October 9, 2024
Must-See Gardens in NJ – NJ Family
MARIBETH GARDNER / MONMOUTH COUNTY PARK SYSTEM / The Rose Garden at Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown

A visit to one of NJ’s beautiful gardens is the perfect way to welcome spring! Help the kids discover new plants, and stop and smell the flowers together in one of these popular spots. You may even get inspired to do some planting of your own when you get home.

Dalton Farms
660 Oak Grove Rd., Swedesboro
856-628-7313
There will be over one million tulips in full display in the early spring, from classic varieties like the single early tulip to the exotic ones. Wander through the fields, pick your favorite tulips, and take them home as souvenirs. Go back in the fall to see rows and rows of sunflowers and zinnias.

Deep Cut Gardens
152 Red Hill Road, Middletown
732-671-6050
Deep Cut Gardens is dedicated to the home gardener, making it the perfect place for plant lovers to spend their day. With over 54 acres of gardens, the greenery is planned as a “living catalog” of native plant material, including its 52 varieties of roses, from over 180 bushes. Visitors can learn new ways to improve their home gardens as the gardens offer a friendly staff to answer any of your horticulture questions.

DUKE FARMS

Duke Farms
1112 Dukes Pkwy. W., Hillsborough Township
908-722-3700
In 1893, American Tobacco Company President J.B. Duke turned more than 2,000 acres of land into a residential estate with stunning sculptures, huge buildings and ornate gardens flecked with fountains. Opened to the public in 2003, this natural sanctuary has 18 miles of walking and biking trails, plus an Orchid Range that offers a year-round tropical oasis. Make sure to swing by the Old Fountain and ruins of the never-completed mansion.

Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Frelinghuysen Arboretum
353 East Hanover Ave., Morris Twp.
973-326-7601
A part of Patriots’ Path in the 127-acre arboretum is a 35-mile stretch of hiking, biking and equestrian trails that run from East Hanover all the way to Washington Township. The Getting to Know Us Stroll lasts 30 minutes and takes you through the Great Lawn (home to outdoor summer concerts), past the mansion and the rose gardens. Be sure to do some bird watching at the Belvedere, too.

GREENWOOD GARDENS

Greenwood Gardens
274 Old Short Hills Rd., Short Hills
973-258-4026
This spot is located along 2,110 acres of South Mountain Reservation. Visitors take in stunning examples of architecture, statues and ceramic works of art alongside beautiful greenery. Stroll past blooming cherry blossom trees or watch butterflies feed on agapanthuses and peonies. Chickens, geese and goats may want to mingle during your visit. (Reopens May 5, 2023)

GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE

Grounds for Sculpture
80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton
609-586-0616
Besides the 42 acres of breathtaking natural beauty, these gardens boast more than 300 sculptures, including a collection of the late Seward Johnson’s bronze figures around the grounds. There’s also a gorgeous lily pond flaked with wildflowers (which pays homage to Monet’s Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge) you can see from Rat’s Restaurant, where you can enjoy light fare like chopped salads and mussels. Don’t forget to visit with the friendly peacocks roaming the park. A gorgeous walkway lined with trees is a favorite for photo-ops. 

HOLLAND RIDGE FARMS

Holland Ridge Farms
86 Rues Rd., Cream Ridge
609-448-7483

This farm has a reputation for breathtaking tulips and there are millions of them. The tulip fields spread over 50 acres on a 153-acre property that also has farm animals and picturesque barns. It was started by Casey Jansen, Sr., a Dutch immigrant who has years of experience of growing prized tulips. Teach the kids a bit about Holland while your there at the tulip museum and shop. (Pick-your-own tulip dates will be announced soon.)

SOMERSET COUNTY PARK COMMISSION / Leonard J. Buck Garden

Leonard J. Buck Garden
11 Layton Rd., Far Hills
908-722-1200
This 33-acre public botanical garden is home to one of the premier rock gardens on the East Coast. Leonard J. Buck developed the garden as part of his estate in the late 1930s, leaving behind an idyllic place for families to unwind. The garden’s made up of 12 planted rock outcroppings and woodland gardens with trails that connect wildflowers, ferns, azaleas, daffodils, violets, dogwoods and more. The largest rock formation on the property is Big Rock, which incorporates the remains of a waterfall just to the north and offers a striking display of all that Buck Garden has to offer.

