I recently learned that many botanic gardens around the country have memberships that can be used at other gardens. Here's how it works!
For years, up until moving to NYC I had a membership to the Denver Botanic Gardens. I love going to gardens. I was at the Missouri Botanical Gardens recently in St. Louis with Maddie and her family. We didn't have a membership but while looking online to purchase tickets, I noticed something about a membership there giving access to some other Botanic and Botanical gardens.(Yeah, guess they're different, some gardens use Botanic, others Botanical).
I clicked into this a little further and found that many of these gardens are part of what's called the American Horticultural Society's Reciprocal Membership Program. Here's the page I found.
On the page linked above, it links out to the AHS page which has a map of all participating gardens. There's tons. It seems like more gardens than not participate. The page lists more details and restrictions about how the program works. One stood out to me that's worth highlighting:
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Some network gardens apply a visitor exception—meaning the garden offers benefits (such as free admission) only to visitors whose membership card address is more than 90 miles from the garden. Please check the AHS Garden Network map information and consult the garden(s) you wish to visit to see whether the local-visitor exception is applied.
With the American Horticultural Society’s Reciprocal Admissions Program, there are essentially two options for buying membership.
Option 1: Buy the general membership through American Horticultural Society
- Works at any of the participating gardens
- 90 mile rule shouldn't apply
- Subscription to their award-winning Member magazine, American Gardener, published six times a year, and access to their online archives dating back to 1922
- Pricing:
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Senior $35
Free or reduced admission and other reciprocal benefits throughout the AHS Garden Network for one adult. 65+ -
Individual $50
Free or reduced admission and other reciprocal benefits throughout the AHS Garden Network for one adult. -
Dual/Family $70
Free or reduced admission throughout the AHS Garden Network for two adults and children 17 and under. -
Contributing $100
Free or reduced admission throughout the AHS Garden Network for up to three adults and children 17 and under.
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Option 2: Buy a membership to a specific garden
- Works at any of the participating gardens
- 90 mile rule may apply
- Benefits specific to that garden
- Pricing varies per garden
I ended up repurchasing a Denver Botanic Gardens membership because we'll still go every now and again when we visit (it's my favorite that I've been to) and there weren't many other gardens nearby so I wouldn't be hindered by the 90 mile rule. I am very excited about it! This Christmas season I plan on going to the New York Botanical Garden with my mom and brother to see the train show. And I'm looking forward to visiting the Brooklyn Botanical Garden likely in the Spring.
There are so many gardens to see and I'm looking forward to visiting more!