virtual tour
(Image credit: SARINYAPINNGAM)
It isn’t always possible to travel these days and many tourist sites are closed due to Covid-19. Fortunately for gardeners and nature lovers, a number of botanic gardens around the world have made it possible to enjoy virtual garden tours from the comfort of home.
Touring Gardens While Homebound
While there are far too many online garden tours to include here, these are a few examples that may speak some interest:
- Founded in 1820, the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. is one of the oldest botanic gardens in the nation. This virtual tour of a garden includes a tropical jungle, desert succulents, rare and endangered plants, and much more.
- Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, on the Big Island of Hawaii, boasts more than 2,000 species of tropical plants. Online garden tours include trails, streams, waterfalls, wildlife, and birds.
- Open in 1862, Birmingham Botanic Gardens in Birmingham, England is home to more than 7,000 plant species, including desert and tropical plants.
- See Claude Monet’s famous garden, including his oft-painted lily pond, at Giverny, Normandy, France. Monet spent most of his later years cultivating his beloved garden.
- Located in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Botanic Garden is known for the beautiful cherry blossoms. Online garden tours also include the Desert Pavilion and Japanese Garden.
- Portland Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon is home to eight gardens inspired by Japanese traditions, including a pond garden, tea garden, and sand and stone garden.
- Kew Gardens, in London England, consists of 330 acres of beautiful gardens, as well as a palm house and tropical nursery.
- The Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis is home to one of the largest Japanese gardens in North America. Virtual garden tours also include a bird’s eye view of a magnolia tree collection, visible by aerial drone.
- If you’re touring gardens while home, don’t miss the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California, with more than 1,700 stunningly beautiful acres of colorful poppies.
- Keukenhof, located in Amsterdam, Holland, is a spectacular public garden that welcomes more than a million visitors every year. Garden tours online include 50,000 spring bulbs, as well as a huge flower bulb mosaic and a historic 19th century windmill.