One hundred acres of both natural and cultivated gardens, woodlands, and trails make Mobile Botanical Gardens the largest collection of plants on the Gulf Coast and a great day trip for both gardeners and nature lovers alike!
In the 1700's, before Europeans arrived to log it, Mobile Botanical Gardens' acreage was part of a vast Longleaf Pine forest. Now part of that forest is back, with the rest either converted to paved garden areas or left as natural woodland gardens populated with local flora and fauna - Mobile Botanical Gardens!
Begun in 1974 by the South Alabama Horticultural & Botanical Society Inc. on land leased from the City of Mobile, Mobile Botanical Gardens includes such standout attractions as one of the most comprehensive collections of Azaleas along the Gulf Coast. In fact, the Millie McConnell Rhododendron Garden contains over 300 species of azaleas, both natives and Satsuki hybrids.
The aforementioned, 35 acre, second generation growth, Longleaf Pine forest is a real gem, too with its enchanting hiking trails, autumn native wildflowers, and annual returning species like tree frogs, redbellied woodpeckers, painted lady butterflies, and gopher tortoises.
Another unique and big attraction is the Sawada WinterGarden, whose extensive collection of herbs, Japanese maples, roses, and ferns were recently designated a "Garden of Excellence" by the International Camellia Society.
Mobile Botanical Gardens is currently developing a Butterfly & Pollinator Garden that they hope to open very soon, with eye-catching, butterfly-friendly flowering plants and, of course, a wide variety of the colorful and entrancing, air-dancing insects themselves.
Mobile Botanical Gardens also holds plant sales throughout the year, with profits going towards the gardens, themselves, supporting continued conservancy and projects like the Butterfly & Pollinator Garden.
So come visit the serene beauty of the Mobile Botanical Gardens and enjoy and learn about the rich diversity of the region's local plant and wild life.
