The 10 Best US Cities for Green Thumbs

Does your metropolis go for green? Read on to find out which American cities rank the highest for gardening.

April 28, 2020

By: Felicia Feaster

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Photo By: Missouri Botanical Garden at MissouriBotanicalGarden.org

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Photo By: Image courtesy of University of California, Riverside Botanic Garden

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How the Green Thumb Cities Were Selected

In conducting their study of the best American cities (drawn from the 50 largest cities in the US) for green thumbs, the plant company Breck's looked at factors including weather conditions (including annual rain fall, average growing season and temperature) as well as the number of community gardens, nurseries and gardening stores per capita, and the number of gardening clubs and annual gardening events. See how your city ranks in the final tally of the 10 best cities for gardeners.

Find Your Gardening Zone: Plant Hardiness Zones Explained

10: Sacramento, California

The historic, naturalistic WPA Rock Garden at William Land Park in Sacramento, California, was created in 1940 as part of the New Deal's Work Progress Administration. It is just one of many notable parks in this gardening-centric city including Capitol Park (which contains the World Peace rose gardens and the California Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial) and the McKinley Rose Garden.

9: San Francisco

Located in Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is one of the city's many memorable gardens.

8: San Diego

With its mild temperatures and long growing season, San Diego is a natural pick for one of America's best gardening cities. The 37-acre San Diego Botanic Garden is just one of the city's notable garden destinations, and boasts bamboo groves and a variety of landscapes focused on desert, tropical and Mediterranean climate gardens, as well as a wonderful selection of California native plants.

7: Houston

Like other Southern cities, Houston has some key gardening challenges, like clay soil, a robust pest population and temperatures that can reach 105 degrees and more. But the city also has a robust garden culture aided by the AgriLife extension at Texas A&M University which offers laypeople instruction on what and how to plant, and quarterly plant sales of plants that do well in the local climate.

6: St. Louis

From its summer music fest to its holiday flower and train shows, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis hosts many annual events. But the garden easily stands on its own, with 79 acres of beautiful displays that include a 14-acre Japanese garden, the garden founder Henry Shaw's original 1850 estate home, and one of the world's largest collections of rare and endangered orchids.

5: Atlanta

With an almost year-round growing season and house proud neighborhoods, Atlanta is a gardening mecca. The Atlanta Botanical Garden hosts a variety of artist installations, including several popular Dale Chihuly exhibits, and it hosts a beloved Mother's Day weekend garden tour (moved to September in 2020) that is a wonderful opportunity to take in a variety of stunning gardens from cottage-style to stately, formal manor-style gardens.

4: Riverside, California

A field of alstroemeria brings bright color to the grounds of the 40-acre University of California Riverside Botanic Gardens, nestled in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountains on the east side of the University of California, Riverside Campus.

3: Tampa, Florida

With its balmy temperatures, Tampa is a utopia for citrus and tropical plants, though its mix of USDA Hardiness Zones 8, 9 and 10 can present challenges. The city boasts about 25 community gardens in the Tampa Bay area.

2: Miami

The 83-acre Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden located in Miami's Coral Gables neighborhood is just one of the many garden utopias that define this vibrant and gardening-friendly city. The Fairchild offers classes, festivals and plenty of inspiration to local gardeners. Unique for its subtropical climate, Miami boasts humidity and rainful levels that can render irrigation systems unnecessary in this USDA Zone 10b. The University of Florida's extension service offers plenty of courses and useful information for Florida gardeners.

1: Orlando, Florida

A bounty of lush gardens and gorgeous weather, Orlando, Florida, is also home to one of the country's biggest garden shows, the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at Disney World.

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