Mobile Botanical Gardens in Mobile Alabama

Amid the hustle and bustle of busy Mobile, Alabama, and a short walk from the Mobile Museum of Art, is a quiet retreat that offers both cultivated gardens and natural woodlands. Accessible paths and nature trails lead to places where visitors may reflect, read, paint or photograph wildlife, and best of all, admission is free.

Founded in 1974, Mobile Botanical Gardens is a not-for-profit public garden supported by memberships, volunteers and visitor contributions. Their mission is to preserve the area’s native plants and to educate the community about gardening on the Gulf Coast.

More than 100 acres of hollies, magnolias, roses, rhododendrons, herbs, long leaf pines and perennials are divided into separate gardens. Maps are provided for visitors to see the gardens at their own pace or garden tours are available for groups with advanced notice.

There are fifteen different gardens, including some that are in the early stages of cultivation for future display. The following is a sampling of what visitors may expect to see there.

Flowering Plants

• Millie McConnell Rhododendron Garden – This garden has the most comprehensive collection on the Gulf Coast with over 1000 azaleas specifically developed for the area’s intense growing conditions. Collections include Encore hybrids, Harris hybrids, Holly Springs hybrids and Mobile hybrids among others.
• Camellia Winter Garden – Over 500 camellias and over 100 companion plant species are arranged here in four collections; historical, Mobile area originations, camellia species and camellia classics.

Japanese Maple and Other Trees

• John Allen Smith Memorial Japanese Maple Garden – Adjacent to the Herb Garden, this enclosed garden contains a varied collection of Japanese Maple trees, visitor seating and a Memorial wall.
• Longleaf Pine Forest – A 27-acre indigenous pine forest greets visitors as they enter the gardens. It is one of the last remaining natural forests in the city and is maintained through undercutting and controlled burns to encourage reseeding.

Herb Garden and Fragrant Plants

• Herb Garden – Maintained by the Gulf Coast Herb Society, the Herb Garden has seven raised beds with herbs grouped in the categories of Culinary, Medical, Spiritual and Fragrant. Some herbs that can be grown in the area include Aloe Vera, Basil, Parsley, Rosemary, Oregano and Ginger.
• The Founders Fragrance and Texture Garden – The first garden installed at Mobile Botanical Gardens, this fully accessible garden allows those who are visually or physically impaired to touch and smell a wide selection of fragrant plants. There is also a Koi Pond with an accessible bridge and visitor seating.

Educational classes and workshops are offered through the year as are scheduled garden walks with themes such as Ferns, Mosses and Lichens, Garden Scavenger Hunt and The Green World or It’s Easy Being Green. Mobile Botanical Gardens also holds its Plantasia! Plant Sale twice a year in the spring and fall, offering plants from the ordinary to the unusual.

Mobile Botanical Gardens is open year round daily from dawn to dusk and is wheel-chair accessible. Visitors may bring picnics and enjoy bird watching and hiking as well as the gardens. For more information or to schedule a group tour, contact Mobile Botanical Gardens, 5151 Museum Drive, Mobile, (251) 342-0555.