
Ingersoll Street
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: 978-774-9165
Mansion built in the 19th century features decorative gardens and a teahouse.
Hours: Gardens open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-dusk; Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon. A guided tour of the house and gardens is offered May-July. Reservations required. Fee charged.
67 Grove Street
Sandwich, MA 02563
Phone: 508-888-3300
There are several miles of passive recreational trails as well as five acres of lawn.
Heritage Museums & Gardens consists of one hundred spectacular acres of labeled trees and shrubs, beautiful flowers and sweeping lawns. The gardens are a delight any time of year. Spring features showy Dexter Rhododendrons and flowering trees, while summer boasts brilliant annuals and dazzling daylilies. Autumn highlights blazing foliage and the fall-blooming Franklinia. Winter showcases beautiful heathers, bright berries and noble evergreens.
Heritage offers many excellent garden-related workshops, lectures and activities throughout the year. For more information on workshops, lectures and activities go to our events calendar.
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA 01701
Phone: 508-877-7630
Fax: 508-877-3658
New England Wild Flower Society maintains this 45-acre garden, the largest landscaped collection of native plants in the northeastern United States. Guided walking tours given weekdays at 10 a.m. and weekends at 2 p.m. Garden Shop offers native plants, books, compost tea, eco-friendly garden tools.
Hours: April 15- October 31, Tuesday through Sunday plus Holiday Mondays 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Extended hours Thursday and Friday evenings until 7 p.m. April 15-July 3, After October, trails close for the season. Fee charged.
2009 West Main Road
Middletown, RI 401-846-4152
Feel history come alive at this charming country setting with an 1812 windmill and other historic buildings. Explore the open green space and walking trails. Featured buildings are the Robert Sherman Windmill, the Guard House (mid-1700s), Hicks House (c.1715), a simple structure of two rooms and a loft; and Sweet-Anthony House (c. 1730), an excellent example of an 18th century, middle-class farmer’s house.
Prescott Farm’s kitchen and herb gardens are living laboratories that showcase period horticulture as well as contemporary gardening practices. The plant varieties grown in the gardens represent what many Aquidneck Islanders may have used for food, medicine and other purposes in the Colonial era. Although certain design features evoke the historic time period, the gardens are maintained using 21st century sustainable techniques.
Workshops are offered at Prescott Farm during the summer and fall each year. Past workshops have included: stonewall building, blacksmithing, open hearth cooking, a beehive tour and tasting, and wind energy past and present.
Hours: Grounds are open daily dawn to dusk. See a schedule of upcoming programs at Prescott Farm and our other sites.
1000 Elmwood Avenue
Providence, RI 02905
Phone: 401-785-9450
Since the 1890s, Roger Williams Park has been the premier playground for Rhode Island residents. Designed in 1874 by landscape architect Horace W.S. Cleveland, the park's 435 acres feature over 100 acres of ponds throughout the rolling landscape. The landscape includes specimen trees, the famous Rose Garden, and outdoor sculptures. Major attractions include the Roger Williams Park Zoo, the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, the Botanical Center, the Casino, the Carousel Village, the Temple to Music, tennis courts, and baseball fields. The park attracts 1.5 million visitors a year and is the site for numerous festivals.
Carousel Village is a popular amusement area located in Roger Williams Park. The main features of the area are a beautiful Victorian-style carousel, the Hasbro Playground, the Depot Cafe, and seasonal outdoor rides. Open April-Columbus Day.
The Casino at Roger Williams Park, built in 1896, features a brick exterior and verandas adorned with Ionic columns, porticos and railings with turned balusters in the Colonial Revival architectural style. A Rhode Island landmark, the casino hosts score of special events each year.
The Zoo at Roger Williams Park includes the exhibits Australasia, Fabric of Africa, a wetlands trail, a farmyard, the Marco Polo Trail, North America, and Tropical America. Open year-round, with many special events for adults and children.
The Museum of Natural History and Planetarium at Roger Williams Park is Rhode Island's only natural history museum and is home to the state's only public planetarium.
96 Lyme Street
Old Lyme, CT 06371
Phone: 860-434-5542
This 11-acre riverfront campus calls itself the Home of American Impressionism, for its service in the 1910s as a summer boarding house to artists of the Lyme Art Colony. The Krieble Gallery hosts changing exhibitions of American art. The permanent collection includes works by Church, Cole, Twachtman, Hassam, and others. The Griswold House contains a remarkable collection of painted panels and doors left in their original places by the artists who stayed at the Florence Griswold House. Museum offers many seasonal events and activities for children.
