Children’s Gardens of the US- The South

Between personal travel and work, I’ve been lucky to visit more than 30 Botanical Gardens around the world. The popularity of Children’s Gardens soared in the 2000s and I was a relative newbie at Norfolk Botanical Garden when the World of Wonders Children’s Garden opened in 2006. After years of trying to remember “where I saw what feature” I’ve decided it’s time to put them all together in one place.

Find More Children’s Gardens:
Children’s Gardens of the West
Children’s Gardens of Northeast
Children’s Gardens of the Midwest

WOW Children’s Garden in Norfolk, Virginia
2006-2021

The WOW Children’s Garden at Norfolk Botanical Garden is the best Children’s Garden in the US, IMHO (This is were I insert that the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions and not an official statement by an NBG employee). The main parts of the Garden are divided into three sections. The Passport Gardens represent six biomes around the world: an Australian Desert, a Mediterranean Chaparral, an Asian Taiga, a North American Deciduous Forest, an African Savanna, and a South American Rainforest. Four Plant Safari North American habitat gardens include the Whichway Woods, Prickly Pear Lair Desert, Frog Bog Wetland, and Grain Plains Grassland. Finally, Discovery Peak is the WOW version of an edible plants garden, with the global spin of dividing the plants by the continents where they played an economically important role in history. …

Riverbanks Zoo & Gardens, South Carolina
2016

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia

Epcot at Walt Disney World
International Flower & Garden Festival

Okay, it might seem like a stretch to add Epcot to the list of Children’s Gardens. However, each spring Epcot offers the Flower & Garden Festival and throws a little education in with the drinking around the world vibe. A small temporary astroturf mini-children’s garden, butterfly garden, and educational signage around the park make it a giant learning garden for part of the year.