One of the best things about this surreal summer of 2020 has been the opportunity to get more acquainted with the extraordinary outdoor venues of the greater Cleveland area! Last Friday we spent the morning at one of my favorites, the Cleveland Botanical Garden.
While I’ve enjoyed the Glasshouse portion of the Cleveland Botanical Gardens numerous times over the years, we’ve never really done much exploring of the outdoor gardens until this year. It’s truly a restorative and relaxing way to spend an hour or two!
Note: Thank you to the Cleveland Botanical Garden for sponsoring this post and providing a complementary membership to your facilities. As always, thoughts and opinions expressed in this article are 100% my own. For Natty Gal’s full disclosure policy, click here.
The Cleveland Botanical Garden
There are eleven (yes, 11) distinct outdoor gardens to explore when visiting the Cleveland Botanical Garden as well as an indoor Glasshouse that features tropical plants and blooms! The weather was absolutely perfect last Friday so we focused this visit on the outdoor gardens. A few of our favorites included:
- The Woodland Garden – A gently sloping boardwalk takes you to a cool and quiet retreat featuring dense trees and a gentle stream, interspersed with a variety of native wildflowers. Charming bridges make for fantastic photos spots while hidden benches invite some quiet reflection.
- The Japanese Garden – Highlights here include a rock stream garden and some fantastic sculptures. In one area we discovered some flat mushrooms growing on rustic tree stump.
- The Hershey Children’s Garden – Well, I’m a kid at heart and I absolutely LOVED this garden! With a tree house, a pleasant pond, a bee hive and more, kids of any age will have fun in this area. Be on the lookout for the 19 hidden gnomes scattered throughout this venue.
- The Herb Garden – A formal knot garden is the main feature of this space, while other sections include a culinary garden, a medicinal garden and an area comprised of edible flowers.
- The Geis Terrace is where you will likely begin and end your outdoor exploration. Located right next to the cafe, pick up a coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy the reflecting pool and lush, over-sized, filled containers!
Discover the Details
Bring your camera if you love nature photography! We had so much fun capturing both the riot of color from all the blooms as well as some insects as they went about their business of refueling and pollinating. The many architectural features interspersed throughout the property also make for great photography subjects.
Fast Facts
- The Cleveland Botanical Gardens are open Tuesday – Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM and Sunday Noon – 5 PM. Last entry is 60-90 minutes prior to closing.
- Timed-entry reservations are required to visit the grounds (new due to COVID). Reservations can be made HERE up to one week in advance.
- Masks are REQUIRED in the Glasshouse facility and highly encouraged in the outside gardens.
- For events, updates, and feel good photos follow the gardens on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
- Be sure to allow a little time for a visit to the gift shop. They have some fantastic and really unique items for both home and garden. I found this darling little birdhouse to gift to a friend!
Thanks so much for dropping by! I’d love to hear about your favorite flower, plant or tree in the comments below.
Hi Betsy. This looks like such an amazing place! We always visit botanical gardens wherever we travel. It’s one of my favorite things to do. Your slideshow and photos are really beautiful. I’m sharing to Facebook.
Hi Christina, I’m so glad you enjoyed the post and thank you so much for taking the time to share it! Would love to see some of the “best of the best” gardens from your travels one day.