Top 17 botanical gardens in the world, from Kew to Jardim Botânico

Kew Gardens is a botanical garden and UNESCO World Heritage Site in London, UK. A leading visitor attraction, Kew is home to 50,000 living plants across 132 hectares of landscaped gardens. Together, Kew Gardens and its site in Wakehurst, a botanical garden in West Sussex, enjoy more than 2.5 million visits every year. Kew celebrated its 260th anniversary in 2019.

Highlights include tranquil Japanese gardens, a children’s garden, an area for alpine plants, a Mediterranean habitat, 37 acres of classic woodland, and an indoor rainforest with tropical plants. The rose garden is home to thousands of roses, while the arboretum features a collection of 14,000 trees. Kew also includes the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse.

Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is a horticultural attraction offering plant species in temperate climates as well as tropical forests and habitats. Known for its award-winning cooled conservatories and iconic ‘Supertrees’, Gardens by the Bay is one of Asia’s top garden destinations.

Gardens by the Bay is made up of three waterfront gardens. Opened in 2012, Bay South is the largest. Its Flower Dome provides ever-changing floral displays including ‘Tulipmania’, ‘Orchid Extravaganza’ and ‘Blossom Beats’. The Flower Dome holds the Guinness World Record for the largest glass greenhouse. Gardens by the Bay has enjoyed more than 87 million visitors to date.

Founded in 1859, Missouri Botanical Garden is the oldest botanical garden in the USA in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark. Based in St. Louis, the attraction also serves as a centre for botanical research and science education. It has 79 acres of horticultural display, including a 14-acre Japanese garden, historical architecture and one of the largest collections of rare and endangered flora in the world.

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is ‘to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life’. The Missouri Botanical Garden has two other properties – the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield’s Faust Park and the 2,400-acre Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s living collection of plants is over 350 years old. The world-famous visitor attraction in Scotland is home to plants from around the world and more than 70 acres of landscape. Attractions include a rock garden, woodland garden and the Alpine Houses. Also on offer are a collection of rhododendrons and Scottish native plants.

The garden’s glasshouses are currently closed as part of ‘Edinburgh Biomes’, a major restoration and construction project. Regius Keeper, Simon Milne MBE, spoke to blooloop about the development. “We need to rebuild the infrastructure to protect our living collection,” he said. “Then there is the restoration of historic buildings.”

“Our research collection is in 1960s glasshouses. These are well beyond their shelf life, and are in danger of being destroyed in the next very high wind,” Milne added.

Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanic Garden is an urban botanic garden located in New York. With a fragrance garden, herb garden, rose garden and Japanese garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a top visitor attraction. Highlights also include Cherry Esplanade, a green lawn bordered by allées of flowering cherry and red oak trees. The double-flowering ‘Kanzan’ cherries typically bloom at the end of April, one of the highlights of spring.

The Discovery Garden is an immersive landscape created for young visitors, while the Native Flora Garden exhibits plants native to the New York metropolitan area. The Osborne Garden features an emerald lawn framed by wisteria-draped pergolas, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden boasts one of the first rock gardens in an American public garden. More than 80 kinds of plants mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare grow in the English cottage–style garden.

Situated at the eastern foot of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is one of the world’s most impressive botanical gardens. Kirstenbosch covers 528 hectares, of which 36 hectares is cultivated. The rest is a protected area supporting natural forest and fynbos. The destination is home to more than 7,000 plant species, most of which are unique to the region. The cultivated area displays collections of South African plants.

Art and sculptures can be seen across the site. The garden also offers various indoor and outdoor art exhibitions. One of its current exhibitions, ‘Seeing the Invisible’ is appearing at 12 botanical gardens across six countries. The augmented reality (AR) exhibition is the first of its kind to be developed as a collaboration between global botanical gardens.

The Butchart Gardens is a 118-year-old garden in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia. It was created by Jennie Butchart and is still privately owned and operated by the family. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. The Butchart Gardens boasts 55 acres of gardens, 900 bedding plant varieties and 26 greenhouses.

The garden on Vancouver Island welcomes more than one million annual visitors. Guests enjoy Italian and Mediterranean gardens, home to 85 varieties of plants and 110 plant species, respectively. The Japanese Garden features  maple and beech trees and Himalayan blue poppies. The Rose Garden presents a collection of 2,500 floribundas, ramblers, climbers and hybrid tea roses.

One of the world’s great gardens, Longwood Gardens can be found in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Founded by industrialist Pierre S. du Pont in 1906, the destination has grown to become a vast horticultural display. It is home to 1,100 acres of gardens, woodlands, meadows and fountains. It is one of more than 30 gardens in the Philadelphia region, which is known as America’s garden capital.

Longwood Gardens is embarking on an ambitious $250 million transformation of 17 acres of gardens. Paul B Redman, Longwood’s president and chief executive officer, told blooloop:

“When we are done with this project, our guests will have 17 acres of gardens that they never had before. This will include the new, grand, beautiful Crystal Palace designed by Weiss/Manfredi, architects out of New York. Plus the gardens designed by Reed Hilderbrand out of Boston.”

