Springtime travel: 5 flower gardens across 5 time zones showcasing American beauty

The spectacular sights of springtime around the United States are in full bloom from coast to coast and across the ocean. 

Here’s a look at five of the best flower gardens in America across five U.S. time zones for your traveling pleasure.

EASTERN: Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

Sarasota, Florida

Sunshine State beauty blossoms along the Florida coast at stunning Selby Gardens.

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“It’s a tropical, urban oasis of over 45 acres of bayfront sanctuaries, connecting people with native flora and regional history,” notes Fodor’s Travel, which proclaims Selby Gardens one of the “12 most beautiful gardens of the American South.”

Selby Gardens has two separate exhibits. 

Its main location on Sarasota Bay is the “only botanical garden in the world dedicated to the display and study of orchids, bromeliads, gesneriads and ferns,” Fodor’s adds. 

Its smaller campus on Little Sarasota Bay south of the city is devoted to native Florida plants.

CENTRAL: Missouri Botanical Garden

St. Louis, Missouri

Orchids have been showcased at this heartland hotspot of fabulous flora since 1876. 

But new discoveries are still found. 

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The Missouri Botanical Garden this year is displaying a new species of Darwin’s orchid discovered in Madagascar.

“The garden now nurtures more than 3,000 orchid species, ranging from bright pink showstoppers to dainty, spotted varieties,” writes Travel & Leisure, which listed the Missouri attraction among 15 of “America’s Most Beautiful Gardens.” 

Two types of moth orchids (phalaenopsis) — “Leopard Prince,” left and rear, and “Prince Sun,” right. (Jill Toyoshiba/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The St. Louis site also boasts large collections of daffodils, daylilies — and, the magazine reports — “a tropical paradise inside the iconic Climatron conservatory, a 175-foot-wide, climate-controlled geodesic dome built in 1960.”

MOUNTAIN: Betty Ford Alpine Garden

Vail, Colorado

America’s botanical beauty soars to unmatched heights at this Rocky Mountain retreat. 

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Betty Ford Alpine Garden offers the highest altitude for any botanical garden on the planet: 8,200 feet above sea level. 

“It’s a haven of beautiful plants, stunning views and a wealth of research,” reports UncoverColorado.com. 

The trumpet gentian at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Vail, Colorado. It is the highest altitude botanic garden in the world.  (Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

It’s dedicated to the incredible diversity, beauty and strength of Rocky Mountain plant life, including Penstemon, milkweed, asters and ornamental grasses.

“The climate extremes found in the alpine ecosystem require that plants have to adapt in order to survive,” the garden website reports. 

“All are designed to live where winters are long and cold, water is scarce and winds are almost constant.”

PACIFIC: Crystal Spring Rhododendron Garden

Portland, Oregon

Beaver State beauty is showcased at Crystal Spring, which offers a unique combination of plant life, water features and convenience, on the east side of the Willamette River in Portland.

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The garden website describes the habitat as “a riot of color” from April through June, “when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in full bloom.”

Rhododendron in bloom with a waterfall in the background, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon.  (Craig Tuttle/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“With two picturesque bridges, several tranquil waterfalls, a fountain, a lake, rare plants, and tons of birdlife, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden … is a great visit throughout the year,” says PinesandVines.com, which touts itself “as a series of love letters to the Pacific Northwest.”

In springtime, however, Crystal Springs “is nothing short of magical.”

HAWAII-ALEUTIAN: Limahuli Garden & Preserve

Kauai, Hawaii

Kauai, the westernmost major island in the Hawaiian archipelago, is the youngest among them and also the most wildly beautiful.

Among other testaments to its awe-inspiring landscape: Kauai has served as the otherworldly and mystical setting of movies such as “Jurassic Park,” “Avatar” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

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Limahuli Garden & Preserved is celebrated as a “pu’uhonua” – “place of refuge” – and for its incredible biodiversity and mountainous backdrop.  

Limahuli Garden, at the northern end of Kauai, focuses on conservation, scientific research and public education and boasts a striking landscape of steep, jagged cliffs and lush, green hillsides.   (Gail Fisher/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The garden showcases native plants, including “rare and endangered species that are on the verge of extinction in the wild,” and those introduced by early Polynesian voyagers.

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“The history and native roots here are as powerful as the incredible views,” says one couple among many flowery reviews on TripAdvisor.com.

“You will leave with a full heart and inspired spirit.”

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