Washington, D.C., is a fertile place for garden lovers. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a longtime tradition, the U.S. Botanic Garden welcomes visitors year-round, and the district celebrates National Public Gardens day every May. For the visitor who's ready to go beyond the cherry blossoms and the National Mall, D.C. offers a variety of public and private gardens that provide, not just the opportunity to view additional specimens, but usually some history as well.
The White House typically opens its gardens to visitors one weekend each April. Visitors can enjoy not only the well-known Jacqueline Kennedy Rose Garden, but spring-blooming bulbs, magnolias, lindens and crabapple trees in addition to numerous other plants and trees. Visits are free, and include access to the Rose Garden, the Children's Garden and additional green spaces around the White House. Local school groups may visit the Kitchen Garden created by Michelle Obama in 2009.
The annual one-day Georgetown Garden Tour welcomes visitors to a handful of gardens in this historic D.C. neighborhood. Participants in the 2010 tour enjoyed gardens featuring crape myrtle intermingled with Roman statuary, dogwoods, a British conservatory and a number of water features. In 2010 the entrance fee included an afternoon tea. The tour is in May, when visitors can experience the designer-created gardens at their springtime peak.
Hillwood, the D.C. home of the late Post Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, features 13 acres of gardens and greenhouses in addition to tours of the home and its art collections. The gardens, which are cultivated to be of interest year-round, feature a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a French "parterre" garden and other displays. The greenhouses display more than 2,500 orchids. Guests are welcome to picnic on the grounds, and a cafe and guest shop are on site. The estate is closed in January.
In 2011, Garden Week marks its 78th year of welcoming visitors to what is called "America's Largest Open House." The week-long event, sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia, features more than 200 private gardens throughout Virginia, many of them historic homes and former plantations. The 2010 tour included walled gardens, herb gardens, formal gardens and many other botanical displays. Visitors can buy tickets to individual events or purchase a single-price "statewide pass" that admits them to all participating gardens and sites.
The Washington National Cathedral sits amid nearly 60 acres of gardens and walkways designed by the renowned Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Visitors may tour the gardens free every day from dawn until dusk. The grounds include an old-growth forest of oak and beech trees, native wildflowers, rose gardens and herb gardens, intermingled with paths and statuary. The All Hallows Guild, which maintains the gardens, sponsors an annual flower mart on the cathedral grounds.