The Arctic–Alpine Botanic Garden is the world’s northernmost botanical garden. Located in Tromsø, Norway, it opened in 1994. The Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden is run by the Tromsø University Museum,  the oldest scientific institution in Northern Norway. The garden displays Arctic and alpine plants from across the northern hemisphere.

The garden has 28 collections, with guests able to see rhododendrons and buttercups, as well as the Himalayas rock garden and North America collection. One of Europe’s rarest species, ranunculus wilanderi, can be found at the Arctic-Alpine Botanical Garden. The garden has no gates and is free to visit.

One of the world’s great tropical botanical gardens, Jardim Botânico in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is located at the foot of the Corcovado mountain. It offers a rainforest experience in the city, with monkeys, palm trees, rare orchids and exotic birds.

Only 40 percent of the plants at this 345-acre botanical garden are cultivated. The garden has a collection of more than 7,000 species of tropical plants. These include native Brazilian plants such as aroids and palms.

Founded by a non-profit organisation to preserve the house and gardens of French painter Claude Monet, this flower and water garden is located in Giverny. It welcomes more than 500,000 visitors every year, who come to see the water lilies that inspired the founder of impressionist painting.

Technically not a botanical garden, Fondation Monet still deserves a place on this list. Flowers here include dahlias, irises, wisterias, poppies and peonies. Guests can also explore Monet’s house.

Denver Botanic Gardens is a 24-acre botanical garden in the Cheesman Park area of Denver, Colorado. The attraction presents a range of gardens and collections, home to plants from all over the world. The arid gardens showcase plants that thrive in Colorado’s climate, while Japan, China, South Africa and the tropics are some of the countries and regions that inspire the international-inspired gardens.

The colourful ornamental gardens display popular flowers such as roses, daylilies and irises. Denver Botanic Gardens’ shady gardens provide habitats for birds and insects and cover for visitors, while the water gardens house the aquatic plant collection. This includes waterlilies, water platters, lotus and canna. The Mordecai Children’s Garden is a magical, three-acre space for children to explore plants and the natural world.

Opened to the public in 2000, Na ‘Āina Kai Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park is on the island of Kaua‘i. It started in 1982 when founders Joyce and Ed Doty retired to Hawaii from their ranch in Northern California. Since then, the attraction has grown to 240 acres of gardens and boasts one of the largest collections of bronze sculptures in the US. It is run by a non-profit organisation that supports and promotes tropical horticulture, agriculture and forestry.

“In the beginning of Na ‘Āina Kai, the challenge of creating the landscape occupied my enthusiasm” said Joyce. “Then, like a painter who feels his work is still not complete, I realised that these already bounteous gardens could become even more alive if the art and culture muses were to share this space with nature’s extraordinary artistic creations.”

The New York Botanical Garden is located in the Bronx, on property owned in full by the City of New York. It is a living museum, educational institution and plant research and conservation organisation. The living plant collections are arranged in gardens and landscapes across the National Historic Landmark site. Established in 1891, the 250-acre garden is the largest in any city in the United States. It boasts 50 gardens and collections of more than one million plants.

Highlights include the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, one of the most sustainable rose gardens in the world, and the Native Plant Garden. This celebrates the diversity of northeastern North American plants. An urban oasis, the New York Botanical Garden features 30,000 distinguished trees, many of which are more than 200 years old. More than one million visitors enjoy the grounds each year.

Across 75 hectares, the Montreal Botanical Garden presents a diverse array of plants. It has 20 outdoor gardens and 10 greenhouses, and provides a programme of events, exhibitions and activities.

Located close to downtown Montréal, it has a collection of around 10,000 plant species. Some of its greenhouses are home to orchids, ferns, bonsai and cacti. Highlights also include a water garden, alpine garden, shade garden, rose garden, and Chinese and Japanese gardens.

At Desert Botanical Garden, 50,000 desert plants can be found nestled in the red rocks of Phoenix, Arizona. Visitors can enjoy five thematic trails to explore plants, including cacti, succulents and desert wildflowers. As part of the visitor experience, the botanical garden offers art exhibitions, temporary installations and festive events.

Founded in 1939, this living museum showcases desert plants from around the world and presents the diversity of desert wildflowers. The 140-acre site welcomes more than 460,000 annual visitors. There are 4,482 species in the living collection and 485 rare and endangered species at the garden.

This 600-acre botanical garden in Na Chom Thian, Thailand is a visitor attraction with themed gardens and cultural shows. A large collection of tropical plants can be seen in sections such as ‘Flower Valley’, ‘French Garden’ and ‘Stonehenge Garden’.

Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden was originally set to become a fruit plantation, before it was turned into a site for botanical conservation. It opened to the public as a visitor attraction in 1980, and more than 2,000 guests visit the garden every day.