Aldridge
Botanical Gardens:
3530 Lorna Road,
Hoover, AL 35216 (205)682-8019.
- Alabama’s newest botanical garden, this lovely 30 acre
site is the former estate of the Garden’s founder Eddie Aldridge who
patented the Snowflake Hydrangea, the signature flower of Aldridge Botanical
Gardens and Official City Flower of Hoover. The garden
features hydrangeas, a shade garden, a 7 acre lake with a half-mile trail,
and more to come.
Alyce McKenzie Wildflower Garden:
Cheaha State Park,
196444 Highway 281,
Delta, AL 36258 (205)488-5115 or (800)846-2654.
- This
garden, located in a state park, showcases wildflowers, native shrubs and ferns.
Of special beauty in bloom are the azaleas and catawba rhododendrons.
Arlington
Antebellum Home and Gardens: 331 Cotton Avenue SW,
Birmingham, AL 35211
(205)780-5656.
- Six acres of grounds with gardens surround a fully restored Greek
Revival Mansion, the former home of the one of the founders of Birmingham, now a
decorative arts museum.
Ave Maria Grotto:
St. Bernard Abbey, 1600 Saint Bernard Drive SE,
Cullman, AL 35055
(256)734-4110.
- Brother Joseph, a talented and industrious monk, built 125
miniature replicas of churches, shrines and other famous buildings from around
the world preserved on this delightful 3 acre site.
Battleship Memorial Park: 2703
Battleship Parkway (Highways 90/98 off Interstate 10, Exits 27 or 30),
Mobile,
AL 36601 (251)433-2703.
- This 155 acre park, site of the
aircraft carrier USS ALABAMA, a submarine, vintage aircraft and other military
memorabilia, also features an All-America Rose Selections memorial garden.
B.E.E.(Birmington Eastside Eco-Garden) Community Garden, 601 West Boulevard,
Birmingham, AL 35206
-
This remarkable 2 acre Community Garden at the EcoFarm strives to use perma-culture practices and grow into an organic, urban farm. Features include
peach trees, fig trees, pear trees, a grape arbor, pomegranate, cherry and persimmon trees, herbs, native species, as well as vegetables.
Bellingrath Gardens and Home: 12401
Bellingrath Road,
Theodore, AL 36582 (251)973-2217.
- Nestled among oaks, Spanish Moss and the scenic Fowl River, Bellingrath Gardens and Home is a 65 acre estate garden that
blooms in color every day of the year. Visitors enjoy will picturesque views and lovely seasonal plantings that including: spring azaleas,
summer tropicals, autumn cascading chrysanthemums and winter camellias. Guest may also tour the Bellingrath Museum Home or relax with a
scenic river cruise.
Birmingham Botanical Gardens: 2612
Lane Park Road,
Birmingham, AL 35223 (205)414-3950.
- This extraordinary public
garden comprises over 67 acres displaying over 10,000 plants of 1,500 species,
over 30 works of original outdoor sculpture, and miles of serene paths. Many
of the 25 unique gardens are devoted to individual flowers: roses, daylilies, irises, ferns,
rhododendrons, magnolias, crape myrtle, while others such as the Japanese
Garden with a tea house, a Southern Living garden, the Conservatory and Greenhouse,
and the wildflower garden in a rock quarry,
showcase a multitude of lovely plants.
Cullman
Native Plant Society Wildflower Garden:
Sportsman Lake Park, 1536 Sportsman
Lake Road,
Cullman, AL 35055 (256)734-3052.
- A 4 acre site featuring native
plants, shrubs and trees.
Delano Park Historic Rose Garden: 824 Gordon Drive SE,
Decatur, AL 35601 (256)303-9861
-
With areas both formal and naturalistic, this historic park (on the National Register of Historic Places) features the Historic Rose Garden restored in 2002.
Old garden tea and china roses predominate in the garden along with David Austin roses, plus a collection of boxwood and hydrangeas.
Features include a large armillary a stone pergola and blue stone terrace, together with sandstone garden walls and columns.
Donald E.
Davis Arboretum: Auburn University, Intersection of S. College and Garden
Drive,
Auburn, AL 36849 (205)844-5770.
- The Arboretum, a 14 acre site with over
200 different kinds of plants and tree, specializes in trees native to Alabama.
Of special interest are a vinery of native climbers and plants indigenous to
sand, alkaline Black Belt prairie, coastal bog and swamp habitats.An article
discusses the controversy about siting an art museum in the Arboretum.
Dothan Area Botanical Gardens:
5130 Headland Ave., (Off US Highway 431 near Landmark Park),
Dothan,
AL 36301 (334)793-3224.
- The Gardens' focus is preserving the spirit and beauty
of the early southern garden by balancing native plants with traditional
botanical garden features. The 50 acre facility, partially wooded, includes a
rose garden, Michelin Pond, a southern heirloom garden, an azalea garden, a camellia garden,
a hydrangea garden, a daylily area, a demonstration garden, a memorial
garden, a succulent garden, an ornamental shrub garden, a nature
trail, an herb garden.
EcoScape/Southern Environmental Center:
Birmingham-Southern College,
Birmingham, AL 35254 (205)226-4934.
- A unique
outdoor classroom presenting ecological issues in layperson's terms, the 4 acre
EcoScape features a miniature Mobile Basin wetland, past Beneficial Bug
sculptures and Fragrance Gardens. A portion of the Appalachian Trail
leads to a 2-story treehouse. Learn about medicinal plants, edible
landscapes, and sustainable landscape practices. Don't be intimidated
by the giant praying mantis!
