Join us outside May 6–15th for Go Public Gardens Days, an initiative of the American Public Gardens Association.
Go Public Gardens is an evergreen American Public Gardens Association initiative that encourages the public to visit, value, and volunteer at public gardens in their communities. Go Public Gardens Days brings national attention to this campaign for one week during the summer; and Atlanta History Center is thrilled to highlight our Goizueta Gardens and associated offerings in support of this effort.
Our gardens include both paved and unpaved paths, and admission is included with a general Atlanta History Center ticket. Advanced reservations are encouraged. Receive $5 off with code NPGW$5. Purchase your ticket today!
Goizueta Gardens is a 33-acre landscape encompassing nine distinct gardens—including preserved woodland, diverse plant collections, and heritage-breed animals.
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Olguita’s Garden
Honoring the life of Goizueta Gardens namesake Olga “Olguita” C. de Goizueta, this ornamental garden is designed for the enjoyment of flowering and fragrant plants—a place of beauty for quiet reflection amid the hectic pace of city life.
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Quarry Garden
This native garden contains herbal medicinal plants, the mysterious lost camellia, quiet waterfalls, and what is Georgia’s largest native plant collection in one place—25 feet down.
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Smith Farm Gardens
Explore a variety of heirloom plants, flowers, and animal breeds at Smith Farm.
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Swan House Gardens
Gardens of the spectacular Inman estate was designed by Philip Trammell Shutze from 1926-1928, the latter years of the Country Place Era.
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Rhododendron Garden
An abundance of rhododendrons, small flowering trees, and eclectic ground covers.
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Asian Garden
East meets West in the plant world at the Sims Asian Garden.
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Swan Woods
Meander robust forest surrounding the Swan Woods Trail and consider yourself free to explore around the cabin.
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Veterans Park
Within steps of the Atlanta History Center Museum, reflect on the men and women who have served—and continue to serve—the United States of America.
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Entrance Gardens
The Entrance Gardens and 60-foot Tree Table are the newest additions to our campus and span eight acres, welcoming guests all year long.
Sheep on a Stroll
Join us every Saturday for the unique experience of seeing one of our heritage breed sheep or goats on their weekly stroll across campus. Our Manager of Animal Collections can usually be found with a sheep by his side at the tree table in the Entrance Gardens between 2–2:30pm weather permitting.
Cherokee Garden Library Talk
Join us on May 3, 2022, for a Cherokee Garden Library Talk featuring Jennifer J. Richardson and Spencer Tunnell II, authors of Olmsted’s Linear Park.
Register HereCherokee Garden Library Talk
Rolf Diamant is a landscape architect, adjunct associate professor of historic preservation at the University of Vermont, and former superintendent of four national parks, including Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.
Watch NowCherokee Garden Library and Wing Haven Virtual Talk
Elizabeth Lawrence, internationally celebrated horticulturist, landscape architect, and garden writer, influenced generations of Southern gardeners and gardening.
Watch NowCherokee Garden Library Talk
Yale University historian Dr. Carolyn Roberts discusses how enslaved people contributed to medical and scientific knowledge in West Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States.
Watch NowCurated Garden Experiences
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Behind the Scenes: Entrance Gardens
Explore the new Entrance Gardens designed by Atlanta History Center’s Vice President of Living Collections, Sarah Roberts. This tour is booked through November 2022.
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Women Pioneers in Landscape Architecture and Design in Georgia
Explore the lives of four pioneering women who played a vital role in shaping the landscape of our city and state.
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Behind the Scenes: Olguita’s Garden
Explore a rich tapestry of flowering and foliage plants selected for color, fragrance, texture, and an English garden aesthetic. This tour is booked through November 2022.
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Special Treasures Tour of the Cherokee Garden Library
Take a closer look at the remarkable gems of the Cherokee Garden Library.
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Homes Through the Centuries
Explore how Atlanta History Center was founded and grew into a multi-faceted institution.
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Seeking Eden: A Collection of Georgia’s Historic Gardens
Explore Seeking Eden which bring awareness and appreciation to Georgia’s rich garden history.
Collection Highlight
Cherokee Garden Library collects and preserves works in gardening, landscape design, garden history, horticulture, floral design, botanical art, plant ecology, natural landscapes, and cultural landscapes, including historic sites, designed landscapes, vernacular landscapes, and ethnographic landscapes.
Explore nowSeeking Eden
Through photographs, postcards, landscape plans, and manuscripts, this onsite exhibition highlights the importance of historic gardens in Georgia’s past as well as their value and meaning within the state’s 21st-century communities.
Learn moreRelated Stories
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Summer Resident Birds Return to Goizueta Gardens
The diverse botanical landscapes and healthy forests of the Goizueta Gardens are perfect for producing insects and caterpillars and are perfect for summer birds. These are just a few of the birds that are found here in spring and summertime; take a moment in the gardens and you may hear or see them yourself.
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Smith Farm: 50 Years of Preservation, Education, and History
On April 10, 1972, Smith Farm opened to the public in a highly publicized event during Atlanta’s Dogwood Festival. A unique project, especially in its time, Smith Farm attracted widespread media attention in both local and national press. 50 years later, Smith Farm is many things: historical time machine to discussing Georgia before, during, and after the Civil War for people both enslaved and free, a story of historic preservation and women’s volunteer efforts, and most of all, an educational cornerstone of the Southeast’s largest history museum.
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Spring Ephemeral Wildflowers in Goizueta Gardens
As February rolls into March, the weather begins to warm and the first of the new year’s spring wildflowers begin to push their fresh growth through last autumn’s leaves. In our Goizueta Gardens, southeastern native plants are a central part of our living collections—spring ephemerals included. They are making their spectacular appearance now, and a few are highlighted here.
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Meet the Goizueta Gardens Team
From concept planning, garden design and project management, to propagation, installation, ongoing curation and horticultural care of each designated garden—this team does it all and then some.
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Georgia’s Winter Birds in Goizueta Gardens
Many North American bird species migrate to the Caribbean or Central and South America for the winter, but several species do not travel as far, choosing instead to winter in the relatively mild climate of the American Southeast. Let us introduce you to a few of these Georgia winter residents, all recently spotted in Goizueta Gardens.
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The Queen Bees of Atlanta
Atlanta History Center is home to four honey bee colonies named after real-life women who created a lot of buzz in Atlanta history––Selena Sloan Butler, Frances Newman, Shirley Franklin, and Coretta Scott KingAtlanta History Center is home to four honey bee colonies named after real-life women who created a lot of buzz in Atlanta history––Selena Sloan Butler, Frances Newman, Shirley Franklin, and Coretta Scott King
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The American Chestnut Orchard in Goizueta Gardens
This tree that was so much a part of the American landscape for an estimated 40 million years, was made functionally extinct in forty.
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Original Southern Peanut Grown on Smith Farm
Along with enslaved human cargo, European traders transplanted peanuts to the Caribbean and North America in the 17th-century.
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Campus Map
Grateful appreciation
is extended to
The Goizueta Foundation
for their ongoing support.