Things to do / Travel Guide
Whether you are hoping for formal, manicured gardens or a collection of classic garden sculptures, the botanical gardens in eastern Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina are decidedly among the most pleasant places in the region to spend an afternoon.
Botanical Gardens on the Delmarva Peninsula
Mild-temperate zone plants thrive on the Delmarva Peninsula. So lush is the vegetation on the Salisbury State University in Salisbury, Maryland, that the entire campus was declared an arboretum in 1988. With more than 750 indigenous and exotic species registered in their database, a leisurely stroll through Salisbury State University or an impromptu picnic is a sublime way to spend a carefree afternoon.
Botanical Gardens in Eastern Virginia
It is no wonder that the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens is one of Richmond's most widely-acclaimed attractions. A Four Seasons Gardens, Healing Garden (inspired by a 1545 Renaissance Garden in Padua, Italy), Sunken Garden, Rose Belvedere Garden, and the Lora and Glaiborn Robins Tea House and Asian Valley await your arrival. The Gardens' beautiful, classical, domed Conservatory proclaims its own grandeur - walk through the doors and a verdant sprawl with more than 11,000 square feet of orchids, palms, and seasonal exhibits lies at your feet. The gardens are open year-round.
Featured in the New York Times, Norfolk Botanical Gardens on Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk, is a pretty little paradise. Situated on 155 blooming acres, the Norfolk Botanical Gardens offers a wide range of gardens including a purity garden, a colorful two-acre butterfly garden, a winter garden, hydrangea garden, and a rhododendron glade, among countless others. The Japanese Garden was planted in honor of Norfolk's sister city, Moji, Japan, and features idyllic pond and bridge, as well as foliage native to the Land of the Rising Sun. The gardens also include the stunning Statuary Vista, an outdoor sculpture gallery with 11 dramatic seven-foot-tall statues of Rembrandt, DaVinci, and Rubens, among others, carved from Carrara marble between 1879 and 1884 by Sir Moses Ezekiel of Rome. Norfolk Botanical Gardens is open year-round.
Botanical Gardens on the North Carolina Shore
The Cupola House Garden, in Edenton, is a Colonial Revival-style garden surrounding a historic, 1758 home, and it features parterres and an orchard.
You can visit the bog garden, aquatic garden, or rose garden at the seven-acre New Hanover County Extension Service Arboretum in Wilmington. Another Wilmington gardens that creates a big stir are the Airlie Gardens on Airlie Road. Expertly combining an air of formality with the rugged and rustic, historic flair with innovation and renewal, the breezy Airlie Gardens boasts a whopping 100,000 azaleas, as well as formal gardens, trails for wildlife walks, sculpture gardens, and more than 10 acres of freshwater lakes. Walk alongside the cool-rushing water of Bradley Creek and give a nod to the antique azaleas (planted in the early 1900s) at this ever-changing, living mural of color at any time of year.
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