Balboa Park Gardens
Balboa Park San Diego boasts 19 beautiful gardens each showcasing various flowers and plants from around the world.
Rose Garden Balboa Park
There is something wonderfully luxurious about roses, and at the Balboa Park Rose Garden you can see 2,500 roses- nearly 200 varieties- majestically in bloom on more than 3 acres. Built in 1975, Balboa Park Rose Garden is located on the east side of Park Boulevard, across from the fountain in Balboa Park. As home gardeners know, roses can be a lot of work and at Balboa Park Gardens the annual pruning takes a crew of eight or nine workers about two weeks to complete, but the results are always worth the effort. February is the only month when Balboa Garden is without color.
Balboa Park Botanical Building, built for the 1915 Panama California Exposition, and the Balboa Park Lily Pond in front of it, showcase rare tropical and subtropical plants.
Other special gardens to visit in Balboa Park include Balboa Park Desert Garden near the Natural History Museum; Balboa Park Alcazar Garden designed to resemble the gardens at Alcazar Castle in Seville, Spain; and the Japanese Friendship Garden.
Desert Garden Balboa Park
Desert Garden Balboa Park spans 2.5 acres and displays an amazing collection of more than 1300 drought-resistant plants from around the world. Balboa Park Desert Garden is in peak blooming between January through March but really the Desert Garden Balboa Park San Diego is a fantastic garden to visit any time of year to see interesting plants in Balboa Park with unique shapes and sizes.
Alcazar Garden Balboa Park
Alcazar Garden Balboa Park is located close to the Mingei Museum and San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. Alcazar Garden San Diego Balboa Park is designed to resemble the gardens of Alcazar Castle in Seville, Spain. Alcazar Garden Balboa Park is known for the amazing color, ornate fountains and beautiful Moorish tiles. Balboa Park Alcazar Garden is planted with more than 7,000 annuals each year and brings to Balboa Park a colorful and bright garden.
Japanese Garden Balboa Park
Japanese Friendship Garden offers two acres of calming winding paths, a Zen garden, an exhibit house, koi pond and bonsai exhibit. Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park is nearly two acres around and Japanese Garden is located near Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Visit Balboa Park Japanese Garden for weekend Japanese education classes in Japanese conversation, sushi making, bonsai and calligraphy.
San Diego Zoo Gardens
San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park is known for its animal populations but San Diego Zoo gardens are also superb examples of horticultural splendor and diversity. Visiting Balboa Park is free and visiting Balboa Park Gardens are free, but to see San Diego Zoo gardens and parks, visitors must pay regular admission fees. At the San Diego Zoo, the huge animal collection is set among a 100-acre garden, covered with towering eucalyptus, graceful palms, exotic colorful birds-of-paradise and hibiscus. A master plan subdivides San Diego Zoo into climactic zones inhabited by combinations of plants and animals found together in nature. One example is the Tiger River rain forest replica that incorporates palm, fig, coral and ginger trees, and a man-made marsh with cattails and reeds, for a total of more than 400 species of plants in that bio-climate alone.
For a map to the gardens and contact information, click here
If you love the Balboa Park gardens, click here for a complete list of other must-see San Diego attractions!