Gardens

Trip Ideas & Itinerary

With a moniker of the “Flower City,” Rochester has an international reputation for horticultural excellence. Today visitors can enjoy abundant gardens, parks, festivals, tours, and chances to learn how to make your own garden grow—indoors or out—all year round.

Check out where to stop and smell the flowers.

Events

The Rochester Lilac Festival at Highland Park (May) –The largest display of lilacs in North America! More than 500 lilac varieties on 1,200+ bushes. A park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. A parade. One of a kind shopping. 10K & 5K family fun races. Concerts. Craft beverage expo. Wine & chocolate tasting. 10 days of fun at this free festival.
George Eastman Museum's “The Dutch Connection” exhibit (February) – Eastman ordered thousands of flowering bulbs each year. This show replicates his yearly orders right from his records.

Historic Gardens

Ellwanger Garden — A living horticultural “museum” maintained by the Landmark Society of Western New York. More than 25 beds of peonies, perennials and ancient pear trees.
The George Eastman Museum – This famed museum replicates Kodak founder George Eastman's seasonal gardens of 100 years ago at his East Avenue Mansion
Maplewood Park Rose Garden —More than 3,000 rose bushes fill an acre of land in an urban setting.
The 1812 Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail -- Historic sites (primarily battle sites) along the shores of Lake Ontario.
Warner Castle -- Home to the Rochester Civic Garden Center. One of the largest horticultural libraries in the Northeast. Explore a “Sunken Garden” designed in 1930.
Rochester Museum & Science Center – Several hidden gardens, including the Garden of Fragrance.
Genesee Country Village & Museum —Stroll 13 heirloom gardens, from a dye garden and Shaker medicinal plot to the formal designs of Victorian times.
Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park -- Nine exquisitely restored Edwardian gardens in Canandaigua, N.Y. A national treasure.

Year-Round Gardens

Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden® at The Strong Museum, home to the national museum of play. Hundreds of butterflies dart among tropical plants, delighting all ages.
Lamberton Conservatory in Highland Park – A botanical treat. Tropical forests, desert plants and exotic blooms. The conservatory is over 150 years old.

Learn more about Rochester's history as a horticultural center of excellence and how the city earned the moniker of "Flower City" here.