Regional Public Gardens and Arboreta

Public gardens are an excellent way to learn about new plants that are successful to our area and can inspire good ideas for landscape design. There are also very knowledgeable gardeners on staff and often are good sources for information.

Many public gardens provide plants for sale through special events or throughout the year. Contact the facilities for directions or admission information.

Alabama

Aldridge Gardens
3530 Lorna Rd.
Hoover, AL
205-682-8019
Woodland trails, perennials, and aquatic gardens.

Bellingrath Gardens and Home
12401 Bellingrath Road
Theodore, AL 36582
Public garden features a nature walk, oriental garden, bridal garden, conservatory, and aquatics.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens
2512 Lane Park Road
Birmingham, AL
205-414-3900
Rose, crape myrtle, formal, vegetable, herb, bog, camellia, wildflower, fern, hosts, iris, and Japanese gardens.

Dothan Botanical Gardens
5130 Headland Ave.
Dothan, AL
334-793-3224
Demonstration garden; heirloom garden; herb, aquatic and rose gardens.

Huntsville-Madison County Botanical Gardens
4747 Bob Wallace Avenue
Huntsville, AL
256-830-4447
Woodland paths; daylily, herb, butterfly and vegetable gardens; fern glad, aquatics, perennials.

Jasmine Hill Gardens and Outdoor Museum
Montgomery, AL
334-567-6463
Grecian sculptures in a garden setting.

Shakespeare Gardens
Wynton Blount Cultural Park
6055 Vaughn Road
Montgomery, AL
334-244-4334
Plants featured in Shakespeare’s work including bulbs, roses, aromatic plants.

Southern Environmental Center- Ecoscape
Birmingham-Southern College
900 Arkadelphia Rd.
Birmingham, AL
800-523-5793
Mobile Basin wetland exhibit, Fragrance gardens, Appalachian Trail

University of Alabama Arboretum
Pelham Heights Road
Tuscaloosa, AL
205-553-3278
Woodland trails, wildflower garden, experimental garden, children’s garden

Louisiana

Afton Villa Gardens
9247 North US Hwy. 61
St. Francisville, LA
Historic gardens

American Rose Society
Jefferson Paige Road
Schreveport, LA
318-938-5402
Rose gardens

Briarwood
LA Hwy. 9
Natchitoches, LA
318-576-3379
Native plant garden

Hilltop Arboretum
11855 Highland Rd.
Baton Rouge, LA 
225-767-6916
Native Southern trees, shrubs, and wildflowers

Hodges Gardens
Hwy. 171
Florien, LA
800-354-3523
Woodland trails, azalea trails

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens
40136 Highway 942
Darrow, LA
504-891-9494
Historic garden featuring the Hampton Garden, Upper Garden, Fountain Courtyard.

Longue Vue House and Gardens
#7 Bamboo Rd.
New Orleans, LA
504-488-5488
Historic garden featuring aquatics, woodland, discovery, and more.

New Orleans Botanical Garden
City Park
New Orleans, LA
504-288-6444
Aquatic, perennial, and ornamental gardens; train garden

Rip Van Winkle Gardens
5505 Rip Van Winkle Road
New Iberia, LA
337-359-8525
Japanese garden, rose garden, daylily gardens.

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site
12501 LA Hwy. 10
West Feliciana Parish
888-376-1867
Historic Gardens, camellias, flower gardens, herb garden

Mississippi

Clinton Community Nature Center
Dunton Road
Clinton, MS
601-926-1104
Native plant garden, woodland trails, perennial garden

Crosby Arboretum, Mississippi State University Extension
Ridge Road
Picayune, MS
601-799-2311
Native plant garden displaying the plant communities of the Gulf Coast.

Eudora Welty House and Garden
1119 Pinehurst Street
Jackson, MS
601-576-6998
Historic gardens featuring woodland garden, roses, cutting garden perennials, and camellias.

Mississippi Agricultural Museum
1150 Lakeland Drive
Jackson, MS 
601-856-4525
Historic gardens, rose garden, Master Gardeners Garden

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
2148 Riverside Drive
Jackson, MS
601-354-7303
Native plant gardens and woodland trails

Mynelle Gardens
4736 Clinton Boulevard
Jackson, MS
601-960-1894
Southern garden featuring paths, pools, ponds and bridges.

North Mississippi Research and Extension Center
5421 Hwy. 145 South
Verona, MS
662-566-2201
Rose garden, native plant garden, water garden

Strawberry Plains Audubon Center
285 Plains Road
Holly Springs, MS
662-252-1155
Native plant garden, perennials, ponds, historic garden

Truck Crops Experiment Station
2024 Experiment Station Road
Crystal Springs, MS 
601-892-3731
Three acre vegetable, flower and herb garden; flower trials; ornamental grasses

Tennessee

Blount Mansion
200 West Hill Avenue
Knoxville, TN
423-525-2375
Historic Colonial Revival Gardens.

Chattanooga Choo Choo Gardens
1400 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN
423-266-5000
Water, herb, rose and daylily gardens.

Cheekwood Botanical Garden
1200 Forest Park Drive
Nashville, TN
615-353-2148
Japanese gardens; herb garden; perennial gardens; color, water, seasons, and wildflower gardens.

Christus Gardens
510 Rivre Road
Gatlinburg, TN
423-436-5155
Biblical plants garden.

Dixon Gallery and Gardens
4339 Park Avenue
Memphis, TN
901-761-5250
English landscape garden; formal gardens; woodland trails; cutting garden.

Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens
21 Covered Bridge Lane
Unicoi, TN 
423-743-8799
Extensive perennial and wildflower gardens.

James K. Polk Ancestral Home
301 W. 7th St.
Columbia, TN
615-388-2354
Historic gardens including formal, azalea and wildflowers.

Lichterman Nature Center
5992 Quince Road
Memphis, TN
901-767-7322
Forest, meadow, and aquatic habitats.

Memphis Botanic Garden
750 Cherry Road
Memphis, TN
901-685-1566
Formal gardens; Japanese garden; children’s garden; iris, dahlia, daylily, magnolia and conifers.

Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanic Gardens
400 Garden Road
Chattanooga, TN
423-821-9582
Woodland and driving trails.

Tennessee Wildlife Center
400 Garden Road
Chattanooga, TN
423-821-1160
Scent and wetland gardens.

University of Tennessee Arboretum
State Highway 62
Oak Ridge, TN
865-483-3571
Azalea, conifer, crabapple, dogwood, hollies, juniper, magnolia and other collections.

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These factsheets were written by Robert F. Brzuszek, Assistant Extension Professor, The Department of Landscape Architecture, Mississippi State University.