DISCOVER local gardens, summer flowers and landscapes in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. Summer is a great time to visit these lovely public gardens in and around Fairfax County and admire some of Virginia’s native plants and flowers in full bloom. Enjoy a leisure walk through the gardens on a self guided tour, take photos of the lush greenery or bright colored perennials, gather ideas and information for your own garden or just enjoy the beauty of nature and the peaceful surroundings. You can find out more information about each location by visiting their website.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, VA Phone: 703-780-2000.
Hours: Open 365 days a year. April – October 9am to 5pm; November – March 9am to 4pm.
George Washington’s estate features four separate gardens that guests can enjoy, the Upper Garden, the Lower Garden, the Botanical Garden, and the Fruit Garden and Nursery. In addition to visiting the gardens, experience the wooded landscape on the quarter-mile-long forest trail.
Green Spring Gardens: 4603 Green Spring Rd, Alexandria, VA Phone: 703-642-5173.
Hours: Visitor Center open Mon – Sat. 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sunday noon – 4:30 p.m.; Gate locked at 5 p.m. Park grounds are open from dawn to dusk.
Green Spring Gardens is a must-visit park, a year-round gold mine of information and inspiration for the home gardener. It’s an outdoor classroom, a museum, and a national historic site.
The park has a wooded stream valley with ponds, a naturalistic native plant garden, more than 20 thematic demonstration gardens, a greenhouse, a plant shop, two gift shops, a historic house, and a horticultural reference library. The gardens and educational programs focus on practical landscaping techniques that are appropriate for the Washington metro area.
Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens: 1550 Anacostia Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20019 Phone: 202-692-6080.
Hours: Aquatic Gardens which contains the gardens, greenhouses, boardwalk trail, and visitor center is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m during summer months (April 1 – October 31) and is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during the winter months (November 1 – March 31). The park is closed on January 1, Thanksgiving, and December 25. The park which includes the Athletic Fields and Meadow is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to dusk.
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens has activities for everyone! Birding, wildlife viewing, photography, water garden enthusiast, education, leisure walks, relaxation, painting, art, picnics or volunteer in a clean-up; whatever your reason may be, come enjoy a day at this National Park. This site is home to both cultivated, historic water gardens, and wild wetlands including some of the original tidal fresh water wetlands that characterized the area before a city was built.
Meadowlark Botanical Garden: 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, VA 22182 Phone: 703-255-3631.
Hours: June – August 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.; September 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; October 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; November – December 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; January – February 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; March 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; April 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; May 10:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. No Daytime hours on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Explore 95 acres of ornamental display gardens and unique native plant collections at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. Enjoy walking trails, lakes, more than twenty varieties of cherry trees, irises, peonies, an extensive shade garden, native wildflowers, gazebos, birds, butterflies, seasonal blooms and foliage. They also offer gardening and horticulture workshops, tours, field trips and volunteer programs.
Oatlands Historic House and Gardens: 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, VA 20175 Phone: 703-777.3174.
Hours: Open to the public from April 1 through December 30 with the following exceptions: Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve. Monday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sundays 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
This National Trust Historic Site features a stately 1804 mansion, beautiful rolling farmland, and a 4.5 acre terraced garden. Enjoy a self-guided walking tour of the property. Admire a serene parcel of Loudoun County with impressive trees such as the European Larch, or the Blue Atlas Cedars. Explore the formally terraced garden with boxwood alleys, reflecting pool, herb garden, and more. See nineteenth century architecture in walls, garden dependencies, bank barn and the second oldest greenhouse in the country.
River Farm: 7931 E Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308 Phone: 703-768-5700.
Hours: Open year-round Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. From April through September, it is also open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. River Farm is closed on national holidays.
River Farm, once part of George Washington’s original five farms, is the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society with 25 acres of landscaped lawns & gardens, FREE to visitors. River Farm is acclaimed for its spell-binding vistas stretching down to the Potomac River, along with its creative children’s gardens, beautiful four-acre meadow, and colorful flower displays. It is a favorite site for weddings, family picnics, bird-watchers, and painters.
The United States National Arboretum: There are two entrances: one at 3501 New York Avenue, NE, and the other at 24th & R Streets, NE, off of Bladensburg Road. After 2 p.m. on weekdays, the R Street entrance is closed, so please enter through the New York Avenue entrance.
Hours: Open every day of the year except December 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.
The U.S. National Arboretum is a public garden, research facility, and urban green space located in Northeast Washington, DC. Comprised of 446 acres organized into a variety of collections and gardens., the Arboretum is a place of research, education, and discovery as well as an oasis of open space in the Nation’s capital.