Abington Art Center
Gallery exhibitions, all-level Studio School classes, and a free outdoor sculpture park open during daylight hours. The lawn hosts a WXPN-affiliated summer concert series and the Holiday Art & Fine Craft Fair each November.
Gardens in the burbs
Every gardens spot we vouch for, across every town we cover. Cross a town line for the good ones. That's the whole point.
The picks
- Abington Art Center
- Aldie Mansion
- Ambler Arboretum of Temple University
- Barnes Arboretum at Saint Joseph's University
- Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve
- Curtis Arboretum
- Garden of Reflection
- Haverford College Arboretum
- The Highlands Mansion and Gardens
- Laurel Hill West
- Longwood Gardens
- Merion Botanical Park
- New Leaf Sensory Garden
- The Orangery at Glen Isle
- Peace Valley Lavender Farm
- Pearl S. Buck House
- Peddler's Village
- PHS Meadowbrook Farm
- Sheldon Lane Pollinator Garden
Aldie Mansion
Heritage Conservancy's headquarters and the mansion where half of Doylestown's weddings seem to land. You don't need an invitation, though: the conservancy opens it for public tours and talks, and volunteers keep the garden beds sharp from spring through fall.
Ambler Arboretum of Temple University
Fourteen gardens on Temple's Ambler campus, from a formal perennial garden to a winter garden and a wetland garden. The horticultural history here runs back to 1911, when this was the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women; visitors can walk it self-guided or book a tour.
Barnes Arboretum at Saint Joseph's University
A 12-acre garden at the Barnes Foundation's Merion campus growing more than 2,500 taxa of woody and herbaceous plants, with lilac, peony, fern, and hosta collections. Laura Barnes founded its horticulture school here in 1940, and the grounds open to visitors Thursday through Monday, 11 am to 5 pm.
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve
More than 700 native plant species grow along the trails of the Pidcock Creek valley, a few minutes south of town on River Road. The on-site nursery sells over 200 native species, many grown from locally sourced seed, so the garden can follow you home.
Curtis Arboretum
Cheltenham Township's 45-acre arboretum on grounds landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted: hills, two ponds, and more than 50 kinds of trees. The lower level holds a fenced dog park with over an acre of off-leash run and a separate enclosure for small breeds.
Garden of Reflection
Pennsylvania's official 9/11 memorial, a 2.5-acre garden inside Lower Makefield's 62-acre Memorial Park, designed by Yardley architect Liuba Lashchyk and dedicated on the fifth anniversary of the attacks. The walking memorial honors all 2,973 victims, 18 of them from Bucks County, and moves deliberately from grief toward light.
Haverford College Arboretum
The whole Haverford College campus doubles as an arboretum: labeled trees, open lawns and a pond, all of it off Lancaster Avenue and open to walk.
The Highlands Mansion and Gardens
A mansion completed in 1796 on a 59-acre historic site, with a 2-acre formal garden behind massive stone walls, restored to its look circa 1925-1935. The gardens are free to walk dawn to dusk every day; mansion tours are by appointment, Monday through Thursday.
Laurel Hill West
The Bala Cynwyd half of Laurel Hill, a historic cemetery and certified arboretum spanning 265 acres across its two locations, open to the public free, 365 days a year. Grounds hours run 7 am to 7 pm in summer, 7 to 5 in winter.
Longwood Gardens
The du Pont horticultural giant three miles northeast of town, where the Main Fountain Garden runs May 8 through October 25 and A Longwood Christmas takes over from November 20 into early January. Timed tickets are required, and it closes Tuesdays most of the year.
Merion Botanical Park
A 13.5-acre township nature park on Merion Road, a few minutes from downtown Narberth. Quieter than Narberth Park on a Saturday.
New Leaf Sensory Garden
11 acres of wetlands and meadow with a half-mile trail, a pollinator garden, Brandywine Red Clay's working apiary, and interactive sensory stations along the way. Kid bait of the best sort; leave the dog home.
The Orangery at Glen Isle
Tuscan plates in a dining room set among the gardens of historic Glen Isle Farm, strictly BYOB. It keeps a Thursday-through-Sunday week, so the Tuesday craving will have to wait.
Peace Valley Lavender Farm
Pick-your-own lavender rows each summer until the season runs out, usually by mid-July. The farm shop opens Wednesday through Sunday with plants, dried bunches, bath and body goods, and culinary lavender.
Pearl S. Buck House
The stone farmhouse where Nobel and Pulitzer winner Pearl S. Buck lived, now a National Historic Landmark museum on a 67-acre estate with prize-winning gardens and the newly opened Green Hills Farm Arboretum. House tours run $15 for adults, and the grounds host Perkasie's own Little Theater Workshop for outdoor summer Shakespeare.
Peddler's Village
Sixty-plus locally owned shops, plus restaurants, gardens, and the Giggleberry Fair family playscape, just west of New Hope in Lahaska. It has pulled in day-trippers for more than 60 years, and USA Today's 10Best readers named it the country's number-one shopping center in 2026.
PHS Meadowbrook Farm
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's free public garden, where xeric beds and an herb garden sit alongside a stone wall garden of cloud- and espalier-pruned trees. Open mid-April through mid-October, with garden tours the third Saturday of the month, May through September.
Sheldon Lane Pollinator Garden
A pollinator garden on Elm Avenue, a small patch planted for the bees and butterflies rather than for ballfields. Open to anyone walking past, and best seen when it is in bloom.
That filters out everything
Drop a filter or clear the search. Everything on this page made the cut.
Show everything