Visitors today understand immediately the site's appeal to the artists who stayed with Florence Griswold. Her house, gardens and river view were favored subjects of her boarders. Walking the grounds, one is delighted by the same trees and gentle bend in the river. Visitors stand at the site of Childe Hassam's favorite spot, stroll Miss Florence's lovingly restored old-fashioned garden.
Hours: Krieble Gallery and Griswold House open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Chadwick Studio and Rafal Landscape Center open mid-May through October.
Admission: Adults, $9; seniors, $8; students, $7; children age 12 and younger admitted for free.
11 French Drive
P.O. Box 598
Boylston, MA 01505
Phone: 508-869-6111
Fax: 508-869-0314
Experience
Located on 132 bucolic acres in Worcester County, less than an hour from Boston, Tower Hill is one of the largest and most comprehensive botanic gardens in the region. It is the home of the Worcester County Horticultural Society, founded in 1842 to "advance the science, and encourage and improve the practice of horticulture." The breathtaking view provides an extraordinary setting for a variety of garden styles, at once stunningly beautiful and highly educational. Stroll through a Lawn Garden, Secret Garden, Cottage Garden, Vegetable Garden, Systematic Garden, and magical woodland paths. In winter, the Orangerie is filled with flowering subtropical plants. Browse the Gift Shop and enjoy lunch at Twigs Café.
Informational Listings Courtesy of VisitNewEngland.com
10 Deerfield Lane
Ansonia, CT 06401
Phone: 203-736-1053
Once a small family-owned dairy farm, the park is laced with two and one-half miles of nature trails. The land encompasses 104 acres of wooded hills and grassy fields bisected by streams, a two acre pond, wet meadows, and an upland swamp. The site is a microcosm of a typical Connecticut landscape, providing sanctuary to many species of New England flora and fauna. A butterfly/hummingbird garden and an award-winning woodland wildflower and fern garden grace the visitor center. Also, soccer, baseball, and softball fields; several acres reserved for community gardening; and a large play scape for younger children.
Hours: Daily sunup to sundown; interpretive center open 9 a.m. t o 5 p.m. daily except on major holidays.
Admission: Free.
Sodem and Main Roads
Tyringham, MA 01238
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239
A rushing stream, native deciduous trees, a rounded knoll, and rising meadows are blended into an arrangement of both formal and informal beauty. Garden features include the fountain pond, pine park, rams head terrace, bowling green, regency bridge, and trellis triptych.
Hours: Mid-June to mid-September, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, 1-5 p.m.
Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary
Off Nathan Ellis Highway
East Falmouth, MA 02536
Phone: 508-362-7475
Toll-Free: 800-AUDUBON
9 Main Street
Bethlehem, CT 06751
Phone: 203-266-7596
The Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, in the center of Bethlehem, is a property of Connecticut Landmarks. Once the home of Bethlehem's first minister, the house was built in 1754, and is filled with American and European antiques. In addition to the 1754 home, the property also features a formal parterre garden, with a collection of roses, peonies, and lilacs. To reserve tours for 10 people or more, please call 203-266-7596.
Hours: May through October, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $7; students, teachers and seniors, $6; children age 6-18, $4.
Routes 102 and 183
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Phone: 413-298-3926
Art School Road
Monterey, MA 01245
Phone: 413-528-6888
101 Ferry Road / Route 114
Bristol, RI 02809
Phone: 401-253-2707
This 45-room mansion was built in 1908 as the summer home of coal magnate Augustus Van Wickle. The property features gardens, and arboretum on 33 acres overlooking Narragansett Bay. A variety of different gardens on the property can be viewed year-round. The mansion and gardens host many special activities and tours throughout the year.
Hours: The Mansion is open mid-April through Columbus Day, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Gardens & Grounds are open year-round, daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $11; seniors, $9; Youths age 6-17,$3
5774 Main Street
Stratford, CT 06614
Phone: 203-381-2046
This 32-acre former homestead of the Boothe Family (1663-1949) offers with picnic facilities, rose garden, and wedding garden. Buildings on National Historic Landmark site with displays of early farm equipment, carriages and baskets; trolley history, toll booth exhibit.
Hours: Park grounds are open year-round, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Museums and displays are open June 1 through October 1, Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m.
Admission: Free
Boston Public Garden
at Beacon, Charles, Boylston, and Arlington streets
Boston, MA
The Boston Public Garden was established in 1837 by a group of Proprietors as the first public botanical garden in the United States. In 1852 it was returned to city control, and after passage of the Public Garden act of 1858 was laid out essentially in its present form. The beauty of the Boston Public Garden lies in the Lagoon, Swan Boats, sculpture, fountains, flower beds, and its notable trees. Today the Boston Public Garden is a place of public pride, planted and sustained for present and future generations.
