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Connecticut Gardens

Connecticut > State > Outdoor Activities > Connecticut Gardens

Connecticut gardens enhance public parks, nature centers, and historic home museums. A grand garden of this state is the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in the capital city of Hartford, site of a famous flower show every spring. Many of the state's fine historic homes have grand gardens, as do many of the state parks.
Gardens are a beautiful place for romantic walks or nature exploration with children.

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Harkness Memorial State Park

275 Great Neck Road / State Route 213 Waterford, CT, 06385 Phone: 860-443-5725

Beautiful seaside gardens; Roman Classical Revival Mansion open for tours in summer

This park is on the 230-acre property occupied by the former summer mansion of the Harkness family. The property is loved for its vast lawns sweeping down to Long Island Sound, its old trees, and beautiful flower gardens. These include an Alpine rock garden. Property is open year-round, daily, from 8 a.m. to sunset. Parking fees are charged. Park map.
See full description of Harkness Memorial State Park.
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Glebe House and Gertrude Jekyll Garden

Hollow Road / P.O. Box 245 Woodbury, CT, 06798 Phone: 203-263-2855

Upon the museum's creation in 1926, English author and landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll started a traditional garden -- and in the 1970s, her plans were completed. Now, visitors marvel at the wholeness of this garden as they stroll through border plantings and a rose allee. See full description of Glebe House and Gertrude Jekyll Garden
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Osborne Homestead Museum

500 Hawthorne Avenue (near Osbornedale State Park) Derby, CT, 06418 Phone: 203-734-2513

Former estate of Frances Osborne Kellogg. Elegant Colonial Revival home (1850), original antiques and fine arts. Formal rose and flower garden, English rock garden. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Admission: Donation requested. Open: Late April-mid-December, Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Grounds: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m.
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Florence Griswold Museum Gardens

96 Lyme Street Lyme, CT Phone: 860-434-5542

In the early 20th century, Florence Griswold’s boarding house in Old Lyme was the hub of one of the most important summer art colonies in America. Visitors may explore the beautiful property alongside the Lieutenant River and walk through the “old-fashioned” historic gardens.
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Closed on major holidays.
Admission: Adults, $10; seniors, $9; students, $8; free of children under age 12. Information:
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Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden

9 Main Street Bethlehem, CT, 06751 Phone: 203-266-7596 for tours

This antique home features a formal parterre garden with chains of connected flowerbeds; roses, peonies, and lilacs. See full description of Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden.
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Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

77 Forest Street Hartford, CT, 06105 Phone: 860-522-9258

Victorian-era gardens on glorious display at Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

At the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, interesting things to look at are found outside as well as inside. Inside the center, exhibits inform visitors about the life of the famous activist, abolitionist and author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Outside, the gardens are instructive about the author’s knowledge of and appreciation for Victorian-era flowers and plantings. The gardens, one of Connecticut’s Historic Gardens, include a woodland garden, a wildflower meadow, a high Victorian texture garden, heritage roses and and formal color-coordinated gardens. The property also includes the state’s largest magnolia tree and a dogwood that is more than 100 years old.
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Colonial Revival Garden of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

211 Main Street Wethersfield, CT Phone: 860-529-0612

Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum is conposed of four historic homes from the 18th century. Tours and special events take place all year. The Webb House garden was a prototypical of Colonial Revival gardens dating from the 1920s. It was created by landscape designer Amy Cogswell.

Hours: May 1-October 31, daily except Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; April and November, open weekends only; special tours by appointment.

