Botanical Gardens in San Jose, CA



San Jose’s botanical gardens are stunning landmarks. From rose gardens to Japanese bonsai gardens, these destinations display stretches of natural color for visitors to see. Whether you’re a resident of San Jose or just visiting for the weekend, be sure to take the time to visit at least one of these gardens.


Japanese Friendship Garden

Full of koi ponds and wandering egrets, this garden is excellent for meditation and quiet strolls. The noise level is low here, so it’s an ideal break from the city’s cacophony. Visitors regularly come to de-stress or go on peaceful dates.


San Jose Municipal Rose Garden

This rose garden contains over 4000 rose shrubs that are in 189 varieties. The scale of the garden is stunning. Visitors can enjoy the wide variety of roses and other plant species anytime between the beginning of April to the end of November.

What makes this garden even more unique are the test-drive roses. Rose organizations regularly send new hybrids to this garden for testing. If they survive well, these roses are left on display at the garden, and visitors can see blends and colors that are unseen elsewhere.


Hakone Estate and Gardens

Hakone is over a hundred years old, one of the oldest Japanese estates and gardens in the West. This botanical garden offers an enormous variety of flowers, some so rare they can only be found elsewhere in Japan.

This garden features beautiful tea and bamboo gardens, koi ponds, moon ascension bridges. It even offers traditional tea ceremonies throughout the year. The National Register of Historic Places even registered Hakone because of its homage toward ancient Japanese culture.


Gamble Garden

This garden is truly a city landmark because of its community connection. This place features guided garden tours and offers classes and programs on gardening for homeowners. Gamble Garden is a truly unique botanical garden in the area.

In an attempt to inspire local gardeners into following certain eco-friendly gardening practices, the classes cover a wide variety of topics, including how to incorporate native plants into your landscaping and helping pollinators grow. Whether your interest is in gardening itself, or even just the beauty of gardens, there are classes and events here for visitors of any age.


Niles Rose Garden

With quaint windmills and various other gardens in the vicinity, for one stop, you’ll be able to visit a rose garden, a Japanese garden, a succulent garden, and a habitat garden. This botanical garden stop includes scavenger hunts for children, and a museum related about its hundred year history with the original owners of the park, known as the Roeding family. If you’re interested in a scenic and historical place, visit this garden.

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