Cleveland Botanical Garden

I have been twice to the garden and really enjoyed it. We went this month for GLOW. The whole place is decorated with beautiful lights, decorated trees and homemade gingerbread houses. They also had a train exhibit inside and a free train ride outside. During our ride the driver was ringing his bell along to the song Jingle Bells. We made a craft in the children’s room. Also, took a free tour and attended the butterfly launch.
TIPS:
Take the free tour — very informative, we learned so much that we would have missed if we just walked thru. The guide even brought out a chameleon to share with our group. I have done the tour twice and each guide gave a different prospective.
Butterfly launch — don’t be shy if you want to participate and stick your hand in. They do a launch every day at 2 pm.
Parking — is tough to find in the area — so get there early for the garage.
Buy a membership — it would have cost over $ 40 for our group to attend. After 2 visits, we will be ahead of the game.
What I loved best about my visit is the rain forest exhibit. On a sunny day, it is a warm tropical retreat even in the dead of Cleveland winter. Our plan is to visit at least once a month during the winter to get a feel of summer, smell the flowers and breathe that fresh oxygen. It is cool just to sit on a bench and watch the birds and butterflies and listen to the rushing water from the falls. I love some nature therapy.

I recently visited for the GLOW event with my niece and I have to honestly say that I was let down. All the advertisements and marketing for this special event made it sound awesome (I guess it does work for them). It really was only a bunch of decorated Christmas trees (that you can see anywhere else) and ginger bread houses. On Saturdays they close early so you have to wait until the last hour to wait until it gets dark to even see the lights they have outdoors. Don’ get me wrong its a cool concept to have an oversized greenhouse with exotic plants, butterflies and birds but it really only takes you about 15 min to walk through the whole place. I can’t seem to find a way that they justify the $ 16 adult and $ 12 child ticket price.

Fun for the whole family. «Glow» is a winter favorite. They have a singer in the main room, gingerbread houses lining the hallways, a small train for the little ones that tours the outside garden, a playroom for the kids, as well as regular access to the greenhouse.

Very nice especially in the summer the food they have in there is good too bien surprising me where its at overall I would take two youngsters really have a good time

This place is beautiful and never ending!
(Just a side note, contrary to what I’d been told, it’s mostly outside so dress for the elements when you go.)
Upon arrival they have maps, which are definitely helpful because we got lost down a hallway at one point. They have indoor exhibits, but in my opinion the coolest ones were outside!
When you get outside, there’s something around every corner. I was not expecting it to be as big as it was! It has different areas from a Japanese garden to a Woodland experience to a kid zone. It’s a great place to grab a coffee, walk around and spend the day with your friends or family.
I can’t wait to go back this winter for the holiday exhibit!

This place is amazing my sister and I had so much fun! I just loved the glasshouse and the gardens were so beautiful.

I don’t have a green thumb, and admittedly could really care-​a-​less about plants in general. However, the Cleveland Botanical Gardens really proved to be a good time. It was really nice to walk around both the outside and two glasshouse enclosures. Someone out there has put in a lot of work into this place, and that work comes through.
It was a fun surprise to find not only plants in the greenhouses, but also various animals such as turtles, butterflies and various others. It really brought that extra sense of being in the wilderness forward.
For twelve bucks a person it’s a little steep of a price to just walk around and look at plants. However, with that said, I have to admit that out of all the places we’ve visited so far in Cleveland that this was probably my favorite so far.

We came here for the first time when they had the temporary tree house exhibit and we had a good time. The lady that helped us up front was very helpful and gave us some great tips. We had a great time both inside and outside. The glass house was a blast for my 6 year old son as he loved interacting with the butterflies. He also had fun climbing in and exploring in and around the tree houses. When we asked him if he would want to go back, he said yes. So we are going to try it again in the different seasons. They do validate parking and once you are in, you are in. On the day we went, the parking lot was open until 11, so we were able to walk around the area without having to worry about it. The gift shop has a pretty large selection, and yes the prices are on the higher side. However, I have never been to a botanical garden where the prices were not high. For us, this made for a nice, fun part of a family day!

Visited recently with two small children. While our first visit was enjoyable, I can’t say that I liked it enough to want to go back anytime soon. Unfortunately the temporary tree house exhibit (which is over now, but was pretty awesome) was not age-​appropriate for my 2 year old, but he loved the children’s garden and the glass house. I would love to come back on a date or if I were planning to re-​do my landscaping to get ideas. But it’s not great for kids. I imagine any kid over 5 loses interest in the children’s garden pretty quickly. They do have fantastically family-​friendly restroom facilities, with multiple changing tables in the women’s restroom and a separate family restroom.
I did like that the cafeteria has some healthy options and that the parking garage rates are cheaper than the garage at the art museum. From the signage, it appears that the garage is not exclusively for visitors to the botanical garden, so I will remember that the next time I visit another attraction at the oval.

Heavenly place ON campus. Be prepared for the student who doesn’t look before crossing the street. But once you enter the doors, you’re in heaven! The rates are fair for the experience. More than just flowers and gardens: there is the Madagascar room with tortoise (s) and other regional animals and a HUGE butterfly sanctuary. If you do mind the effect of humidity on your hair, plan to stay for awhile. Also– if you have a CWRU ID, students enter FREE once per week. This is my heaven on campus.

An amazing family-​friendly place with smiling children interacting with the environment. We were kissed by butterflies as we explored a rain forest. The wide garden paths made it so easy to push Emma’s wheelchair around the gardens. This is an incredible natural wonder in the center of an urban jungle.

