The Gardens of Balboa Park (For other online garden tours, see the listing at the bottom of this page.)  The gardens surrounding the historic buildings in Balboa Park in San Diego are more enhancements to the buildings still standing from the 1915 and 1935 Expositions than strictly botanical gardens. Even the lath house, called the "Botanical Building" and shown above, is primarily a visual showcase, rather than an educational garden.  The real center of focus are the many museums in Balboa Park. Inside the spectacular Botanical Building, however,  you will find thousands of tropical plants. Unlike glass greenhouses in colder climates, this lath house in the heart of Balboa Park is open to the air, but the laths shade the carefully tended plants inside. Happily most of the gardens are within easy walking distance of the Botanical Building.  You can enjoy seeing them as you move from museum to museum along El Prado drive. These Angels' Trumpets (Brugmansia) are at the edge of a large parterre garden called the Alcazar garden. The flowers within the parterre squares change seasonally. The desert garden and rose garden, reached by walking across an overpass, are okay.  We have seen much better examples of both types of gardens elsewhere. The collection of buildings housing the museums are amazing architecturally.  This one is home to the San Diego Junior Ballet.   Just steps away are the Timken Museum of Art,  the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Man, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego Museum of Natural History and many others. Outside the Mingei International Museum, just across the street from the Botanical Building, is this whimsical dragon sculpture. For more information about the Gardens and Museums of Balboa Park, visit this website. Take these Hot Gardens online preview tours, too:     Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden  - near Pasadena Huntington Gardens Desert Garden - near Pasadena  Descanso Gardens - near Pasadena  Arlington Garden - in Pasadena Getty Villa Gardens - Malibu South Coast Botanic Garden - southwest Los Angeles   Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden - Claremont, California Santa Barbara Gardens - Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Botanic Garden  - Santa Barbara, California Tucson Public Gardens  - Tucson, Arizona Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden  - Phoenix, Arizona Balboa Park Gardens, San Diego, California Tropical Garden in the Dominican Republic Shore Acres Gardens - Coos Bay Oregon San Luis Obispo Creek Park - San Luis Obispo, California Japanese Garden - Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California Japanese Garden - Long Beach, California

How to find cheap but nice vacation rooms worldwide. It's easy to plan your retirement with a Bucket List.

Our 8 Most Popular Hot Gardens Newsletters:

1.  Flowering plants that reliably bloom in scorching mid-summer heat.

2.  Australian plants and trees that grow well in hot, dry climates.

3.  Weather-proofing palms for winter; cold weather palm trees.

4.  A white garden for night time viewing.

5.  Topiary can be easy to create and add charm to your garden.

6.  Techniques to combat death by heat exhaustion of plants in pots.

7.  Cactus as security barriers for your property.

8.  South African aloes for brilliant late winter color in your garden.

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