What to do and see in New Hampshire, United States: The Best Gardens

A commercial display garden.

Bedrock Gardens is a private 20-acre garden notable for its horticulture, specimen plants, garden design, hardscape, and art. Please note that we are open Tuesday thru Friday of the week, and only the first and third weekends of the month. Times are from 10-4. Check our website (bedrockgardens.org) for details.

Distant Hill Gardens and Nature Trail is an environmental and horticultural learning center dedicated to inspiring and empowering children and adults to cultivate an intimate connection to the natural world through education and observation. We hope visitors will leave with a better understanding of the vital connection between plants, animals, and humans, and how we can use Earth's resources in a way that strengthens and sustains those connections. Hours: Distant Hill Gardens is open to the public on select weekends from May to October, and for numerous educational workshops and talks throughout the year. We also offer guided tours for groups of any size by appointment, and self-guided tours by appointment or chance. Distant Hill Nature Trail is a mile-long wheelchair accessible gravel trail just east of the gardens. It is open daily dawn-to-dusk, free of charge. Trailhead parking is available, along with an information kiosk. Check our website for details & directions

Originally built for a wealthy merchant family, and later the residence of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, this splendid home features an elegant 18th-century garden, interesting carvings, and much of the original furniture. Guided tours of the house are available June 1 through mid-October, Monday-Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sundays 1-5pm. Tours last 45-60mins and are $8 for adults, $2.5 for children (6-12) and children under 6 are free. To tour the garden on your own is just $2 per person.

Step back in time, and experience the unique beauty of Celia Thaxter's Island Garden! Restored and maintained by the Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island in the Isles of Shoals, the garden is accessible to the public during pre-arranged Garden Tours each summer (June-August, see website for dates). The tour includes time in the flower garden - perfect for avid horticulturalists! - as well as a walkabout to view and learn about the numerous historic sites on Appledore Island. The island's rich cultural history dates back to the late-19th and early-20th centuries, when it was home to the Appledore House Hotel. The current island garden is an accurate recreation of the garden that Celia Thaxter documented in her book, "An Island Garden." Thaxter was a renowned poet, author, gardener, and daughter to the hotel's founder. Celia Thaxter's Garden Tour participants (34 people per tour) will be transported to and from beautiful Appledore Island aboard the vessel "R/V Gulf Challenger." Passengers should plan to meet the vessel at the Judd Gregg Marine Research Complex adjacent to the US Coast Guard Station on New Castle Island (5 minutes from downtown, Portsmouth, NH). Limited, free parking is available at the New Castle dock location. A gourmet, buffet lunch is included during the tour. Dietary restrictions and food allergies can be accommodated.

Fuller Gardens is a turn of the century public botanical garden nestled along the coast of New Hampshire. The grounds were designed in the 1920's by noted landscape designer Arthur Shurtcleff and the Olmsted Brothers and commissioned by Alvan T. Fuller as an ornament to his summer estate. The Fuller Gardens features 1700 rose bushes, formal English perennial borders, annual displays, Japanese Garden and Conservatory. The Garden are located on the ocean and entirely wrapped in sculpted hedges. Open from 10-5:30 mid April through mid October.