Virginia Native Plant Garden
The Garden Club of Norfolk, Zone VII
2003 Founders Fund Winner
The Norfolk Botanical Garden began in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant to start an Azalea Garden. By 1941, the Garden displayed nearly five thousand azaleas and seventy-five landscaped acres that were encompassed by five miles of walking trails.
The 2003 Founders Fund Award was given to complete a wheelchair accessible boardwalk and plant two different habitats in the Virginia Native Plant Garden: the Atlantic White Cedar Forest and the Longleaf Pine Flatland. The addition of these habitats completed the installation of four historic plant communities indigenous to the southeast coastal plain of Virginia. They are: The R.W. Cross Nature Trail which winds through a bottomland hardwood forest and runs along the boardwalk, a Bald Cypress/Water Tupelo Swamp and the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp and Longleaf Pine Flatland. Each community displays interpretive signage highlighting the plants and their importance to people and wildlife. The boardwalk offers beautiful views of Lake Whitehurst and the wildlife that frequent its shores.
The Norfolk Botanical Garden includes 155-acres with over 50 themed gardens that can be viewed by tram, boat or foot. Included in these communities are many plants that have been rescued from the wild. From its humble beginnings as a WPA project to its status as a nationally recognized garden that attracts visitors from around the world, Norfolk Botanical Garden has experienced amazing growth
