Birmingham Botanical Gardens

I really enjoy walking around the gardens on a pretty day! Even during the fall and winter it’s still a peaceful place to be. Most people mention the Japanese garden but my favorite area is the green house (love the cactus). During the summer they have Flicks Among the Flowers and lot’s of other fun events. There is a branch of the Birmingham library, café, and garden shop that has some cute gift type items. Definitely one of the best free things to do in town!

Great asset to the B’ham area. And it is free.
Grounds — Miles of walking trails set up in to «areas» An Asian are with a huge Koi pound. Rose area. And others. Beautiful gift shop with a lot of neat stuff. Parts of the ground and the main building can be rented for weddings and such. Many Saturdays they have flower sales. It is important to go at the right time of year to see the best the grounds have to offer. Don’t miss out on this place!

I absolutely love everything about the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It is such a wonderful place to explore, relax, exercise, and photograph. There are so many wonderful hidden little trails and gardens, I’ve visited over 30 times and every time I discover something new. There is always something in bloom, but I’d say winter is probably the least exciting time to go. It’s absolutely stunning in summer and fall.
Admission and parking is free. Definitely stop by Leaf N Petal as well while you’re there.

A little escape from the city right in the city. BotGar is a great place to see different landscape. Many plants and flowers fill the space. The rose garden smells wonderful when in bloom. The greenhouse is full of fun tropical plants. The Koa always greet you on the bridge. I like to find somewhere tucked away that I can sit and just be. Take a short hike up the back and see the waterfalls. My favorite time to go in spring when all the daffodils are blooming!

If you give less than 5 stars to a botanical garden that does not have an entrance fee, I seriously question what kind of benchmarks you are judging against.
— GREAT DATE SPOT. Just a suggestion, but if you want to have a nice date outdoors, bring a blanket and setup in one of many beautiful lawns either in Japanese garden or one of many other areas.
— GORGEOUS JAPANESE GARDEN. They have an authentic tea house, exotic tree species, a bamboo garden and a beautiful pond with coy fish. Just amazing.
— ROSE GARDEN. Lots and lots of different kinds of roses, very well kept up.
— UNFORTUNATELY, NOT AS NICE AS IT ONCE WAS. I don’t know if it’s the budgets, but it does lack the once gorgeous orchid section, the staircase in the greenhouse, the running water feature outside the greenhouse and the cactus area needs replenishing.

This place is beautiful. It was so great to finally get out and see the beautiful scenery here in Birmingham. I highly recommend visiting this place with family and friends; possibly having a picnic.
Everything about this place makes it beautiful. I could’ve walked through this place more than 50 times and still have been content!

I made a visit here while in town. It is worth a visit, especially since it’s free. I enjoyed my visit and probably walked about three miles that morning. I got there early which I think is a good idea because I avoided a lot of the tour groups that were arriving as I was leaving. There are botanical gardens that are far superior to this one however, they still have beautiful flowers.
The Japanese gardens were decent but I’ve seen better and unfortunately they are located near a busy road so any attempt at creating a tranquil setting was lost. Some sort of sound barrier would help tremendously. They are also erecting a high rise building nearby and construction sounds could be heard and you can see the building looming.
The greenhouse was a disappointment, not very large and some disrespectful visitors carved their names into the cacti.
Despite these negatives, i did get some nice pictures and I enjoyed my visit overall.

I had no idea what to expect when we decided to visit the gardens, but whatever expectations I had were completely exceeded. This place is so quietly amazing and a must visit for any lover of nature. They have really outdone themselves with the beautiful walking trails and the Japanese garden. We sat by the waterfall in the greenhouse for some time just enjoying the company of the plants thriving in their environment. It was so relaxing and satisfying. I think I know where to go now when I want to get some walking in and forget about the stress of everyday life. Oh and did I mention it’s free? Love this place.

Loved the Japanese gardens. Roses and crêpe myrtles will be gorgeous in a month or so.

