San Diego Botanic Garden

The San Diego Botanic garden, located in San Diego, California, covers 37 acres and features 27 themed gardens of plants from around the world.  It holds the nation's largest bamboo collection.  Visitors can wander through bamboo groves, desert gardens, a tropical garden with waterfalls, and a Mexican garden, with a lovely Mexican-tiled fountain and plant sculptures of a mariachi band and a flamenco dancer.

Within the garden are two children's gardens:  The Seeds of Wonder Children's Garden for toddlers and preschoolers, and the Hamilton Children's Garden.  The latter was formed in 2009, and is the largest interactive children's garden on the west coast.


The Seeds of Wonder garden has a lot of fun stuff for little ones, like buckets of soapy water with wands for blowing bubbles, a sand pit with buried plastic dinosaurs, and a wooden house with a kitchen and utensils.

The Hamilton Children's  Garden is much bigger, with less shade, but there's plenty to do.  Toni's Tree House with rope bridges, tunnels, and a spiral staircase is the hit feature with kids.  There's also an Incredible Edible garden that teaches kids about the plants we eat, and a music garden where kids can make music with rocks, sticks, and water.

The gardens are open from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM daily.  Admission is $12.00 for adults and $6.00 for children.  Parking is $2.00.  If you want a good deal, visit on the first Tuesday of the month when admission is free.