Norfolk Botanical Garden, Norfolk, VA 23518

Norfolk Botanical Garden is nationally recognized for its deep-rooted history and celebrated for its blooms in every season. The 175 acre garden is home to 52 distinctive themed gardens, 95 species of birds and 40 kinds of butterflies. Our latest garden is World of Wonders – A Children’s Adventure Garden – a 3-acre garden where kids explore the connections between plants, international culture and the environment – all while having fun. Norfolk Botanical Garden is managed by the Norfolk Botanical Garden Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization supported by donations, membership dues, admissions & program fees. Norfolk Botanical Garden is a Virginia Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The idea for what would eventually become Norfolk Botanical Garden came from Thomas P. Thompson, Norfolk City Manager 1935-1938 ,and Frederic Heutte, a young horticulturalist. Heutte had a fondness for azaleas and thought Hampton Roads had a climate uniquely suited for growing the plants. Thompson and Heutte believed that Norfolk could support an azalea garden to rival those of Charleston, S.C., which even during the depression years drew thousands of tourists annually. The city of Norfolk provided Thompson and Heutte with a seventy-five acre section of high, wooded ground and another seventy-five acres of the Little Creek Reservoir to establish a city garden. Today, Norfolk Botanical Garden includes 155-acres, with 52 themed gardens that can be viewed by tram, boat or by foot. Themed gardens include the Bristow Butterfly Garden, the Sarah Lee Baker Perennial Garden, the Virginia Native Plant Garden and the Bicentennial Rose Garden. Each of these gardens allow guests to see a variety of plants – from the cultivated to the wild. Norfolk Botanical Garden provides an educational experience while entertaining visitors of all ages. More than twenty thousand children and adults are reached every year at the Garden by programs, classes and Norfolk Botanical Garden lectures.
Volunteers provide more than seventeen thousand hours each year working in all aspects of the Gardens operations. From its humble beginnings as a WPA project to its status as a nationally recognized garden that attracts visitors from around the world, Norfolk Botanical Garden has experienced amazing growth. Norfolk Botanical Garden along with local garden societies and volunteers continues to expand and improve every year.