Reasons I am in love with this place.
1) My husband and I use to go here often when we were dating.
2) My girlfriend rented a room here for my baby shower at it was fabulous.
The Cleveland Botanical Gardens brings back such good memories for me. I use to walk through the flower gardens, smell the flowers, and sit under the magnolia tree. I love the rain forest and the butterfly garden. For my baby shower my best friend gave threw me a catered brunch and it was everything I had ever dreamed of, the ambiance was beautiful. They have all kinds of neat events all throughout the year. Check out their calendar. Even on a dreary day you can go to the gardens and just feel good!

In the spring, they let the public witness the magic of butterfly hatching. The greenhouse is apparently home to thousands of butterflies and what a wonderful experience to actually witness the delicate insect gradually emerge out of the cocoon in a slow, fragile, but systematic process. As these magnificent creatures emerge, the wings actually appear wet and might take a few flaps to dry. This one critter eventually dried out its wings and set out to explore and landed on the ground next to us. The cute little girl next to me, then quickly stomped on it with the deliberate viciousness of a killer, and crushed it further by pivoting her little pink-​shoed foot from side-​to-​side, to the horror of the small crowd that gathered.
On a lighter note, this is a great venue for birthdays and weddings.

I was amazed by the quality of this botanical garden, especially the amazonian garden or whatever it was called. They’ve recreated a small rainforest, complete with butterflies and birds and it is gorgeous. I could have spent my entire afternoon there. It is somewhat pricey, but so peaceful and beautiful that it is completely worth the visit.

I’ve been to several botanical gardens and this was the worst one I’ve been to. That’s not to say it wasn’t enjoyable at all because there were plenty of pretty plants to look at. But there were not a lot in bloom for June. So, here are the Pros and Cons of my visit…
Pros:
–Herb garden (lots of different herbs I’ve never heard of before)
–Rose garden (most blooms in entire park)
–Mostly outdoors (bring sunscreen)
–Cafeteria available for lunch
Cons:
-$ 9 to park in the garage
-$ 11/​person (a bit steep, I’d pay $ 7)
–No educational plaques or anything to teach you about the plants, just name plates
–Map on hand out was too small to read
If you’re seeking out a nice botanical garden, try the one in Pittsburgh. It’s gorgeous!

Our first time here and likely our last. We came for the butterflies and yes there were butterflies but it pales in comparison to that of the botanicals gardens in both Columbus and Cinci. The inside area is surprisingly small … just 2 areas and then there are gardens outside. yes there were pretty areas but we’d been to better for ¼ the cost. like Kingwood Center in Youngstown is 5 dollars a car load and no price for parking. So for the cost I just expected more.
The butterfly area. maybe it was just that day but not many butterflies and not much to attract them. as the 3 stars says. it was just ok.

Beautiful place to go in the spring and summer time. I’ve never been here in the fall or winter. Got in free this time because my friend is a member so that was a bonus. I enjoy the various outdoor gardens. They have a small splash park in the kids area. It’s a good place to stroll around while you catch up with friends and enjoy the scenery. Only downside is that some of the plants and flowers are not marked so you don’t always know what you’re looking at!

I love the botanical garden! There are many different spaces to meander around and spend an hour or two — and it never disappoints. The junior membership is a great deal if you’re 30 or under — only $ 35 for the entire year, including 2 guest passes. I’ll renew for a 3^rd time this year.

It pains me to my core to write this review. We were long time members of the Botanical Gardens but let our membership lapse a few years ago. I was looking forward to returning to see their «Big Spring» event. I was very disappointed in our return visit unfortunately.
I had a coupon for a free child admission with the purchase of an adult admission. When we purchased our tickets, we were told that they couldn’t accept the coupon during «special events». Ok. At this point, I’ve driven 30 minutes and had to park way the heck down the street at the CMA parking lot, since they do not have adequate parking at the botanical gardens. I reluctantly paid full price.
Once we got inside, we were very disappointed with the «Big Spring» activities. The «tea party» that they advertised was a couple of kiddie tables with cheap plastic tea sets that I might find in my own basement toy room. I was expecting an actual tea party with real tables, real chairs and real tea for my kids.
The main part of the gardens was beautiful as always. The butterflies and songbirds were in abundance, and we were able to salvage a decent visit out of the experience. But the hype of the event coupled with the non-​acceptance of our coupon really left a sour taste in my mouth. I had expected to come out of the experience with a return to our member status, but that was not to be on this visit.

Such a lovely afternoon.
If you have a few hours this is a great place to stop.
I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the summer when they are in full bloom but given the holiday season they made sure there were plenty of lighted decorated trees and gingerbread houses and creations.
We enjoyed the walk through the glasshouse Madagascar like climate with wild life (birds and tortoises, a baby hedgehog) and plants. The rain forest had a few handfuls of butterflies and some very cool flowers.
It was $ 16 per adult and $ 12 for kids. While I understand this is a museum type establishment I think they should have discounted winter prices. They were not in full bloom and the variety of flowers and plants were short due to the season.
When we went out to the garden there was a little train ride for the kids which took you around to see what there would/​could be in the summer. In full bloom I can see how it would take a while to meander through. The children’s garden was closed and most everything looked sleeping for the season. The holiday decorations were cute but not so different or spectacular.
The gift shop was beautiful and carries high end merchandise. If you are looking for a special gift they have much to choose from but some items will set you back $$. The holiday items were 40% off which made it much easier to buy a lovely platter :)
As a side note– call ahead to see if they are having an event. We showed up to be turned away from the parking garage because a family rented the ballroom/​space for a party. The parking in that area is crazy. There were no spaces to be had on the street, other museum lots were full and it got to a point where we went back and begged to be let into the garage. There were a ton of spaces and it was already an hour into their «event» Why they were turning people away was silly and as a patron they almost lost our business.
That wasn’t well thought out.
All in all I’d go back but I would wait until the flowers bloom.