Northern Dutchess Botanical Gardens — Attraction in Town of Milan

Warning for tourists: this is NOT a real botanical garden the way you are thinking! We enjoyed looking around and shopping here, and we bought a couple of plants. It's a nice place and we do not regret coming here, and our plants we got are growing nicely. HOWEVER, it is called a "botanical gardens" which it most certainly is not. Look that term up in the dictionary and the encyclopedia. This is a nursery/greenhouse, not a botanical gardens. We were on vacation as passersby, we were quickly looking for museums and such in our car and this came up on google maps. As purveyors of 2 or 3 botanical gardens per vacation, we rolled our eyes at the thought of a plant store calling itself a botanical gardens once we drove up into the parking lot. There is nothing wrong with this place but for anyone looking in the area for an actual tourist destination, this is not a "real" botanical garden and frankly I am a little disappointed a business would misname themselves such, it almost...

I found this place through a friend and was blown away by the HUGE selection of plants and the low prices! The hanging baskets are amazing (Happy Mother's Day!) There is a huge variety (dozens of types) of tomatoes. What I really like are the very inexpensive small pots of perennials. This makes it easy to try something new without spending a lot. You rarely see this at nurseries. I also loved that the veggies and other annuals were in four packs, not six packs. You wouldn't think that it makes a difference but it does. You get much larger and healthier plants in four packs. Be sure to check out all four greenhouses. Their website has lists of the things they grow so you can make a shopping list before you go. All of the plants I bought here are doing great. So happy to have found this place. I have to drive almost an hour and a half to get here but it's well...

Came across the NDBG by chance and so glad we did. Doug was very knowledgeable, patient, and very helpful. I think we might have showed up after closing time (did not know at the time), but Doug let us in and was fantastic in helping us start our first pollinator garden. Many varieties to choose from - well cared for plants. Bonus: meeting Elliot - hopefully he is there when you go.

Update: Came back a year later. Elliot (the dog that's there) is very aggressive towards other dogs. Good thing he was on a leash; otherwise, he was going to definitely attack my dog. Afterwards, I was told "We ask that you don't bring your dog". Their website shows a photo of 2 dogs with the comment: "Security - on duty as usual". But, nothing about the garden not being dog-friendly. So, forewarned - don't bring your dog. We were not going to leave our dog in a hot...