Norfolk Botanical Garden Facts for Kids

The Norfolk Botanical Garden is a huge and beautiful garden in Norfolk, Virginia. It covers 158 acres and is a special place where you can see many different kinds of plants and trees. It's like a giant outdoor museum for nature!

Quick facts for kids Significant dates

Norfolk Azalea Garden
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Bridge at Norfolk Botanical Garden
Location in Virginia Show map of Virginia Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	6700 Azalea Garden Rd., Norfolk, Virginia
Built	1938
Architect	City of Norfolk
Architectural style	Naturalistic Landscape
NRHP reference No.	05000895
Added to NRHP	August 17, 2005

Garden History
Explore the Gardens
Garden Tours
Gallery
Images for kids
See also

Garden History

The Norfolk Botanical Garden started thanks to two people: Thomas P. Thompson and Frederic Heutte. In 1938, they got 75 acres of land and 75 acres of reservoir for a city garden.

Later that year, a government program called the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped. The WPA gave jobs to people during a tough economic time. About 200 African-American women and 20 men worked to clear the garden site. By March 1939, they had planted thousands of azaleas, rhododendrons, shrubs, trees, and daffodils. More land was quickly added to the garden.

In 1958, a group called the Old Dominion Horticultural Society took over. They changed the garden's name to Norfolk Botanical Garden. The garden used to be 175 acres, but 20 acres were later used for the Norfolk International Airport. Many new gardens were added in the 1950s and 1960s. These included a Japanese garden, a desert plants garden, a colonial garden, and a rose garden. The garden was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Explore the Gardens

The Norfolk Botanical Garden has many different themed areas to explore. Here are some of them:

All-American Selections Display Garden - This garden shows off new types of annual flowers.
Annette Kagan Healing Garden - A peaceful spot with medicinal plants, a stream, and pools.
Bicentennial Rose Garden (1976) - Home to over 3,000 rose plants, with more than 430 different kinds of roses.
Border Walk - A traditional English-style garden with tulips, daffodils, pansies, and other colorful flowers.
Bristow Butterfly Garden (2 acres) - A special place for butterflies and moths to live and fly around.
Colonial Herb Garden - Shows what an American herb garden looked like in the 1700s and 1800s. It's surrounded by boxwood hedges.
Conifer Garden - Features many different kinds of conifer trees, like arborvitae and spruce.
Fern Glade - A shady area filled with many different types of ferns.
Flowering Arboretum (17.5 acres) - A large collection of 336 different kinds of flowering trees.
Four Seasons Garden and Wildflower Meadow (1994) - Has over 50 types of wildflowers and 10 kinds of grasses.
Fragrance Garden (1963) - Plants here are chosen for their wonderful smells, like lavender and peppermint.
Hofheimer Camellia Garden (1992) - One of the biggest collections of camellia flowers in the area, with over 500 varieties.
Holly Garden & Turner Sculpture Garden (1950s, 3 acres) - Features many different kinds of evergreen hollies arranged in garden "rooms."
Japanese Garden (1962) - Built to honor Norfolk's sister city in Japan, Kitakyushu. It was redesigned in 1995.
Kaufman Hydrangea Garden - Nearly 200 different kinds of hydrangea plants.
Matson Garden (0.25 acres) - Features large groups of perennial plants.
Mirror Lake (1939) - A lake with a paved path and small trails through the woods.
NATO Overlook - Offers a view of the garden, with tall redwood trees. It's named after the nearby NATO building.
Norfolk International Airport Overlook - Here you can see a map of the airport and learn how planes work. You can even listen to airport communications!
Purity Garden - Features a sculpture of Madonna and Child by Pietro Cataldi, surrounded by camellias.
Renaissance Garden (1994) - Designed like Italian Renaissance gardens from the 1500s, with terraces, stone fences, and statues.
Rhododendron Glade - More than 175 different kinds of azalea and rhododendron plants.
Sarah Lee Baker Perennial Garden (1 acre) - Over 200 types of perennial plants in a formal setting with a limestone fountain.
Statuary Vista - Features eleven large, seven-foot statues carved from Carrara marble. These statues show famous artists like Rembrandt and da Vinci.
Sunken Garden (1963) - A small pool surrounded by plants that like both shade and sun.
Tropical Garden - Filled with plants from warm places, like bananas and gingers.
Virginia Native Plant Garden (6 acres) - Shows four types of plant communities that used to cover much of southeastern Virginia. These include bald cypress swamps and pine forests.
Winter Garden - Plants that look interesting even in the winter months.
World of Wonders (3 acres) - A fun area designed especially for families and children.

Garden Tours

You can explore the Norfolk Botanical Garden in different ways:

Tram Tour

The tram tour starts at the Baker Hall Visitor Center. It lasts about 25 minutes and makes nine stops around the garden. A Garden Guide drives the tram and tells you about the different gardens you pass by. On weekdays, the tram runs every hour. On weekends, it runs every half hour.

Rose Walking Tour

This tour takes you on a detailed walk through the Bicentennial Rose Garden. This garden was finished in 1976 to celebrate America's 200th birthday. It's 3.5 acres and has 3,000 rose bushes, representing about 400 different kinds of roses.

Boat Tour

This 45-minute tour starts and ends at the boat basin, which is behind Baker Hall and near the Japanese Garden. The tour goes out onto Lake Whitehurst. You'll learn about the lake and all the animals that live there.

Sunset Boat Tour

These special tours are offered about once a month. They last for an hour and a half on Lake Whitehurst. It's a more in-depth look at the lake and its inhabitants than the daily boat tour.