NEW JERSEY BOTANICAL GARDEN

New Jersey Botanical Garden
2 Morris Rd., Ringwood
973-962-9534
Known as “Garden of the Garden State,” the NJBC at Skylands is an outdoor haven. Listed on both state and national Registries of Historic Places, this oasis is set amongst 96 acres of 13 specialty gardens and is surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of woodlands in Passaic County. Walk several miles of paths flanked with wildflowers and lilacs from around the world. Don’t forget to smell the rhododendrons and azaleas in the Hosta/Rhododendron or Moraine Gardens, where clusters of rock deposits are left behind from the Ice Age. Frequent guided tours are available, or head to the woods behind the garden for some of NJ’s best hiking trails. 

Peony’s Envy
Peony Display Garden, 24 Autum Hill Dr., Bernardsville
Cut Flower Fields in Basking Ridge
The Flower Shop at Peony’s Envy
If you come to the display garden you can marvel at all the flowers while going on a Friday night picnic, enjoying a peak bloom supper or holding your own photo shoot. You can take the family on a quiet stroll or ask advice for your next nature painting. A self-guided tour of the 7-acre property takes about 45 minutes.

Presby Memorial Iris Gardens
474 Upper Mountain Ave., Montclair
973-783-5974
Known as “the rainbow on the hill,” the gardens contain more than 14,000 irises of approximately 3,000 varities that produce 100,000 blooms over the course of the season. That’s some serious flower power! There are other beautiful scenes here, such as two handsome bridges built to cross the dry creek bed, specimen trees and various grasses around the creek, and a series of memorial benches.

REEVES-REED ARBORETUM / Daffodil Days

Reeves-Reed Arboretum
165 Hobart Ave., Summit
908-273-8787
The Reeves-Reed Arboretum offers 13.5 acres of nature’s best with historic and contemporary gardens highlighted by six acres of woodland forest. Check out the Children’s Square Foot Garden (the arboretum’s gardening program encourages healthy eating and showcases gardening practices to try on your own). Kids will love digging in the vegetable garden, hiking woodland trails and visiting fishy friends at a koi pond with a bog garden and waterfall, as well as a European beech nicknamed “The Elephant Tree” that’s nearly 200 years old.

SOMERSET COUNTY PARK COMMISSION / Colonial Park Rose Garden

Rudolph W. van der Goot Rose Garden
Colonial Park (Lot A), 156 Mettlers Rd., Somerset
908-722-1200, ext. 5721
The garden was named in honor of van der Goot, the first horticulturist with the Somerset County Park Commission, as a tribute to his efforts in designing and developing the garden. In just one acre of land there are more than 3,000 roses of 325 varieties. There are popular modern hybrids, species and various classes of Old Garden Roses. All roses are clearly labeled for easy identification and only roses that thrive in central NJ are kept in the garden. The Rose Garden is part of a more extensive arboretum, which includes the Fragrance & Sensory Garden, the Ornamental Grass Collection, the Perennial Garden and the Shrub Collection.

BRUCE CRAWFORD FOR RUTGERS GARDENS

Rutgers Gardens
130 Log Cabin Rd., New Brunswick
848-932-7000

Rutgers Gardens is one of the few botanical gardens that does not charge an admission fee and is open 365 days a year. You are welcome to visit as often as you like to enjoy the “living museum” here with its large array of gardens and plant collections. Membership funds support their day-to-day operations and expansion.

WILLOWWOOD ARBORETUM

The Willowwood Arboretum
14 Longview Rd., Far Hills
908-234-1815

More than 2,100 different kinds of native and exotic plants (many rare) grace 131 acres of rolling farmland at this arboretum, established in 1908 by the Tubbs Brothers. There are 14 gardens, each with a unique setting of stunning tree canopies including oak, maple, willow and magnolia. The kids will marvel at the NJ Champion Dawn Redwood (one of only a handful in the U.S.), which is 100 feet tall. When in bloom, Pan’s Garden is a sight to behold, with its colorful design crafted to look like a Persian prayer rug.

Read More:
Nature Centers and Arboretums in NJ