165 Whisconier Road / Routes 25 and 133
Brookfield, CT 06840
Phone: 203-775-4628
An extended learning and research center
10 Hale Hill Road
Rindge, NH 03461
Phone: 603-899-3300
Sibyl and Douglas Sloane III founded the Cathedral of the Pines in 1945 as a memorial to men and women, including their son, who sacrificed their lives in World War II. Situated on a hilltop with a panoramic view of the Grand Monadnock, the Cathedral of the Pines is a breathtaking open-air cathedral and meeting space on 236 acres. Historic monuments honor the service of American men and women — both military and civilian. Visitors from all over the world participate in events here and explore the extraordinary sanctuary grounds and meditate in outdoor chapels and gardens. A warm jacket is often necessary. Guided tours are available; groups are required to make reservations. Fee charged for group tours.
Hours: Daily, May 1-October 31.
Williamsville Road, one mile south of Routes 183 and 102
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Phone: 413-298-3579
Chesterwood is the country home, studio, and gardens of America’s foremost sculptor of public monuments, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), creator of the Minute Man and Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial. It is situated on 122 acres in the idyllic hamlet of Glendale near Stockbridge. Each year, during the month of May, French left his permanent home and studio in New York for six months and moved with his family to Chesterwood, where he worked on 201 commissions. Many of French’s plaster sketches, including models of his Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial, are on view today in his studio as well as in the permanent exhibit in Barn Gallery. Visitors to Chesterwood are invited to explore a self-guided tour of the beautiful formal gardens and woodland paths created by French himself.
Hours: Late May-early October, daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $16; children age 13-17, $8
Barters Island Road
Boothbay, ME 04537
Phone: 207-633-4333
New England’s largest botanical garden features acres of spectacular ornamental gardens and stonework, waterfront and woodland trails, a beautiful visitor center with café and gift shop, and a shorefront Fairy House Village – all on 248 acres of coastal landscape. Special events and programs for all ages, year-round, include a house and garden tour, book fair, Maine Fairy House Festival, Kitchen Garden Series, college horticulture courses, and more.
Hours: Open year-round, daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Visitor Center and Bosarge Family Educaton Center are open only on weekdays from mid-November through March.
Admission: Adults, $12; seniors, $10; children age 3-17, $6
75 Cliff Street at Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
Beautiful history
Once an experimental mulberry orchard, this stately public park was the home of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. Bought in 1906 by the Brewster family, the stately mansion stood near the great lawn of an estate designed to replicate an English landscape garden. Now a city park hosting many public cultural events.
Hours: Open from sunrise to sunset every day of the year. The conservatory is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day except major holidays.
2468B Washington Street / Route 138
Canton, MA 02021
Phone: 781-821-2977
sprawling gardens on an historic estate
Once a Colonial farmstead, the property was transformed into a country estate. The property includes a country house, landscaped grounds, and a complex of farm and estate buildings, manicured lawns, a walled garden, and a brick-edged garden. Visitors may explore more than 60 acres of meadow and woodland along three miles of trails.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.
Corner of Prospect Avenue and Asylum Avenue
Hartford, CT
Phone: 860-231-9443
The park’s world famous rose garden is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country. The two-and-a half-acre rose garden has 15,000 plants in about 800 varieties of roses. The park is also home to a rock garden and specialized gardens of annuals, herbs, and perennials.
Hours: Year-round, daily, dawn to dusk.
24 Caleb Dyer Lane / 447 Route 4A
Enfield, NH 03748
Phone: 603-632-4346
Nestled in a valley between Mount Assurance and Mascoma Lake, the Enfield Shaker site has been cherished for over 200 years. Visitors may tour the Great Stone Dwelling, the largest Shaker dwelling house ever constructed; view Shaker furniture, tools, clothing, photographs and agricultural implements; explore the Museum's herb and flower gardens, fields and hills; hike to the Shaker Feast Ground for a spectacular vista; and shop at the Museum Store, filled with Shaker-inspired reproductions, books, local crafts and farm products, as well as products from the Museum's renowned herb garden.
Hours: Open year-round; the museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 pt
Admission: Adult, $8.50; senior over age 61, $7.50; college students, $6; youth age 10-17, $4
10 Willow Avenue
North Hampton, NH 03862
Phone: 603-964-5414
Designed in the Colonial Revival style on a two -acre plot, these gardens bloom throughout the season, from an extensive tulip display in early May, followed by the Japanese garden and other late spring flowering shrubs, through the 2,000 rose bushes that bloom through October.
