The Botanical Gardens at Asheville (BGA) is located in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, one of the most diverse temperate ecosystems in the world. Our mission: The BGA is dedicated to the study and promotion of the native plants and habitats of the Southern Appalachians.
We hope to increase public awareness of this region’s unique botanical diversity by maintaining gardens for the enjoyment of the public and by providing educational programs and research resources for the community. Our Cole Library contains more than 1,000 books relating to botany, horticulture, ecology, and ornithology.
The grounds of the BGA are usually open year round from sunrise to sunset for the enjoyment of the community. We do not charge for admission or parking but do encourage donations to help with maintenance. We hope that our Gardens will inspire our visitors to turn away from non-native plants in landscaping. It’s one of the easiest things you can do personally for the health of our environment. To learn more, we encourage you to get a copy of Doug Tallamy’s book, “Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants,” which we sell in our Visitor Center.
The Botanical Gardens is an independent nonprofit corporation financially supported by memberships, donations, endowments, proceeds from the Garden Path Gift Shop, and fees from special events and programs that are offered to the public. With the exception of the occasional competitive grant, we receive no city, state, or federal tax dollars. Although the Gardens is located on land belonging to the adjacent University of North Carolina at Asheville, we operate independently and are overseen by a Board of Directors elected from and by the general membership of the Botanical Gardens.
Bring your visitors to the Gardens to enjoy the variety of our native plants. Our Visitor Center and most of our trails, especially in the front of the Gardens, are wheelchair accessible. Adequate parking is available on site.