UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Botanical Gardens is an oasis of plants, flowers, and trees. The botanical garden has a mission and desire to share the world of plants with people. It is a university garden that promotes knowledge and appreciation for plants. UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens focuses on the positive environmental, educational, and aesthetic impact plants bring to the world. The garden started in the 1960's by a biology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He garnered the financial support from local Charlotte residents to create a living classroom for field-based biology courses that would be taught at the school. The professor had plans to make the garden a horticultural resource for the general public. With the help and financial support of the community, the biology professor was able to create a greenhouse and ten acres of outdoor gardens.

The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens is composed of three main areas - the Susie Harwood Garden, Van Landingham Glen area, and the McMillan Greenhouse Complex. The Susie Harwood Garden contains winter-blooming plants, flowering trees, azaleas, Japanese maples, perennials, spring bulbs, and water plants. A mosaic patio and Asian Garden can also be found in the Susie Harwood Garden. The McMillan Greenhouse contains exotic flowers and plants all year round. Orchids, carnivorous plants, fruits and spice plants, desert plans, tropical vines, flowers, ferns, and shrubs have all made their home in the greenhouse. The Final area, Van Landingham Glen has a focus on wildflowers and rhododendrons. The garden is in a wooded atmosphere and has a large extension of native plants that can be viewed in any season. All three areas are located on the east side of the University of North Carolina college campus. Each area has something unique for visitors to learn about and see. Visitors to the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens learn about botany and horticulture in a tranquil setting.

The gardens are open to the public and there are no admission fees to enter but donations are encouraged. A donation box is located at the greenhouse entrance under the visitor sign-in. The outdoor gardens are open all week long during the daylight hours. The McMillan Greenhouse is open Monday through Saturday from 10AM to 3PM and Sundays from 1 to 4PM. Guided tours are available for groups of at least seven kids or adults. All guided tours must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance so the staff can have time to make preparations. The fee for a guided tour is $3 per person. The tours can last anywhere from half an hour to a full hour depending on what parts of the garden the group desires to explore.

One of the best features of UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens is that visitors have the option of taking a piece of the garden home with them for a fee. Plants from the permanent collections are not sold to the public, but the botanical garden often has a small selection of plants for purchase through out the year. Three times a year, the garden has larger plant sales.