The Most Popular U.S. Botanical Gardens, According to Online Interest
At Breck’s, we feel pretty euphoric when it comes to all things garden-related, and while we’re committed to helping home gardeners perfect their own gardens, we certainly appreciate the curated beauty of our nation’s botanical gardens as well.
After a year of COVID-19-induced “nesting” in the home, Americans are itching to get out this spring. Many will flock to green spaces within their communities in search of fun, outdoor activities with friends and family. It’s also a tried-and-true tradition for botanical gardens across the country to host visitors each spring for seasonal events like flower shows, nature walks, and live concerts.
So with an abundance of potential garden visitors this season amidst the vaccine era, we were motivated to uncover which U.S. gardens Americans are following, visiting, and engaging with the most online and on social media. Our team analyzed 316 botanical gardens around the U.S. based on six metrics to determine the most popular botanical gardens according to online interest.
The six metrics include:
- Number of Wikipedia page views in 2020
- Daily Average Wikipedia page views in 2020
- Number of Facebook check-ins
- Number of Facebook followers
- Number of Instagram followers
- Number of Yelp Reviews
We totaled these metrics for each botanical garden to create a cumulative online popularity score and then compared the results to find the most popular botanical gardens across the U.S. as a whole. We then found the most popular gardens within each online platform as well as within each state. From iris-filled estates to magnolia plantations to Japanese tea gardens, take a look and see if your local garden is one of the best botanical gardens in the U.S.!
The Most Popular U.S. Botanical Gardens Overall
With 46,382 Wikipedia page views in 2020 and over 850,000 Facebook check-ins, the most popular botanical garden in the country is the Longwood Gardens of Kennett Square, PA. The gorgeous gardens, complete with an arboretum, fountains, and other horticulture are popular for a variety of reasons. The garden has Quaker roots and was even a stop on the Underground Railroad! And while some visitors frequent the gardens for their history, others visit Longwood Gardens for its outdoor performances, horticulture education programs, and flower workshops covering topics like how to plant amaryllis and how to create beautiful floral arrangements in the home. All in all, it’s easy to see why the gardens are such a hit!
Hitting the second and third spots in the ranking are the New York Botanical Garden, boasted as the Bronx’s “living museum,” and the Atlanta Botanical Garden, featuring the celebrated Skyline Garden. Both show that even in urban hubs, botanical gardens can offer a beautiful, green escape for community members and tourists alike.
The Most Popular U.S. Botanical Gardens in Each State
Next, we took a closer look at the most popular botanical gardens in each individual state. Notable gardens that led their state’s botanical centers in terms of online popularity were the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and the Denver Botanic Gardens, each with close to 100,000 Instagram followers, over 400,000 Facebook check-ins, and over 400 Yelp Reviews.
The Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, and The Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan are the most popular gardens within their individual states, but also fall within the top 20 botanical gardens in the U.S. as well, proving that the Midwest, in particular, continues to be a regional hotspot for beautiful greenery. The Meijer gardens specifically offer the perfect blending of art and nature, providing an amphitheater garden for concerts, an outdoor sculpture park, and a series of flower shows featuring various Dutch perennials.
The Most Popular U.S. Botanical Gardens by Online Platform
It’s interesting to see the difference in popular gardens in terms of what people are researching online versus where people are actually going. Therefore, we also wanted to analyze the differences in online popularity for different botanical gardens as measured by four different online platforms – Wikipedia, Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp.
First, we looked at the most-attended gardens in the country based on Facebook check-ins and found that these tended to mirror the cumulative popularity rankings within the U.S., with the Longwood Gardens, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the New York Botanical Garden tops the list.
Then, we looked at the most popular botanical gardens in terms of engagement on Yelp. The most reviewed gardens in the country were the Descanso Gardens in California. The Descanso Gardens are ideal for visitors looking to make a whole day out of a garden visit, as it’s the home to an art gallery, restaurant, and child-sized railroad.
After that, we analyzed the most social-media-ruling gardens by looking at the Instagram follower counts for different gardens. The highest-ranking New York Botanical Garden has a whopping 201,000 followers on Instagram, and, believe us, anyone with a penchant for plant posts would adore @nybg’s botanical-filled feed.
Finally, we looked at the most interesting botanical gardens based on Wikipedia page views and found that the Filoli Gardens of Woodside, CA came out on top. Gardens with high Wikipedia page views tended to be tied to venues such as grand estates, historical landmarks, or tourist-friendly city experiences. For instance, the Filoli Gardens are situated on a 100-year-old property adjacent to a historic, Georgian home designed by architect Willis Polk.
Wrap Up
Hopefully, you and your loved ones can pay a visit to a popular botanical garden near you this spring season! If you’re feeling inspired after visiting your local botanical garden and wish to bring the same ambiance to your own spaces, then check out our selection of new flowers for spring planting and bring the garden straight to you!
