Massachusetts - Massachusetts Gardens

Arnold Arboretum
The Arborway
Jamaica Plain, MA  02130
Phone: 617-524-1718

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This 265 acre site is part of the emerald necklace of Boston parks designed in the late 1800s by Frederick Law Olmsted. The arboretum is a major center for plant research, with about 14,000 woody plants representing nearly 5,000 botanical classifications.
Hours: Visitor Center open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays; and noon-4 p.m. Sundays. Closed holidays. No charge.

Ashintully Gardens
Sodem and Main Roads
Tyringham, MA  01238
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239

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A rushing stream, native deciduous trees, a rounded knoll, and rising meadows are blended into an arrangement of both formal and informal beauty. Garden features include the fountain pond, pine park, rams head terrace, bowling green, regency bridge, and trellis triptych.
Hours: Mid-June to mid-September, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, 1-5 p.m.

Ashumet Holly Wildlife Sanctuary
Off Nathan Ellis Highway
East Falmouth, MA  02536
Phone: 781-259-9500
Toll-Free: 800-AUDUBON

Hours: May-August, daily, dawn to dusk. Fee charged.

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This preserve features groves of holly, as well as a colony of barn swallows. Sixty-five varieties of holly trees are planted throughout the sanctuary. Self-guided trails take visitors through the sanctuary.

Berkshire Botanical Garden
Routes 102 and 183
Stockbridge, MA  01262
Phone: 413-298-3926

"Horticulture -- the Berkshire's other culture

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A center for horticultural and environmental education, this 15-acre garden features intimate country landscapes, colorful perennial and annual gardens, a terraced herb garden, pond garden, rock garden, ornamental vegetable garden, display greenhouse, woodland interpretive trail, and gift shop.
Hours: May to October, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fee charged.

Bidwell House
Art School Road
Monterey, MA  01245
Phone: 413-528-6888

A Colonial history experience

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This museum, set in the Berkshire hills, is an elegant Georgian saltbox originally built circa 1750 as a parsonage. Authentically restored, filled with antiques and surrounded by beautiful grounds and hiking trails, the museum is open Thursday through Monday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. from May 27th to mid-October.

Boston Public Garden
Boylston, Arlington, Beacon and Charles Streets
Boston, MA
Phone: 617-723-8144

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The Boston Public Garden, located in the heart of Boston, is adjacent to the Boston Commons. Together, these two parks are the northern end of the Emerald Necklace, a long string of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The Public Garden is bounded on the south by Boylston Street, on the west by Arlington Street, on the north by Beacon Street, and on the east by Charles Street, which divides the Public Garden from the Boston Common. The Public Garden contains formal plantings and a four-acre lake where the Swan Boats, a famous Boston tourist attraction, operate. People can sit in the ornamental swan-shaped boats, which are pedaled around the lake by a guide. A famous feature of the Boston Public Gardens is a set of bronze statues based on the main characters from the children's story Make Way for Ducklings.

Botanic Garden of Smith College
15 College Lane
Northampton, MA  01063
Phone: 413-585-2740

A living museum of plants

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Lyman Plant House and Conservatory houses tropical collections and exhibition gallery. Arboretum features woody plant collection and specialty gardens: Rock Garden, systematics garden, Japanese garden, woodland and wildflower garden, knot garden, and perennial garden.
Hours: Daily year-round. Free.

Chesterwood
Williamsville Road, one mile south of Routes 183 and 102
Stockbridge, MA  01262
Phone: 413-298-3579

History!

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This mansion was the summer home of sculptor Daniel Chester French. Exhibits feature French’s work and life, as well as 19th century furnishings and a garden.
Hours: May-October, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fee charged.

Jeremiah Lee Mansion
161 Washington Street
Marblehead, MA  01945
Phone: 617-631-1069

Beauty and history

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Stroll through the historic gardens at this 1768 mansion. The site also features exhibits of military and maritime items, antique children’s toys and furnishings, and examples of decorative arts from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Hours: June through October, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Fee charged.

