A Stroll Through Huntsville Botanical Gardens

I’m delighted today to bring you photos of our recent trip to the beautiful Huntsville Botanical Gardens in Huntsville, Alabama!

My two daughters, my son, and I went to visit my sister and her family a couple of weeks ago. After having to cancel travel plans for The Biltmore Estate in March, and then for Virginia and DC in May, we were all thankful to still be able to get in our summer trip to my sister’s home–a tradition we’ve kept since even our oldest children were just little ones.

One of our favorite excursions while there has always been the Botanical Gardens. When we were just young mommies to babes in strollers, my sister and I would push our little nappers around while we chatted and soaked up the beauty of the gardens. Next came years of pulling little tots around in a wagon with a cooler of juice boxes and sandwiches. We would park at the Children’s Garden to let them picnic and play for hours, all why we mamas relaxed and watched. As the afternoon heat moved in, we would relocate to the water rocks which kept them cool and entertained for the remainder of the day until we dried them off and piled them back in the van with sun-kissed faces, tired bodies, and happy hearts.

The tradition did not stop with their little years though! As these cousins have grown into pre-teens, teens, and even college students, they have still consistently requested going back to the gardens together. But now they can manage without the wagons, snacks, and towels! Woohoo!

So let’s take a stroll, shall we? The Butterfly Garden has much more to experience than just the butterflies, which is good since the butterflies weren’t too active this day. The turtles were out and quite friendly though!

There are so many interesting and whimsical sculptures throughout the gardens.

The Children’s Garden is expansive (as in acreage!). I have so many photos from years past, but, even though we did spend some time here this year, I didn’t take too many pictures. Below is a cute walkway in the dinosaur area. There is also a spaceship area (because this is the Rocket City, ya know!), a storybook area, a tree house, oversized lawn chairs to climb on, a walk-through maze, a planting/digging area, and a frog pond to splash in!

Leaving the Children’s Garden, we get a view back at the welcome center which is a new structure since our last visit. Gorgeous!

The Herb Garden is what inspired me years ago to go home and start my own herb garden.

Each raised bed contains plants of different use such as medicinal, Biblical, and tea, to name just a few. Below is the tea herb bed!

White picket fences, bird houses, and a quaint little garden shed…I think I could live at this herb garden!

Next is the lovely Aquatic Garden complete with a koi pond, pavilion, lily pads, flower beds, and sculptures.

My nephews are such hilarious guys and photographed their yoga poses in the pavilion above. They kept us laughing the entire time!

Just the walkways between garden areas are beautiful and something we do not rush through.

Tucked in shady spots throughout the property are areas for sitting or picnicking.

This brings us back to the visitor center for this trip, although there are many more areas I haven’t featured in this post, such as the Azalea Trail, Dogwood Trail, Fern Glade, Four Seasons Garden, Garden of Hope ( for breast cancer warriors), Vegetable Garden, and list continues. Maybe I’ll dig up my old photos from years past to share in another post. We also used to go back in the fall for their scarecrow displays. Hmm, I think we should make that happen this fall!

Oh, and guess what is still situated near the visitor center. The water rocks! I’d promised my 9-year old (our only young one left in the group) that if he’d hang in there with us, we’d stop by on our way out–a promise my sister and I always made with the other kids in their earlier years. And who do you think joined him? Yep, the 15-year old, the 17-year old, and the two 20-year olds! Just like old times. The nostalgia of the water rocks was not forgotten with these cousins. My 22-year old nephew just graduated college and has a full-time career these days, but I’m sure he remembers the water rocks with great fondness as well.

I hope you enjoyed this stroll through the gardens and down memory lane as much as I did.