Hours: Mid-May through mid-October, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA 01701
Phone: 508-877-7630
The New England Wild Flower Society maintains this garden, the largest landscaped collection of native plants in the northeastern United States. This ever-changing living museum—New England’s premier wildflower garden—has more than 1,000 native plant species, with many rare and endangered native specimens throughout the gardens, as well as the unique New England Rare Plant Garden.
Hours: April 14–October 31; Tuesdays through Sundays; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. After October, trails close for the season. Museum Shop remains open with winter hours. Guided walks offered free with admission Tuesdays through Fridays at 10 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Admission: Adults over age 18, $10; seniors over age 65, $7; youths age 3-17, $5
57 Peirce Street
East Greenwich, RI 02818
Phone: 401-884-1776
James Mitchell Varnum was one of George Washington’s generals. His mansion was built in 1773, and visitors can enjoy the Colonial garden, the paneled walls, and period furnishings.
Hours: June-August, Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Donation suggested.
350 Main Street
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
Phone: 860-388-2622
A Georgian-style Colonial built in 1767, featuring an herb garden and intricate decor. Of particular interest are the eight corner fireplaces. Notice the nine-window facade with 12 over 12 panes, the cornices, cornerboards and graduated clapboards.
Hours: June 12- September 13, Friday - Sunday, 12:30 - 4 p.m. Donation is requested.
Hollow Road / P.O. Box 245
Woodbury, CT 06798
Phone: 203-263-2855
Farmhouse built in 1740 is set in the picturesque Litchfield Hills in historic Woodbury’s village center. It offers a glimpse of Revolutionary War-era Connecticut. Birthplace of the Episcopal Church in the New World and graced by the only existing American garden planned by Gertrude Jekyll.
Hours: May-October, Wednesday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; November, weekends only, 1–4 p.m. Fee charged.
275 Great Neck Road / State Route 213
Waterford, CT 06385
Phone: 860-443-5725
This beachfront park on Long Island Sound, site of a former mansion is home to an unusual historic and beautiful experience. Enjoy a garden of heliotropes, bred from the plants grown on the site over a century ago.
Hours: 8 a.m.-sunset. Mansion is open for tours weekends and holidays from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day. The first tour starts at 10 a.m. and the last at 2:15 p.m. Fees for parking.
77 Forest Street
Hartford, CT 06105
Phone: 860-522-9258
Open: Tours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4:30 p.m.; open on Mondays, Memorial Day to Columbus Day and December. Closed major holidays.
26 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617 495-3045
Botanical Museum contains the world famous collection of Blaschka glass flowers, hand-blown detailed glass models of dozens of flower species. It’s like a garden made of glass.
Hours: Daily, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Fee charged.
55 South Main Street
Suffield, CT 06078
West Main Street
Meriden, CT 06450
Phone: 203-630-4259
Hubbard Park is located around East Peak and West Peak of the area called the Hanging Hills. It comprises approximately 1,800 acres of carefully kept woodland, lake and stream, flower gardens, and picnic spots.
Hours: April-October, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fee: Call for details.
Hunter House
54 Washington Street
Newport, RI 02840
Phone: 401-847-1000
Elaborate and fragrant Colonial-style gardens
Take a stroll through Hunter House’s beautifully manicured Colonial-style gardens. The mansion is one of the finest examples of Georgian Colonial architecture from Newport's "golden age" in the mid-18th century. The carved pineapple over the doorway was a symbol of welcome throughout Colonial America. Call 401-847-1000 for information and tour hours.
161 Washington Street
Marblehead, MA 01945
Phone: 617-631-1069
Beauty and history
53 South Main Street
Ipswich, MA 01938
Phone: 508-356-2811
The house was built in the 1650s and moved to its present site in the 1920s. With more than 60 authentic Colonial flowers and herbs, the garden in front of the Whipple House represents a traditional housewife’s garden of the 17th century. The plantings are made up mostly of herbs that would be used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.
Hours: May 25-October 22, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment only. Tours begin on the hour. Fee charged.
947 Park Street, Route 118
Attleboro, MA 02703
Phone: 508-222-5410
These historic statuary gardens were designed as areas for meditation and worship. During the Christmas holiday a unique and decorative light display is offered.
