I love to travel and I love gardens so it's natural for me to combine the two passions. Herewith a list of notable gardens I've enjoyed in North America. I'd be very interested in seeing recommended garden travel stops from others.

CANADA
- Butchart Gardens near Victoria, B.C. on Vancouver Island
- VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, B.C.

CALIFORNIA
- Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, Fort Bragg
- Filoli, Woodside (near San Francisco and San Jose)
- University of California Botanical Gardens in Berkeley
- Berkeley Rose Garden
- Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena and Los Angeles

DELAWARE
- Winterthur in Delaware near Wilmington and Chaddsford, PA (also near Longwood Gardens at Kennett Square, PA)

LOUISIANA
- Long Vue House and Gardens, New Orleans

NEW YORK
- Old Westbury Gardens,Long Island
- WaveHill in the Bronx
- New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx
- Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

OREGON
- Rose Test Garden, Portland

PENNSYLVANIA
- Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square (near Philadelphia and Wilmington, DE)

I too enjoy travel and I always try to include a stop at one garden at least. In Hamilton, Ontario the Royal Botanical Gardens are beautiful and in Theodore, Alabama The Bellingrath Gardens are fabulous.

Minter's Garden in Hope, B.C. is a very nice garden to see.Not to sure if it has a Hope phone number or not.it is on the main highway, by Hope.

Here are two more gardens to add to your list. The first one is Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama (Near Mobile). This huge garden was built by an executive of the Coca Cola Company and is located along a river. Check out thier web site at www.bellingrath.org for more information.

The second garden is Ladew Topiary Garden near Jarrettsville, Maryland, about an hour north of Baltimore. This garden has beautiful topiary shaped plants that resemble different animals. Not sure if they have a web site yet or not.

Both gardens also have beautiful houses that can be toured.

In the spring, visit both Magnolia Gardens in South Carolina and Calloway Gardens in Georgia.

Both are wonderful.

Ashville, North Carolina at the Biltmore House.

Steve: Please tell me, where in South Carolina are Magnolia Gardens?

Thanks.

I too love gardens and have found The Garden Conservancy Guide a great resource for private gardens.The Garden Lover's Guide by Ron Sullivan (Chronicle Books) has a short section on unusual private gardens and tours in the San Francisco bay area.

Betty Ann,

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is near Charleston, SC on Hwy 61.

http://www.sccsi.com/sc/Gardens/magnolia.html

From their site: "By 1900, the Baedeker guide to the United States listed three must see attractions: the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Magnolia Gardens."

Also, Callaway Gardens is in Pine Mountain, GA. It's a full resort on 14,000 acres and is frequently featured on PBS' "Victory Garden". Here's a site with golf/accomodations info:

http://www.vgolf.com/ga/ga_010/rhome.htm

The Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO are also very nice.

http://www.mobot.org/

Another interesting topiary garden is near Newport, Rhode Island in a town called Portsmouth. It is owned by the same group as the Newport Mansions and is included as part of thier combination ticket. The address to check them out on-line is www.newportmansions.org.

The private gardens of Charleston, S.C. are amazing in the spring. They even open them up to the public for a week. We were there the last week of March & first week of April this year. I agree Magnolia is awesome. There are 2 others right near Magnolia as well & I hear they're comparable.

Here are three additions to the list:

Fairchild Tropical Gardens (Old Cutler Rd. at SW 104th St., Miami). 78 acres of tropical and subtropical plantings, a rare orchid house, and conservancy center. One acre of the garden has been set aside to show the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.

Glen Burnie (Winchester, VA). A series of "theme" gardens including a Japanese "sound" water garden and a Tuscan "ruin" garden.

Hillwood (Washington DC). Currently closed for renovation, to re-open in 1999. Acres of meticulous formal gardens and rambles on a fifty acre estate. At its peak in April and May.

Bringing this back to the top to see if we can garner further suggestions of gardens to visit in the U.S. My list never can be too long and I suspect the same is true of other gardening travelers (or would we be traveling gardeners?).
Thanks!
Kat

Kat, I know this isn't the sort of garden you're after (I think Magnolia was my favorite, too), but I've often taken visiting gardeners to Lexington Gardens in Lexington, Mass. It's really a garden center (store) but it's where the Victory Garden originates, and the "set" is open to the public. It's a garden within the garden center, and my visitors were thrilled. One even left a message there for Roger.

Another garden which delights me is the whole Public Garden and Back Bay of Boston in the spring time. This could also be simply because it's finally spring and everything looks so beautiful.

Following is the Charleston Post & Courier's tourist tips site. Scroll down to look up Gardens and Plantations. Mar/April are spectacular, but there's much to do and see at all other times too!

Sorry that my ''link'' didn't work...the site is:

http://www.charleston.net/entertain/tourist.html

we just came home from our trip to charleston sc. ,and savannah ga., now you are talking gardens!!! wow!! breath taking! absolutly beautiful. everywhere we went in both cities we saw beauty. god bless america!!!!!