John Whipple House and Garden
53 South Main Street
Ipswich, MA  01938
Phone: 508-356-2811

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The house was built in the 1650s and moved to its present site in the 1920s. With more than 60 authentic Colonial flowers and herbs, the garden in front of the Whipple House represents a traditional housewife’s garden of the 17th century. The plantings are made up mostly of herbs that would be used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.
Hours: May 25-October 22, Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment only. Tours begin on the hour. Fee charged.

La Salette Shrine
947 Park Street, Route 118
Attleboro, MA  02703
Phone: 508-222-5410

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These historic statuary gardens were designed as areas for meditation and worship. During the Christmas holiday a unique and decorative light display is offered.

Long Hill
572 Essex Street
Beverly, MA  01915
Phone: 978-921-1944
Fax: 978-921-1948

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From 1916 to 1979, Long Hill was the summer home of author Ellery Sedgwick and his first wife, Mabel Cabot Sedgwick, an accomplished horticulturist and gardener. Five acres of cultivated grounds are laid out in a series of separate garden rooms and accented by garden ornaments, structures, and statuary.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.

Lowell Holly
South Sandwich Road
Mashpee & Sandwich, MA  02563
Phone: 508-679-2115

Open: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset

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Lowell Holly’s 135 acres feature stands of a wide variety of holly trees, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel, but the property’s most intriguing feature may be its two peninsular knolls, jutting into Mashpee Pond and Wakeby Pond. Both vantage points offer spectacular views over these large ponds. Mashpee and Wakeby ponds are renowned for their exceptional trout, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, and bluegill. Four miles of carriage paths and footpaths connect all points of interest, including two small sandy beaches. Activities at the reservation include swimming, fishing, boating, bicycling, birdwatching, hiking, food concessions, restrooms, bathhouses, and wheelchair access. Year-round parking area is free to all. Seasonal parking area is available Memorial Day through Labor Day. Fee is $6 per car or motorcycle. Boat landing fee is $6 for daily landing fee or $40 for seasonal permit.

Lyman Estate and Greenhouses
185 Lyman Street
Waltham, MA  02452
Phone: 617-893-7232

Go green

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One of the finest examples of a Federal period country estate in America. The mansion, greenhouse complex, and 37 acres of land are owned and maintained by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. The greenhouses, which are typical of structures that adorned landed estates in the 19th and early 20th centuries, shelter grapevines planted in 1870, 100-year-old camellia trees, and other exotic plants.
Hours: Year-round, Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The mansion is open by appointment for group tours.

Lynn Woods
Great Woods and Penny Brook Roads
Lynn, MA
Phone: 617-593-7773

This 2,200-acre municipal forest is the perfect spot for hiking, rock climbing, bird watching, cross-country skiing or just enjoying the view. A rose garden adds to the scenery.
Hours: Sunrise to sunset. No charge.

Martin House Farm
22 Stoney Hill Road at Route 6
North Swansea, MA
Phone: 508-379-0376

Stunning rose gardens

The Martin House Farm is a rare example of an 18th and early 19th century farm which still retains the character of its original setting. It consists of the house, two barns and cultivated fields surrounded by dry stone walls and woodlands. A rose garden is a stunning feature.
Hours: May 1-November 1, Wednesday-Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Closed holidays. Fee charged.

Mayflower Society Museum
4 Winslow Street
Plymouth, MA  02360
Phone: 508-746-2590

Open: July – mid-September, daily, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Memorial Day weekend-June 30 and mid-September to mid-October, Friday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

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The headquarters of the General Society of Mayflower Descendents is located in this 1754 home built by Edward Winslow, a Pilgrim descendant. It features furnishings spanning three centuries, a flying staircase and formal gardens.
Hours: July-Labor Day, open daily; Memorial Day weekend-June and early September-October, Friday-Sunday. Fee charged.