500 Hope St. / Route 114
Bristol, RI 02809
Phone: 401-253-0390
Linden Place mansion was built in 1810 by the seafaring General George DeWolf in the historic district of Bristol. The property includes the mansion, a ballroom built in 1906, a barn built in the 19th century, and an 18th century summer house. The grounds include historic sculpture and gardens. Live music performances are offered throughout the year.
Guided tours of the estate, featured in the film The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, are given May through Columbus Day, Thursday to Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and occasional Sundays. Tours by appointment are available November through April by calling 401-253-0390.
Tour highlights include tales of DeWolf family exploits, from their privateering and slave trading to their financial ruin and triumphant return to prosperity during Victorian times. At the tour's end, visitors are welcome to stroll the sculpture-filled gardens where they will find Greek bronzes and an 18th Century gazebo.
Hours: Mansion and museum store, May 1 through Columbus Day, Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday, noon-4 p.m.; office open daily, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
572 Essex Street
Beverly, MA 01915
Phone: 978-921-1944
Fax: 978-921-1948
From 1916 to 1979, Long Hill was the summer home of author Ellery Sedgwick and his first wife, Mabel Cabot Sedgwick, an accomplished horticulturist and gardener. Five acres of cultivated grounds are laid out in a series of separate garden rooms and accented by garden ornaments, structures, and statuary.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.
185 Lyman Street
Waltham, MA 02452
Phone: 781-891-1985
Lynn Woods
Great Woods and Penny Brook Roads
Lynn, MA
Phone: 617-593-7773
This 2,200-acre municipal forest is the perfect spot for hiking, rock climbing, bird watching, cross-country skiing or just enjoying the view. A rose garden adds to the scenery.
Hours: Sunrise to sunset. No charge.
22 Stoney Hill Road at Route 6
North Swansea, MA
Phone: 508-379-0376
Stunning rose gardens
4 Winslow Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-746-2590
Open: July – mid-September, daily, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Memorial Day weekend-June 30 and mid-September to mid-October, Friday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The headquarters of the General Society of Mayflower Descendents is located in this 1754 home built by Edward Winslow, a Pilgrim descendant. It features furnishings spanning three centuries, a flying staircase and formal gardens.
Hours: July-Labor Day, open daily; Memorial Day weekend-June and early September-October, Friday-Sunday. Fee charged.
South Indian Hill Road
West Tisbury, MA 02568
Phone: 508-627-8687
This Christiantown memorial is the site of an Indian burial ground and the Mayhew Chapel, named after Thomas Mayhew Jr., a missionary. This site is owned by the Wampanoag Tribe and grounds are maintained by Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club. Includes a wildflower sanctuary.
Fee charged.
Conway Road
Camden, ME 04849
Phone: 207-236-2239
19 Main St.
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Phone: 413-298-3239
Built in 1739 and originally located atop Prospect Hill, this National Historic Landmark was disassembled, moved, and restored between 1926 and 1927. Landscape architect Fletcher Steele designed the Colonial Revival garden, which features a colonial-style dooryard garden of circular brick paths enclosed by a tidewater cypress fence. A replica of an old cobbler shop serves as the entrance to the property; a grape arbor in the Well Courtyard behind the house leads to a small Native American museum.
Hours: Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.- to 5 p.m. Fee charged.
Mohegan Park Rose Garden
Judd Road
Norwich, CT
Phone: 860-823-3791
Dike Road, Chappaquiddick Island
Martha’s Vineyard, MA 02568
Phone: 508-627-7689
Fax: 508-627-3659
Immerse yourself in the meditative qualities of the landscape.
You'll want to stay forever in this Japanese-style garden set within an open pine forest. The flora includes mixed plantings of native and exotic trees and shrubs, some rare. The garden’s signature feature is a small pond with an island that is reached by walking over an arched bridge. Winding footpaths take visitors through a birch walk, camellia dell, stone garden, and hillside garden. A rustic meditation shelter offers broad views of the garden and landscape.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.
Prospect Hill Road
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239
Eight acres of terraced gardens
This 44-room house was the summer cottage of the Choate family, and features original furniture, ceramics, and artwork collected from America, Europe, and the Far East. Famous for its eight acres of terraced gardens and landscaped grounds, transformed from 1926 to 1956 into separate garden rooms such as the afternoon garden, rose garden, evergreen garden, Chinese garden, arborvitae walk, and linden walk. The most famous feature of the landscape is Steele’s Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools flanked by four flights of stairs overhung by birch trees.
Hours: Memorial Day to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission fee for non-members.