I can’t imagine not giving five stars to such a beautiful garden that has free entrance! I enjoy walking through the many trails and have even spotted a rabbit and a turtle on one of my walks. During the spring many of the easily accessible areas will be filled with photography sessions but there are plenty of paths that are less populated and it’s a lovely place to wander through! There are also some picnic tables scattered about, a café that serves lunch, and a gift shop that sells plants as well as gifts. Also a popular spot for weddings with a smaller guest list and they do a great job!

Even in the fall when only a handful of flowers are still in bloom, this place is gorgeous and peaceful. And it’s always free! So that’s a plus.
Make sure to wear comfortable shoes, the gardens are spread out and has many of areas to check out. If you want to only stroll through a small area you can as well. Most paths are paved, there are a few dirt and gravel paths as well. The areas are all marked out according to types of flowers, so you can walk through your favorites. A few areas, like the Lily’s are built into the hillside and have stairs so you can get up close and personal. The roses are spread out and have so many different options! And up front there’s a few sculptures and a little lillypad area.
I’m not sure if it was fall or if they normally don’t have them, but I couldn’t find a little area with handheld maps. They had a large map when you walk in and that was helpful. Most paths are on a loop system so it’s hard to get too lost, and it also makes it easy to hit everything if you’d like without too much overlap. The parking lot was pretty full, but we didn’t run into too many people while out walking. There’s a greenhouse off to one side that has dessert fawna in it and is 2 rooms big. In the main building are restrooms, a ballroom, and a sprawling gift shop. The shop is reasonably priced and has things from plants, seeds, to toys, books, and jewelry.
It’s a great little stop that you can spend less than an hour or you can spend 4! It’s all up to you!

We visited the gardens early yesterday morning. They are a nice combination of well-​manicured (rose garden) and wild (fern glade). We really enjoyed interacting with the knowledgable staff in the vegetable and rhododendron gardens. I look forward to seeing the conservatory once it is fully-​developed/​-​renovated. The conservatory made one of us homesick for Pittsburgh and its Lord & Burnham-​designed Phipps Conservatory. Birmingham’s Botanical Gardens are a must-​see!

I may be a bit prejudice since the Botanical Gardens is directly across the street from my boyfriends house. However, I am a big fan of being outdoors and as a runner being able to stroll through the gardens after a particularly long run is very relaxing. I’ve taken my camera many times to catch the flowers in bloom.
It’s one of Birmingham’s little gems and it is free to the public. There is a sculpture at the entrance that children love to play around especially since it has water flowing out of it.
It’s a perfect place for weddings as we can be serenaded from the back porch during wedding season.
If you haven’t been and you love being outdoors, please take time to go visit this beautiful place.

I was here last night for ‘Flicks Amongst the Flowers’ where they showed ‘Goldfinger’ on a big, inflatable screen in the formal lawn. To say this was a great evening would be an understatement. While I’ve been to the garden for walks countless times, I had never been to one of their events. I was incredibly impressed with the price for food/​drinks (very reasonable) and the thoughtfulness that went into the event planning (they had ‘ushers’ with lights to help navigate everyone out at the end… nice!). I went with a large group of friends and we all had a really great time. I hope this won’t be a one-​time event (I’ve been to documentary screenings inside but the under-​the-​stars component of last night was stellar) and look forward to going to more events in the future here.

Great place for weddings, socials and casually walks. Well taken care of and the people there are always very friendly. Do you have kids? Bring them down and explore, and they aware done them can zoom to the zoo which happens to be next door!

We spent a few hours there this afternoon and it’s a lovely place. Certainly more flowers will be in bloom as the season progresses, but it was still well worth visiting — and admission is *free*. Our very favorite was the Japanese garden, and we also liked the many (small) waterfalls. A nice thing is that there are many places to sit throughout the gardens. It’s a very peaceful place and it’s located in a lovely area. The gift shop sells some very nice items, although many of them are pricey. There’s also a library, a classroom, a café (which is only open for lunch), and some nice paintings exhibited in a long/​bright hallway.