Mayhew Chapel and Indian Burial Ground
South Indian Hill Road
West Tisbury, MA  02568
Phone: 508-627-8687

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This Christiantown memorial is the site of an Indian burial ground and the Mayhew Chapel, named after Thomas Mayhew Jr., a missionary. This site is owned by the Wampanoag Tribe and grounds are maintained by Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club. Includes a wildflower sanctuary.
Fee charged.

Mission House
19 Main St.
Stockbridge, MA  01262
Phone: 413-298-3239

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Built in 1739 and originally located atop Prospect Hill, this National Historic Landmark was disassembled, moved, and restored between 1926 and 1927. Landscape architect Fletcher Steele designed the Colonial Revival garden, which features a colonial-style dooryard garden of circular brick paths enclosed by a tidewater cypress fence. A replica of an old cobbler shop serves as the entrance to the property; a grape arbor in the Well Courtyard behind the house leads to a small Native American museum.
Hours: Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.- to 5 p.m. Fee charged.

Mytoi
Dike Road, Chappaquiddick Island
Martha’s Vineyard, MA  02568
Phone: 508-627-7689
Fax: 508-627-3659

Immerse yourself in the meditative qualities of the landscape.

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You'll want to stay forever in this Japanese-style garden set within an open pine forest. The flora includes mixed plantings of native and exotic trees and shrubs, some rare. The garden’s signature feature is a small pond with an island that is reached by walking over an arched bridge. Winding footpaths take visitors through a birch walk, camellia dell, stone garden, and hillside garden. A rustic meditation shelter offers broad views of the garden and landscape.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.

Naumkeag
Prospect Hill Road
Stockbridge, MA  01262
Phone: 413-298-3239
Fax: 413-298-5239

Eight acres of terraced gardens

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This 44-room house was the summer cottage of the Choate family, and features original furniture, ceramics, and artwork collected from America, Europe, and the Far East. Famous for its eight acres of terraced gardens and landscaped grounds, transformed from 1926 to 1956 into separate garden rooms such as the afternoon garden, rose garden, evergreen garden, Chinese garden, arborvitae walk, and linden walk. The most famous feature of the landscape is Steele’s Blue Steps, a series of deep blue fountain pools flanked by four flights of stairs overhung by birch trees.
Hours: Memorial Day to Columbus Day, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission fee for non-members.

Osterville Historical Society Museum
Parker and West Bay Roads
Osterville, MA  02655
Phone: 508-428-5861

Open: Mid-June-mid-September, Thursday-Sunday 1:30-4:30 p.m.; other times by appointment

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Set in the home of a sea captain built in the 18th century, the museum features home-oriented exhibits, a boat shop and outdoor gardens. seasonally. There is an admission fee.
Hours: June-September, Thursday-Sunday, 1:30 -4:30 p.m. Fee charged.

Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum
936 County Street
New Bedford, MA  02740
Phone: 508-997-1401

Open: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

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This 28-room Greek Revival mansion was built for whaling merchant William Rotch, Jr. in 1834. The house and formal gardens chronicle 150 years of economic, social and domestic life in New Bedford. The grounds encompass a full city block of gardens including a Wildflower Walk, a formal boxwood rose parterre garden, a cutting garden, a boxwood specimen garden and an historic wood lattice pergola. Fee charged.

Stanley Park
Western Avenue
Westfield, MA
Phone: 413-568-9312

Set on 300 acres, this park features a Japanese garden, rose garden and arboretum.
Hours: Open seasonally, 8 a.m. to dusk. Fee charged.

Stevens-Coolidge Place
139 Andover Street
North Andover, MA  01845
Phone: 978-682-3580
Fax: 978-682-3580

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The house’s collections include Chinese porcelain and other Asian artifacts, American furniture, and American and European decorative arts. Landscape includes a perennial garden, a kitchen and cut flower garden, a rose garden, a French potager garden with a unique brick serpentine wall, and a greenhouse complex.
Hours: Gardens: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. House: Guided tours Mother’s Day through Columbus Day weekend, Sundays, 1-5 p.m.; July-August, Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m. Fee: Garden: no charge; house, fee charged.

