Cleveland Botanical Garden — Attraction in Cleveland

I want to first make it clear I'm writing this particular review at this time about the FROST event for 2023, not the garden overall. If I were to rate the garden as a whole, it would be more like a 4/5, in general (this number reflects including the Holden Arboretum, which is part). I've been a member of the garden for decades. My husband and I have brought our children here for quite awhile and it's been part of our family experience. And it pains me to relate this, but we've watched the quality of the botanical garden as a destination devolve over the years. For instance, the garden cafe used to be staffed by friendly people and filled with delicious reasonably priced fare - that's no longer the case. Try finding anything remotely good to eat or drink and watch them charge you an arm and a leg now. So, we don't eat there anymore when we visit, we'd rather leave. But, I digress, because what prompted me to come to reviews today was to talk about Frost 2023, this year's garden winter program. For starters, as a long standing member I'm downright offended they decided to actually charge members an extra fee per person for entry, when a big selling point of the memberships has always been getting into seasonal times as part of the membership price. I guess the garden saw economic times are hard and people are scraping by and decided now would be a good time to milk people already supporting them for more money? Great idea! But, we went and paid the extra $50+ to get in because I'd already promised my kids we were going before I discovered the member additional charge. First thing we discovered, they no longer provide anywhere for guests to stash winter gear, so I hope you enjoy hauling your coats, hats and mittens around the hot glasshouse environs and everywhere else for the day. Speaking of the glasshouses, whoever was in charge of decorating those this year really phoned it in - there's a few glass tube lights in one and some string lights and bells in the other. That's it. The free take home holiday crafts touted as part of the padded admission...where are they? We went to the room they were supposed to be in and it was empty. I asked a staff member in the hall and they said they had no info on them. I asked another who said she'd ask someone and we never saw her again. We left at the end of the day with no answers and no crafts. There's also no train ride for kids anymore, no free candy canes, no wishing tree, no live music ...and their assertion that the outdoor displays are an expansion? They honestly look like nothing in daylight, but I guess might look at least pretty after dark. However, keep in mind, the garden is only open 2 days a week late enough for it to get dark, so this "extra" feature is generally rendered nil. Basically, I was roundly disappointed. You could see the same amount of decorations at the mall for free. I might have to reconsider even bothering to renew our...

We visited on a Friday afternoon in mid-April 2025.

We are members of North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM). In order to use this discount here, your membership has to be purchased through a museum that is not in the local Cleveland Area. We have one back home just 10 miles from our house. We are a family of 5 and the membership only gets you 4 free tickets so we had to pay for 1 youth. Also you have to get these tickets in person as you can't buy it online with the discount.

The main atrium when you walk in is nice and decorate with artwork as well. To the left is the gift shop and to the right is bathrooms and the entrance tot he Spiny Desert area in the glass houses. It's really cool inside and the plants are all very interesting to look at and many are labeled. There are also benches to sit. The ground isn't super level but is paved enough that strollers and wheelchairs should be fine.

The next glass house is the cloud forest. This was more tropical. There are frogs in here and tons of butterflies flying around. Had to be careful not to step on them. There is also a water fall and you can go upstairs as well on like a cat walk. This area was more crowded than the spiny desert. But we could still get pictures without a bunch of people in the back ground.

The top leads into the perennial playspace for younger kids. I think only my youngest was the right age for it. If you go to the back corner there is also a sensory studio with many thing for the kids. When you walk down the stairs, it leads you to a large hallway with art work that also leads to the cafe. We did not buy any food here as we had eaten lunch before we arrived.

If you go behind the cafe there are more art installations and the library. You can also use these doors to head to the outside portion of the botanical gardens. We only had 3 hrs here so we did a quick stroll outside and skipped the majority of it.

Our last stop was the gift shop. The coolest items were the plants you could buy. So many exotic cacti! but we were on a road trip and there was no way we could safely transport those succulents back home. There were also some cool pins but overall I think they needed more merch that was specific for the gardens. A lot of it was pretty generic.

We skipped so much of the gardens that if we were in town we would definitely come back. Especially with our NARM discount. We only had so many days in Cleveland and there was just too many other things we...

If you love plants, flowers, and art, then this is a great spot! An awesome Garden in the middle of a busy cultural district that is super well maintained with lots of flowers, a few picnic spots with benches, a small cafe on site, and a few unexpected surprises. Overall a really nice 2hr visit. (Make sure you check out their Japanese Garden besides their roses). Tickets are not bad if you intend to visit all parts of the garden.

Details: I love the variety of plants that they have here, and the various themed gardens makes it a worthwhile visit as you dont get bored with a single set of plant types or layout. The abundance of birdhouses allows some great photo opportunities (but only when its quiet and early in the morning however).

I also love their scented plants. They even have one that smells like popcorn, and one (that's supposed to) smell like peanut butter, besides your other pleasant scents. I also appreciate how they weave a lot of wooden structures and fountains into the environment without distracting from the plants themselves.

Quite a few benches and one or two picnic tables scattered around, with some awesome flower arches and photos spots to take some lovely pics. (However, the bloom time for some of these flowers only last a while so opportunities can be limited which is understandable).

Be sure to also take a look at their herb garden where keen / knowledgeable plant persons can find some common, and some not-so-common plants.

Overall, A great place to bring the family, or a group of friends if you appreciate plants and flowers. Note that this Botanical Garden is partnered with Holden Arboretum which is 10x bigger with 10x more variety for those wanting more of what they see here (which I highly recommend as an outdoor lover!)

Tickets are not terribly expensive (20 per adult), however if you go as a group then a membership package plan is a lot cheaper and basically pays for itself if you go with 5 or more persons (or multiple visits), since you also get access to the Holden Arboretum (which is spectacular for plant and outdoor lovers!). Tickets will give you access to the Glass Garden with various glass sculptures, as well as the other various flower gardens.

Parking is easiest with the Garden garage onsite but charges average $5 per car (not bad for the area). Restrooms are clean and well maintained just like their overall environment. And staff are super friendly...