We couldn’t finish a portion of the gardens. I only saw the Japanese garden. We wanted to go to the conservatory but it was not open. We also wanted a map but we couldn’t get that wish granted either. I love the Japanese garden. The bamboo woods was amazing. I wasn’t sure if you could walk in or not but I did and I loved it. I think if I had more time I would go back.

I loved this place so much that I may have to reconsider my retirement venue… no kidding…
We actually drove to Birmingham /​Hoover in order to visit the Aldridge Gardens in Hoover… but that is a different review.
We were shocked, first of all, to find out that the 36 – 37 acres of the BBG are free… totally and 100% free… I have never, ever visited a free botanical gardens. When we found out they were free… we figured they would be more of a wild, nature-​trail-​type garden setting than formal gardens… but we were wrong.
We got there the day after a heavy rain, so it was fairly cool and everything still had water droplets. We went into the gift shop, which had some pretty unique, cool items and the prices were reasonable. They also sold plants out in front… everything from trees to herbs.
We expected to take 45 minutes or so to walk around, but instead spent about 3 hours. It is big and, this time of year, there were so many different things blooming, especially the hydrangeas, which were spectacular. They are divided into different sections… a Southern Living Garden, a Japanese Garden complete with koi pond, an herb garden (finally! an herb garden! I love them!), etc. There are paved pathways (easy to wear sandals or push a stroller) and LOTS of shade (a big plus in Birmingham). There is a formal rose garden that was just past its prime; must have been gorgeous a week or two ago. Lots of sculptures, benches, little alcoves… beautiful. They are building (or perhaps renovating) a really huge glass arboretum that will house orchids and hothouse plants that I cannot wait to see. I spent a lot of time in the terraced herb garden… I love herbs and haven’t been to a «real» herb in many years. It was divided into aromatics, creeping, medical… it was great. I just stood there and took deep breaths. Lovely.
I can’t say enough… it is a 2 hours drive from Atlanta… well, well, well worth it!
I will be posting pictures too!

This garden was a lovely surprise for my parents who love walking in the outdoors. My experience with most botanical gardens is that you can see it all in one glance. However, we ended up spending 3 – 4 hours taking all sorts of trails to see where they may take us to. The best part of this experience is that there is no admission fee.
What I loved about this botanical garden was that not only did it suit the very casual hiker who likes easy trails and small routes but it also accommodates to sandals and summer dresses with concrete trails. Each trail leads to a variety of gazebos, fountains, and plants. Another convenience is that phone reception is great. My dad was making all sorts of business calls during our walk and he didn’t have one dropped call.
My favorite the trail was to the Japanese gardens. The ponds are muddy at this time of the year but there’s many large koi in the pond. I don’t know if you can feed them or not.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive venue for a wedding then consider the BBG.
We didn’t want to risk an outdoor wedding in July so we rented the Ireland room for the ceremony and the Garden’s Café for the reception. We also rented a couple of the smaller rooms for the Bride’s room and Groom’s room.
The Ireland room is a bit out dated looking, but enough of a blank palette for your décor. They have old fold out chairs that they will supply. We covered the most beat up ones with rented chair covers. There are three entrances to the room so several options for how you want to use the space. It is fairly small but perfect for a small ceremony. We had about 100 guests. The most difficult part is the huge, round, glass table in the center of the room which cannot be moved. We just curved our aisle around the table and used it for the sand ceremony. The facilities manager will try to influence how you set up the room but be sure to stand your ground and do it the way you want (without breaking any real rules).
We then used the Garden’s Café for the reception and used Kathy G’s catering. They set up the café perfectly for the guests. There is also room outside on a covered patio. The large windows are beautiful and give a great view of the gardens.
We only had a couple of people come into the ceremony area to look around who were not guests. This may be an issue you’ll encounter since the garden remains open until a certain hour.
There are PLENTY of beautiful places to take photos.
Even if you’re not interested in the wedding info I’d highly recommend coming here for a pretty place to take a stroll.