Fairhope City Rose Garden: 1 Fairhope Avenue,
Fairhope, AL 36532.
- This park
on the bay features a lovely fountain and an All-America Rose Selections rose
garden.
Huntsville Botanical Garden:
4747 Bob Wallace Avenue,
Huntsville, AL 35805 (256)830-4447.
- This stunning young botanical garden features the
spectacular 5 acre Central Corridor Gardens, with annual and bulb, perennial
and aquatic gardens. Other features include a Dogwood Trail, a Nature
Trail, a Nature Center, a Children's Garden, a Garden Railway, the Washio
Ishii Bonsai Display, a Dogwood Trail, a Garden of Hope, a Daylily Garden,
an Herb Garden, a Fern Glade and a Vegetable Garden.
Jasmine Hill Gardens and Outdoor Museum:
Jasmine Hill Road (Off US 231 North of Montgomery near Wetumpka),
Montgomery, AL 36121-0792
(334)567-6463.
- 20 acres of gardens, classical statues and Greek temple ruins
offer lovely vistas at every turn.
Marietta
Johnson Botanical Garden and Tree Trail:
Faulkner State Community College,
1900 Highway 31 South,
Bay Minette, AL 36507 (800)231-3752.
- This community college offers self-guided trails that identify hundreds of trees, including more than 25 different species.
Mobile Botanical Gardens:. Pat Ryan Drive (Off 5151 Museum Drive), P.O. Box
8382,
Mobile, AL 36608 (334)342-0555.
- This 64-acre City Park displays native
plants, azaleas, camellias, hollies, magnolias, ferns and herbs, as well as
providing extensive nature trails.
Noccalula Falls Park: 1500 Noccalula Road,
Gadsden, AL 35999 (205)549-4663.
- This state park is named after a lovely Indian princess who, according to
legend, threw herself into the falls rather than marry a man she didn't love.
The park contains extensive botanical gardens displaying over 25,000 azaleas.
Peach Park Garden: Exit 205 Off I-65, Clanton, AL 35045 (205) 755-2065. Peach
Park is a retail establishment offering an ice cream parlor, a pastry shop and a
fruit bar. After all these delights, there are also flowers.
Prattvillage
Gardens:
Daniel Pratt
Historic District, First St.,
Prattville, AL (334)365-7392.
- The Gardens feature an herb garden, a
butterfly and hummingbird walk, a Grandparent's Garden, a perennial sampler
garden, an annual garden, a native and old favorites garden, a small fruit
demonstration garden and a composting facility.
Shakespeare Gardens and Amphitheatre:
Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, Festival Drive off Woodmere Drive and East Boulevard,
Montgomery, AL 36116 (334)271-5300.
- This unique and beautiful garden features
trees, shrubs, flowers and herbs mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare
and provides common and botanical plant names along with Shakespeare quotations.
The willow arbors, medlar and pomegranate trees, roses, narcissi, honeysuckle
and many, many more elements of the richly planted garden offer beauty to the
eyes as well as literary interest.
Troy University Arboretum: Troy University,
Troy, AL
(334)670-3938.
- The mission of the Troy University Arboretum is to acquire representative species of the flora of Southeast Alabama and to display them in situations that mimic the natural conditions under which the species would occur. In particular, the Arboretum is interested in research on rare and un-common species and communities. The Arboretum works to preserve representative members, communities and habitats of the Wiregrass region of Southeast Alabama on its 75-acre's
adjacent to Troy University's main campus and on its 18 acre Pocosin Nature Preserve located approximately 6 miles due east of the main campus.
University of Alabama Arboretum: 4400 Arboretum Way off Pelham- Loop Road and Fifteenth Street
(Veterans Memorial Parkway),
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (205)553-3278.
- This arboretum and
botanical garden, comprising 60 acres, features native and exotic woody plants
and native herbaceous plants. Meadow, bog and woodland gardens complement the
2-1/2 miles of nature trails through the mature oak-hickory forest. For a change
in pace and interest, tour the two greenhouses featuring tropical plants,
orchids and cacti.
University
of Alabama in Huntsville: Facilities and Operations Bldg.,
Huntsville, AL
35899 (256)890-6482.
- The 360 acre campus includes over 300 different ornamental
trees (many labeled), with a goal to increase the number to 500. The web site
furnishes a comprehensive list of campus trees with botanical name, common name
and detailed horticultural information.
Westervelt: 1400 Jack Warner Parkway, Tuscaloosa,
AL 35404 (205)562-5000.
- The buildings of the corporate headquarters surround a
Japanese Garden. A collection of fine American art collected by the former CEO
Jack Warner may also be viewed. Call for schedule of tours.
Whitey Hall Memorial Garden:
Renaissance Tower, One Hightower Place,
Florence, AL 35630 (256)764-5900.
- The
Alabama Wildflower Society maintains
this garden in a ravine near the Tower, featuring labeled Alabama wildflowers
and a small water garden. The 26 story Tower offers breathtaking views of the
surroundings countryside.
William Bartram Arboretum:
Off East Boulevard, Fort Toulouse/Jackson Park, Route 6,
Wetumpka, AL 36092 (334)567-3002.
- The Garden Club of Alabama
started this Arboretum featuring wildflower fields, bogs and forest. A boardwalk
(handicapped-accessible), runs from the Visitor Center to the Fort to a river
overlook, with glades for resting and plant identification markers.