144 Oenoke Ridge
New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: 203-966-9577
Dedicated to helping people of all ages better understand, appreciate and care for the world of nature
New England Gardens
Every spring and summer, gardens across New England come alive with color. For the gardener and flower-lover alike, there are numerous botanical gardens, historic gardens, and even some unusual gardens from Western Connecticut all the way up toward the Canadian border. What follows is a state by state list of these gardens. Each is worth visiting for its natural beauty and vivid colors during the height of the season. Good luck choosing!
Route 125, Plummer’s Ridge
Milton, NH 03851
Phone: 603-652-7840
Open: April through October.
The Farm Museum consists of the historic Jones Farm and the Plummer Homestead. The properties consist of 50 acres of field and forest, a working farm, historic houses and barns, a blacksmith shop, a shoe shop and exhibits on agriculture and rural life. The museum hosts special events, programs, and workshops.
Rockwell Street
Norwich, CT 06360
Phone: 860-823-3791
Situated on two acres of gently sloping parkland, the garden features 2,500 rose bushes in 120 varieties. The roses are at their full height during June but continue to blossom throughout the summer.
1520 Bronson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824 - 2828
Phone: 203-259-1598
500 Hawthorne Avenue (near Osbornedale State Park)
Derby, CT 06418
Phone: 203-734-2513
Open: Late April-mid-December, Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Grounds: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m.
Parker and West Bay Roads
Osterville, MA 02655
Phone: 508-428-5861
The Captain Jonathan Parker House was built in 1824 and was originally a half-Cape house. Capt. Parker was one of many schooner captains in the village that made his trade in fishing and transportation up and down the seacoast. Many additions to the house were made over the next centuries. The house contains seven rooms of historical maps, 18th and 19th century furniture, art and ceramics. The Osterville Garden Club designed and maintains each year a 19th century ornamental garden that marks the entrance to the Museum.
Hours: Late May to mid-September, Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Private tours by appointment.
Admission: Free.
Pardee Rose Gardens
180 Park Road
New Haven, CT 06517
Phone: 203-946-8025
These gardens include more than 15 different types of roses (peaking in June and July), annuals, perennials, and herbs. Picnic areas are available in this tranquil formal rose garden open free to the public. The garden is also available for weddings and special events.
Hours: Open mid-May to early September.
1 Park St. / P.O. Box 388
North Bennington, VT 05257
Phone: 802-442-5441
At Historic Park-McCullough, you experience the grandeur of the house often described as one of Vermont's jewels. The 35-room house was completed in 1865 for Trenor and Laura Park. This summer home is a classic example of French Second Empire style.
The furnishings and decor are nearly unchanged. As you walk in the front door you will find rooms with 14-foot ceilings opening onto a gracious central hall with a sweeping staircase. The fine interior details include oak and walnut paneling, parquet floors, bronze chandeliers, and large, airy bedrooms.
The beautiful grounds feature a playhouse, rose gardens, and a Carriage Barn with a fine collection of horse-drawn carriages, buggies, and sleighs. Also onsite, the visitor will find a charming playhouse. It features miniature child-sized furniture and a working iron cook-stove. Open daily, Mid-May to mid-October, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. for personal guided tours, with special events throughout the year. Fee charged.
Path of Life Sculpture Garden
36 Park Road
Windsor, VT
Phone: 802-674-9933
The Path of Life is a public sculpture garden in Windsor that tells the story of the great circle of life. Eighteen works of art symbolize the human journey from birth to death and beyond. The garden is located on 14 acres of trails, wildflower fields, and open spaces on the bank of the Connecticut River. The garden is the creation of Terry McDonnell, whose model for the garden was The Life of Man, a Japanese garden in Kildare, Ireland. Among the objects that McDonnell has assembled for the garden are hemlock trees that compose the maze of Adventure, a large granite Buddha for Contemplation, and a five-piece, 25-foot-tall, band representing Creativity, made from driftwood from California’s Russian River. Fun for adults and kids. Open year round.
153 Hospital St.
Augusta, ME 04332
Phone: 207-621-0031
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone: 603-436-3988
The trail passes more than 70 points of scenic and historic significance in Portsmouth, include ten buildings on the National Register of Historic Buildings, ten National Historic Landmarks, and three homes maintained by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Hours: Tours offered July 4 through Columbus Day, 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday; and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
19 West Ave.
Essex, CT
Phone: 860-767-0681
Colonial home, built in 1734, features antique American furniture and an herb garden. The house documents the life of early Essex through a single family over 200 years.
Hours: June-Labor Day, Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Fee charged.
