TripAdvisor Traveler Rating based on
672 reviews
The Garden, which opened in 1999, spans 80 acres and boasts 20 specialty gardens, as well as waterfalls, fountains, quiet ponds, a working tree farm, tram tours, a summer concert series and the Gordon House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is open to the public.
TripAdvisor
Overall the Gardens display a variety of flowers and plant life with an occasional mucky water feature thrown in. Many of us were looking forward to learning names of plantings but signage is sparse and mostly faded and difficult to read. The Medicinal and the Drought tolerant gardens were overgrown and a huge disappointment. We were looking forward to learning about those types of plantings but gave up after tripping on uneven pathways and dead stalks. Hope to see this entire place present better at a future visit.
Of course we picked a 100 degree day but we had a great time. We took the tram ride first to get the layout. Our driver/guide was quite knowledgeable. Every garden was full of wonderful colors, textures, forms and lines for us to photograph. When we needed a rest from the heat, we enjoyed a good lunch at the cafe.
The gardens are beautiful & quite large. There is a tram ride that takes 20 minutes to tour the grounds with a good narration. But, you can no longer Hop on / Hop off the tram to visit various sections of the garden, so for someone who is disabled or uses a walker there isn’t a chance to see much. There are no other accommodations for someone with limited mobility. Even wheelchairs for rent or scooters like they have in the grocery stores would improve the experiences experience.
Large gardens - about 1.5 miles around the perimeter but you end up walking more as there are lots of trails throughout the garden if you want to see everything. You can also pay an additional 3 USD for a 25 minute guided trolley tour if you want to kearn about the various plants, flowers and trees but we were happy to just wander. We spent 2 hours here and enjoyed it, although there were no species that I would class as unusual and some of the planting was a bit sparse. I liked the areas with garden art the most, which is available to purchase. There is a small gift and plant shop on site, a cafe and restaurant. Summer hours this month are 10 - 4 and entry is 12 USD.
This is a great place to spend a few hours walking around looking at the lovely flowers. There are several areas in the garden to view. You can take a tram tour (only three days a week) or walk. There is a forest area you can walk and possibly see wildlife. I saw a deer near garden eating apples that fell off a tree. Worth the time to see. There is a nice cafe there with decent sandwiches at good prices. For locals they have a plant retail shop and workshops.