Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Specialties

Tower Hill is the first and only comprehensive botanic garden in New England.

Tower Hill is easily accessible from Routes I-​495 and I-​290.

Tower Hill is designed to accommodate 150,000 visitors each year.

Tower Hill features a Lawn Garden, which can accommodate an audience of 1,000 for outdoor events. The garden is surrounded by more than 1,000 trees and shrubs and is underplanted with more than 200,000 spring bulbs.

A field of daffodils, between the Systematic Garden and the Wildlife Refuge Pond, was mostly planted by volunteers, and now contains nearly 25,000 bulbs, with several different varieties of daffodils that bloom in succession from April to May.

Tower Hill has eight distinct gardens, dedicated to woody plants, vegetables, plant systematics, winter interest, fruits, perennials and wildlife.

The Orangerie and Limonaia house non-​hardy plants from around the world, with an emphasis on those from the southern hemisphere and Mediterranean region.

History

Established in 1842.

The Worcester County Horticultural Society, the third oldest active horticultural society in the United States, is a nonprofit «educational organization for the purpose of advancing the science, and encouraging and improving the practice of, horticulture.»

During the fall of 1840, 24 male professionals, merchants and public officials staged a fruit and flower display at the annual cattle show of the Worcester Agricultural Society. Its enormous success spurred the incorporation of the Worcester County Horticultural Society in 1842. Members grew their showpieces on extensive farms and estates surrounding the city. For nearly 150 years, a busy schedule of flower shows and educational programs took place in downtown Worcester. A new Horticultural Hall housed weekly summer shows highlighting the produce and gardens of this thriving agricultural community.