Sundial Gardens

59 Hidden Lake Road Higganum, CT, 06441 Phone: 860-345-4290

Formal gardens, tea and gift shop in the Higganum section of Haddam. Formal gardens include a Persian-style knot garden, an 18th-century style garden with geometric walkways, and a topiary garden with boxwood, roses and ivy garlands surrounding a fountain. These architectural gardens are carefully incorporated into the landscape around a restored 18th century farm house.
Hours: Tea shop and Christmas Shop open first three weekends in November, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. After Thanksgiving Day, open every day except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Christmas Eve. Gardens Open: Year-round, Saturday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Thankful Arnold House

Hayden Hill Road, off Route 154 Haddam, CT, 06438 Phone: 860-345-2400

This three-story, 1794 home has been restored to reflect the lifestyle and furnishings of the period. A garden on the property features herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
The house’s gardens were redesigned in the 1980s in the Colonial Revival style with granite-edged beds and gravel paths, using plants commonly grown in 1830. Most of the garden is now devoted to herbs used for cooking, medicine, dyeing, fragrance and other household uses. Over 50 varieties of herbs are planted in the garden, including many of the ones Thankful Arnold would have used.
Hours: Open year-round; Wednesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thursday, 2 -8 p.m.; Friday, noon-3 p.m.; also from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, Sundays, 1- 4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $4; seniors, $3; children, $2.
Edgerton Park

75 Cliff Street at Whitney Avenue New Haven, CT, 06511 Phone:

Once an experimental mulberry orchard, this stately public park was the home of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. Bought in 1906 by the Brewster family, the stately mansion stood near the great lawn of an estate designed to replicate an English landscape garden. Now a city park hosting many public cultural events.
Hours: Open from sunrise to sunset every day of the year. The conservatory is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day except major holidays.
Mohegan Park

20 Park Center Road Norwich, CT Phone: 860-823-3798

Nice urban park for walking, swimming, field sports. Park is famous for its grand rose garden.

Formal rose garden in this city on three rivers is a pleasure in late spring and summer.
See full description of Mohegan Park.
Wickham Park

1329 West Middle Turnpike Manchester, CT, 06040 Phone: 860-528-0856

The park contains 250 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, sports facilities, and other attractions. There are three sets of public restrooms in the park, and all are handicapped accessible.
Admission: Cars: Monday - Friday, $4; weekends and holidays, $5
Hollister House Garden

300 Nettleton Hollow Road Washington, CT, 06793 Phone: 860-868-2200

Located on a terraced site in the hills of Litchfield County, Hollister House Garden is an American interpretation of such classic English gardens as Sissinghurst , Great Dixter and Hidcote. Hollister House sponsors such events like Twilight in the Garden, Connecticut Open House Day, and Music in the Garden. New events are planned for the renovated 18th century barn adjacent to the garden. Each event encourages visitors to explore the romantic English-style garden. Hollister House Garden is a member of the Garden Conservancy and hosts an annual event, Garden Study Weekend.
Open to visitors late April to late September, Fridays, 2-5 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Private group visits on weekdays by appointment only.
Boothe Memorial Park & Museum

5774 Main Street Stratford, CT, 06614 Phone: 203-381-2046

A lovely rose garden is among the attractions at this park aside the Housatonic River. The park includes a historic home of the Boothe family, exhibits of antiques, and picnicking grounds. See full description of Boothe Memorial Park and Museum.
Elizabeth Park Rose Gardens

Corner of Prospect Avenue and Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT Phone: 860-231-9443

The park’s world famous rose garden is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country. The two-and-a half-acre rose garden has 15,000 plants in about 800 varieties of roses. The park is also home to a rock garden and specialized gardens of annuals, herbs, and perennials.
Hours: Year-round, daily, dawn to dusk.
Information: www.elizabethpark.org
Hatheway House

55 South Main Street Suffield, CT, 06078 Phone:

Formal gardens and an ornate fence enhance the beauty of this house, a fine example of a prosperous 18th-century New England family. See full description of Hatheway House.
Ogden House and Gardens

1520 Bronson Road Fairfield, CT, 06824 Phone: 203-259-1598

Built in the 18th century, this traditional New England farmhouse is host to exhibits detailing the daily lives of colonial Americans. The property also has a wildflower garden and a kitchen garden.
Open: Sundays, June to September, 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment. Fee charged.
Pardee Rose Gardens

180 Park Road Hamden, CT, 06517 Phone: 203-946-8142

Pardee Rose Garden and Greenhouse is in bloom from early spring to fall, showcasing a glorious array of roses. Traditionally, many brides and grooms come here for wedding pictures. Open year-round.