Scenic Parks and Gardens  

From the most historic Berkeley Plantation to the spectacular displays at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and George Washington's Mount Vernon, Virginia's gardens are breathtaking and inspiring.

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Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Central Virginia

Charlottesville - Highland was the home of James Monroe and features boxwood gardens overlooking a working farm. Many events throughout the year take place here, such as Plantation Days and the Virginia Wine Festival.

Charlottesville - Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, is an architectural masterpiece with winding paths bordered by flowers and beautiful oval-shaped flowerbeds. Documentary evidence suggests that Jefferson grew approximately 105 species of herbaceous flowers!

Chase City - MacCallum More Museum and Gardens features an arboretum, herb, wildflower, rose and themed gardens as well as nine fountains and eclectic imported works of art.

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Anne Spencer House and Garden

Lynchburg - The Anne Spencer House and Garden was home to the internationally acclaimed poet of the Harlem Renaissance. The garden served as an inspiration for much of her poetry.The garden at the home of Anne Spencer is open, free of charge, every day, dawn to dusk.

Lynchburg - Old City Cemetery features a butterfly garden, lotus pond and a garden of 19th-century shrubs and roses. The gates are open daily, dawn to dusk.

Montpelier Station - Montpelier, home of James and Dolley Madison features a 200-year-old-growth forest as well as a landscape arboretum, beautiful restored formal gardens all overlooking the breathtaking vistas of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Madison described his home as "a squirrel's jump from Heaven."

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Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Richmond - Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden features more than 25 acres of gardens, including a children's garden with colorful plants and shrubs to attract butterflies, birds and other nectar.

Richmond - Maymont is a 100-acre Victorian country estate. Visitors can wander the geometrically shaped beds in the Italian Garden and enjoy the relaxing noise from the cascade fountain, designed from a similar feature in the Villa Torlonia near Rome.

Richmond - Not far from Maymont, visitors experience a step further back in time when they visit Agecroft Hall, the Tudor estate that originally stood in Lancashire, England, and re-constructed on the rolling banks of the James River. Agecroft's grounds include the fragrance garden a sunken garden that's modeled after the pond garden at Hampton Court Palace in England.

Richmond - Next door to Agecroft Hall is Virginia House, a reconstructed 12th-century priory also dismantled and brought to Richmond from England in 1925. Terraced gardens overlook the James River. This property was awarded a medallion commendation by the Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2000, one of few properties in Virginia to receive this award.

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Tuckahoe Plantation

Richmond - Less than ten miles west of Virginia House is Tuckahoe Plantation, the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson. The rambling gardens are beautiful from March through October and visitors are welcome to peruse them from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year 'round. The mansion, however, is only available for tours by appointment and during special events.

Coastal Virginia - Hampton Roads

Charles City - Berkeley Plantation was the site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619. Its five hand-dug terraces of restored boxwood and flower gardens overlook farmlands and the James River.

Charles City - Belle Air Plantation features flowering borders and herb gardens and overlooks rolling farmland. Tours by appointment only.

Charles City -  Westover Plantation was built by William Bryd II in 1730. See the formal gardens and unique clairvoyee embellished with stone finials and wrought iron gates.

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Norfolk Botanical Garden

Norfolk - Surrounded by the waters of Lake Whitehurst, Norfolk Botanical Garden covers 155 acres and is the nation's only botanical garden that can be toured by both tram and oat. Visitors discover one of the largest and most diverse collections of azaleas, camellias, roses and rhododendrons on the East Coast.

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Colonial Williamsburg

Williamsburg - Colonial Williamsburg offers a labyrinth of 90 gardens spread over 100 acres amid the homes, shops and public buildings of this 18th-century village that is the country's largest outdoor living-history museum. These range from the highly ornamental garden of the Governor's Palace to the utilitarian kitchen and vegetable gardens behind private homes along Duke of Gloucester Street.

West Point -  Chelsea Plantation features five acres of lawn with extensive English Boxwood gardens overlooking the Mattaponi River.

Northern Virginia

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George Washington's Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon - Mount Vernon is much more than the home of the nation's first president. Several years ago the name of George Washington's plantation was broadened to "George Washington's Estate and Gardens," to reflect the emphasis on the restored gardens surrounding this beloved icon of American freedom. Washington's love of trees resulted in his planting many around his home 12 of which are still alive today.

Alexandria - Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden was first built by Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, father of Gen. Robert E. Lee. The beautifully restored garden is open Tuesdays-Sundays.

Alexandria - River Farm serves as the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society. Overlooking the Potomac River, its display gardens include rose and perennial borders, idea gardens, children's gardens and special plantings.

Alexandria - Green Spring Gardens is a thirty-two acre park containing demonstration gardens, walks, a horticulture center with glasshouse, horticulture library, greenhouse, meeting rooms, 1780 Historic House, local art exhibits, native plant trail, woods and ponds.

Arlington - Potomac Overlook Regional Park is open during the day all year. See vegetable, herb, butterfly and wildflower gardens as you hike the nature trails.

Fredericksburg - Historic Kenmore was built for George Washington's sister, Betty, and her husband, Fielding Lewis. In 1929, The Garden Club of Virginia voted to raise funds to restore the Kenmore gardens; thus began Historic Garden Week in Virginia! It is open daily from March-December.

Fredericksburg - Ferry Farm, the boyhood farm of George Washington, sits on the banks of the Rappahannock River and features recreated colonial-syle gardens. Was this the site where youthful Washington cut down the cherry tree?

Leesburg - Oatlands Plantation features four acres of formal gardens and connecting terraces. Marvel at the 1810 greenhouse, the second oldest of its type in America.

Mt. Vernon - Woodlawn Plantation features beautifully landscaped grounds and formal gardens once owned by Martha Washington's granddaughter, Nelly Custis and her husband, Major Lawrence Lewis.

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Meadowlark Botanical Garden

Vienna - Meadowlark Botanical Gardens features azaleas, lilies, hostas, daffodils and day lilies providing continuous bloom through three seasons.

Shenandoah Valley

Staunton - Visit the gardens at the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace & Museum, which were designed by the renowned Richmond landscape designer, Charles Gillette in the early 1930s.

Boyce - The 170-acre State Arboretum of Virginia is part of the Blandy Experimental Farm boasts a collection of more than 5,000 wood plants, including the largest variety of boxwood in North America and more than half the world's pine species.

Harrisonburg - The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum & Botanical Gardens at James Madison University features 17 gardens with miles of winding trails leading to diverse habitats. Open daily, dawn to dusk.

Lexington - Boxerwood Gardens features hundreds of trees and flowering shrubs on 15 acres and is open for self-guided tours March-November.

Blue Ridge Highlands

Wytheville - Stroll through the themed gardens and watch hummingbirds feast on the flowers at Beagle Ridge Herb Farm while sipping a cup of tea on the patio.

Chesapeake Bay

Stratford Stratford Hall Plantation, birthplace of Robert E. Lee, sits on a high bluff overlooking the Potomac River. The plantation includes nature trails, a gristmill and formal gardens.