243 East Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830
Phone: 203-869-9697
Centuries of history
Known as Knapp’s Tavern during the American Revolution, this Colonial house dates to the early 1700s. It is furnished with period antiques and artifacts and includes a Colonial herb garden and carriage shed. Located on the Boston Post Road, it has been a tourist destination for almost 100 years.
Hours: Tours by appointment only during January, February and March. In season, open Sundays, 1-4 p.m. and by appointment. Call for group tour information. Fee charged.
Route 119 West
Fitzwilliam, NH 03447
Phone: 603-532-8862
Rhododendron State Park is named after the 16-acre grove of Rhododendron Maximum. A 0.6-mile long universally accessible trail encircles the grove allowing visitors to observe the fragrant blossoms in mid-July. A wildflower trail winds through the forest adjacent to the grove.
Hours: This park is always open for recreation. During the off-season the park is typically not staffed and comfort stations are not available.
1000 Elmwood Avenue
Cranston, RI 02907
Phone: 401-785-9450
Roger Williams Park is a 430-acre Victorian park with a zoo, a museum of natural history and planetarium, a carousel, a casino, landscaped grounds, and historic buildings. Known as the jewel of Providence, the park attracts more than 3.5 million visitors per year. Among lavish trees, stunning rose gardens, rolling hills and emerald lakes, the Roger Williams Park Botanical Gardens is the first of its kind in Rhode Island and one of only a few in the region. The exquisitely designed gardens is a multi-level glass and steel conservatory, rising from a complex of visitor and education facilities. During a visit to the Botanical Center, visitors can relax by a waterfall, enjoy the wonderful fragrance of flowers from around the world, take a child on a scavenger hunt or bring a camera or sketch pad.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Last ticket will be sold at 3:30 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $3; children age 6-12, $1. Group rates can be booked for 10 or more people with 10 days advance notice by calling 401-785-9450 ext. 263.
Rosecliff
Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Phone: 401-847-1000
This house was completed in 1902 and modeled after the Grand Trianon at Versailles. Rosecliff was the setting for many spectacular Newport parties and the setting for several Hollywood movies, including “The Great Gatsby,” “True Lies,” and “Amistad.” Consult mansion website for public hours, which may change seasonally. The magnificent Newport Flower Show, which is three days of flower and garden displays, expert lectures, and parties, and shopping, takes place at Rosecliff every spring. Consult Rosecliff website for details.
936 County Street
New Bedford, MA 02740
Phone: 508-997-1401
Open: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m.
This 28-room Greek Revival mansion was built for whaling merchant William Rotch, Jr. in 1834. The house and formal gardens chronicle 150 years of economic, social and domestic life in New Bedford. The grounds encompass a full city block of gardens including a Wildflower Walk, a formal boxwood rose parterre garden, a cutting garden, a boxwood specimen garden and an historic wood lattice pergola. Fee charged.
139 Saint Gaudens Road
Cornish, NH 03745
Phone: 603-675-2175
Discover the beautiful home, studios and gardens of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors. Over 100 of his artworks can be seen in the galleries, from heroic public monuments to expressive portrait reliefs, and the gold coins which changed the look of American coinage. Enjoy summer concerts and explore the gardens and nature trails.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), created over 150 works of art, from exquisitely carved cameos to heroic-size public monuments. Works such as the "Standing Lincoln" monument and the Shaw Memorial, continue to inspire people today and his design for the 1907 Twenty Dollar Gold Piece, is considered America's most beautiful coin.
Saint-Gaudens, while once covered by glaciers and glacial meltwaters, today is home to upland forests, spring seeps, brooks, and two ponds. Forest surrounds the core historic area, which sits on about 20 acres of land. The main buildings are surrounded by landscaped gardens and outdoor monuments.
Hours: Memorial Day weekend to October 31, exhibit buildings are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and the grounds are open during daylight hours; November through late May, the exhibit buildings are closed, but the park Visitor Center is open most weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m.
416 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840
Phone: 401-849-7300
Built in the 18th century, the house is now home to exhibits of hand-made silver, pewter, and furniture created by Newport artisans of the period. Features a traditional Colonial manor garden.
