Stop and smell the roses—and all sorts of other flowers—at an area garden. You’ll find European and Japanese styles, as well as rose, dry-climate, and experimental gardens to suit your taste.
Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Center Palo Alto: 1431 Waverley St.; 650/329-1356. www.gamblegarden.org
This formal estate garden has maintained its exquisite turn-of-the-century aura. The 2.5 acres of grounds include a historic home, carriage house and tea house. Open daily, sunrise to sunset.
Hakone Gardens Saratoga: 21000 Big Basin Way; 408/741-4994. www.hakone.com
These peaceful Japanese-style gardens nestled in the Saratoga hills are replete with waterfalls, ponds, and imported plants and patterned after the Zen gardens of the mid-17th century. Three formal buildings embody the elements of traditional Japanese architecture. Mon-Fri, 10-5; Sat-Sun, 11-5.
Guadalupe River Park & Gardens San Jose: Santa Clara & Autumn Sts.; 408/298-7657. www.grpg.org
This "park in progress: winds along the Guadalupe River’s banks for three miles in downtown San Jose. Included are a Courtyard Garden with flowering plants and Japanese cherry trees, a Rock Garden featuring drought-tolerant landscaping, and a Historic Orchard with over 250 fruit trees. The exquisite Heritage Rose Garden (Taylor & Spring Sts.) boasts a unique collection of 3,700 antique and modern roses—more varieties than any other rose garden in the Western Hemisphere! Docent-led group tours are available. Open daily, from half hour before sunrise to hour after sunset.
Japanese Friendship Gardens San Jose: 1300 Senter Rd. at Alma Ave.; 408/277-2757. www.shinzenjapanesegarden.org
These gardens are modeled after the Korakuen Gardens in Okayama, Japan, the sister city of San Jose. Rare Koi fish swim in four heart-shaped lakes. Open daily, 10am-sunset.
Municipal Rose Garden San Jose: Naglee & Dana Aves.; 408/277-5422
Early May is an especially good time to visit, when majestic roses are at their most beautiful and fragrant, but something’s abloom at this 5.5-acre garden nearly year-round. This one-time prune orchard features more than 4,000 rose shrubs representing over 189 varieties. Open daily, 8am to half hour after sunset.
Overfelt Botanical Gardens San Jose: 2145 McKee Rd.; 408/251-3323
These 33 acres of gardens, home to the Chinese Cultural Garden, feature natural wildlife sanctuaries and a pond surrounded by beautiful trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Open daily, 10am-sunset.
Sunset Magazine and Gardens Menlo Park: Middlefield & Willow Rds; 650/321-3600
These "gardens for all seasons" showcase a combination of foliage textures and colors amid Spanish-style architecture. Open for self-guided walking tours Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm.