Tower Hill Botanic Garden
11 French Drive
P.O. Box 598
Boylston, MA  01505
Phone: 508-869-6111
Fax: 508-869-0314

Experience "a world class garden, that's always in season!"

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Located on 132 bucolic acres in Worcester County, less than an hour from Boston, Tower Hill is one of the largest and most comprehensive botanic gardens in the region. It is the home of the Worcester County Horticultural Society, founded in 1842 to "advance the science, and encourage and improve the practice of horticulture." The breathtaking view provides an extraordinary setting for a variety of garden styles, at once stunningly beautiful and highly educational. Stroll through a Lawn Garden, Secret Garden, Cottage Garden, Vegetable Garden, Systematic Garden, and magical woodland paths. In winter, the Orangerie is filled with flowering subtropical plants. Browse the Gift Shop and enjoy lunch at Twigs Café.

Wellesley College Botanic Garden
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA  02481
Phone: 781-283-3049

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The Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses contain over 1000 specimens of desert, tropical and semi-tropical species. The Alexandra Botanic Garden and Hunnewell Arboretum offer hundreds of specimen trees and shrubs in 22 acres of Olmsted-inspired landscape.
Hours: Daily, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate
2468B Washington Street / Route 138
Canton, MA  02021
Phone: 781-821-2977

sprawling gardens on an historic estate

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Once a Colonial farmstead, the property was transformed into a country estate. The property includes a country house, landscaped grounds, and a complex of farm and estate buildings, manicured lawns, a walled garden, and a brick-edged garden. Visitors may explore more than 60 acres of meadow and woodland along three miles of trails.
Hours: Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. No charge.

Garden in the Woods
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA  01701
Phone: 508-877-7630

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The New England Wild Flower Society maintains this garden, the largest landscaped collection of native plants in the northeastern United States. Guided tours are offered weekdays at 10 a.m. and weekends at 2 p.m.
Hours: April 15-Labor Day, daily, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; September 2-October 31, daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; after October, trails close for the season. Museum Shop remains open with winter hours. Fee charged.

Glen Magna Farms
Ingersoll Street
Danvers, MA  01923
Phone: 978-774-9165  978-777-1666-garden tour

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Mansion built in the 19th century features decorative gardens and a teahouse.
Hours: Gardens open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-dusk; Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to noon. A guided tour of the house and gardens is offered May-July. Reservations required. Fee charged.

Harvard University Museums
24 Oxford Street and 11 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02138
Phone: 617 495-3045

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Botanical Museum contains the world famous collection of Blaschka glass flowers, hand-blown detailed glass models of dozens of flower species. It’s like a garden made of glass.
Hours: Daily, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Fee charged.

Heritage Museums & Gardens
67 Grove Street
Sandwich, MA  02563
Phone: 508-888-3300

There are several miles of passive recreational trails as well as five acres of lawn.

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Heritage Museums & Gardens consists of one hundred spectacular acres of labeled trees and shrubs, beautiful flowers and sweeping lawns. The gardens are a delight any time of year. Spring features showy Dexter Rhododendrons and flowering trees, while summer boasts brilliant annuals and dazzling daylilies. Autumn highlights blazing foliage and the fall-blooming Franklinia. Winter showcases beautiful heathers, bright berries and noble evergreens.
Heritage offers many excellent garden-related workshops, lectures and activities throughout the year. For more information on workshops, lectures and activities go to our events calendar.

Garden In The Woods
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA  01701
Phone: 508-877-7630
Fax: 508-877-3658

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New England Wild Flower Society maintains this 45-acre garden, the largest landscaped collection of native plants in the northeastern United States. Guided walking tours given weekdays at 10 a.m. and weekends at 2 p.m. Garden Shop offers native plants, books, compost tea, eco-friendly garden tools. Hours: April 15- October 31, Tuesday through Sunday plus Holiday Mondays 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Extended hours Thursday and Friday evenings until 7 p.m. April 15-July 3, After October, trails close for the season. Fee charged.