325 Cornwall Bridge Road / Route 4
Sharon, CT 06069
Phone: 860-364-0520
Shelburne Museum and Gardens
6000 Shelburne Road (U.S. Route 7)
Shelburne, VT
Phone: 802-985-3346
Shelburne Museums is well-known for its historic paddlewheel steam boat and art exhibits, but the lavish grounds also contain magnificent gardens. Twenty gardens add splashes of color and natural beauty to the museum grounds throughout the season, from hundreds of lilacs and peonies in the spring to thousands of daylilies in the summer. Perennial and annual gardens, even an heirloom vegetable garden, are favorite attractions. A few of the gardens are the Danby Fountain Garden, where colorful annuals flow from decorative garden ornamentation; the Circus Building Daylily Garden; the Diamond Barn Garden, where bright blossoms shine against a backdrop of warm wood; Owl Cottage Garden, a playful pathway of zinnias; and the Hat and Fragrance Garden, with plants and herbs traditionally used for fragrances and dyes. Open mid-May through late October.
Highland Spring Road
Lewiston, ME 04240
139 Andover Street
North Andover, MA 01845
Phone: 978-682-3580
Fax: 978-682-3580
The house’s collections include Chinese porcelain and other Asian artifacts, American furniture, and American and European decorative arts. Landscape includes a perennial garden, a kitchen and cut flower garden, a rose garden, a French potager garden with a unique brick serpentine wall, and a greenhouse complex.
Hours: Gardens: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. House: Guided tours Mother’s Day through Columbus Day weekend, Sundays, 1-5 p.m.; July-August, Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m. Fee: Garden: no charge; house, fee charged.
Hayden Hill Road, off Route 154
Haddam, CT 06438
Phone: 860-345-2400
This three-story, 1794 home has been restored to reflect the lifestyle and furnishings of the period. A garden on the property features herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
The house’s gardens were redesigned in the 1980s in the Colonial Revival style with granite-edged beds and gravel paths, using plants commonly grown in household gardens in the lower Connecticut River Valley in about 1830. Most of the garden is now devoted to herbs used for cooking, medicine, dyeing, fragrance and other household uses, with a small bed featuring vegetables common in gardens in the early 1800s and a few old-fashioned annuals. Over 50 varieties of herbs are planted in the garden, including many of the ones Thankful Arnold would have used.
Hours: Open year-round; Wednesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thursday, 2 -8 p.m.; Friday, noon-3 p.m.; also from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, Sundays, 1- 4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $4; seniors, $3; children, $2.
45 Elwyn Road
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone: 603-431-6774
The center consists of 182 acres of field, forest, and salt marsh, several buildings, and the annual interest income from a trust fund. It is used as a tree farm to demonstrate proper forest management, a bird and wildlife sanctuary, a garden and landscape demonstration site, and as a learning center in forestry planning, forest management, ecology, tree and plant identification, and wildlife stewardship.
17 Broadway
Newport, RI 02840
Phone: 401-846-0813
The oldest restored home in Newport, built in 1675. The house is the site of the Stamp Act Riot of 1765 and was home to Colonial governors, justices, and patriots. Property also contains a Colonial herb garden.
Hours: Open during the summer or by appointment. Call for times.
211 Main Street
Wethersfield, CT 06109
Phone: 860-529-0612
The Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum provides the quintessential New England experience. During the museum’s ours, visitors are immersed in life of the mid-18th and early-19th centuries with stories of the charm, hardship, and political intrigue of that era. Three meticulously restored homes are included in the one-hour tour. The 1752 Joseph Webb House served as George Washington’s headquarters in May 1781; the Silas Deane House, circa 1770, was built for America’s Revolutionary War diplomat to France; the Isaac Stevens House, 1789, depicts the life of a middle class family in the 1820s and 30s using many original family possessions.
The lovely Colonial Revival Garden was designed by one of America’s first female landscape architects.
Hours: May 1-October 31, daily, except Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays, 1-4 p.m. April and November weekends only. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.
Admission for tour: Adults, $10; seniors over age 60, $9; for students and children age 5-18, $5; families, $25
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481
Phone: 781-283-3049
The Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses contain over 1000 specimens of desert, tropical and semi-tropical species. The Alexandra Botanic Garden and Hunnewell Arboretum offer hundreds of specimen trees and shrubs in 22 acres of Olmsted-inspired landscape.
Hours: Year-round, daily, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
1329 West Middle Turnpike
Manchester, CT 06040
Phone: 860-528-0856
Wickham Park extends into both Manchester and East Hartford, Connecticut. The park contains 250 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, sports facilities, and other attractions. The park contains 250 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, sports facilities, and other attractions.
Hours: First weekend in April through the last weekend in October; 9:30 a.m.-sunset except in inclement weather.
Admission: Parking fee for cars is $4 weekdays and $5 weekends; higher fees for buses.
71 High Street, Downtown Westerly
Westerly, RI 02891
Phone: 401-596-2877 ext. 334
Toll-Free: 866-460-2877 ext. 334
