Outdoor Gardens
Key info
- Over 20 acres of gardens
- Over 3,000 varieties of plant
- Allow 2 hours to see most of the Gardens
What was once a sterile clay mine is now a vibrant global garden, brimming with plants, sculptures and play equipment.
Explore miles of paths that twist and turn up and down the slopes of the pit. You'll get breathtaking views of the Biomes and discover gardens and landscapes featuring everything from beautiful ornamental flowers to crops used for medicine, fuels, materials and food.
Summer colour
Just a few of the several thousand different plants in our outdoor gardens.
Adam
A six-metre-tall steel statue clutches a huge rope made of plant fibres.
Global Gardens
An Eden gardener in our allotment exhibit that showcases food from around the world.
Spring bloom
Our Outdoor Garden bursts into an impressive, colourful display in the spring.
Willow Dream Chamber
This beautiful and inspirational structure can be found in our Myth and Folklore exhibit.
Play
Families love getting stuck into our summer challenge activities.
Bright sparks
Thousands of red hot pokers burst into flower in the summer.
Soothing lavender
Swathes of this therapeutic plant begin to flower in mid-July.
The giant bee
A massive sculpture to remind us how much we need pollinators to help produce our food.
Exploration
The many paths Eden's gardens have delights for horticultural enthusiasts and amateurs alike.
Top 10 things to see
- Global allotments, an inspiration for grow your own enthusiasts
- Secluded spots and hidden corners in our Wild Cornwall area
- The Nest, a huge climbing frame to keep the kids busy
- The Spiral Garden, planted to stimulate all your senses
- Plants which give us fuel
- Myth and Folklore, a secret garden telling the stories behind plants
- The giant wooden ship, set in a sea of tea leaves
- Red-hot pokers, of which we have around 100 species and cultivars
- Hops and barley, the magic ingredients for beer, in our brewing display
- Hemp, the famous plant that goes into clothes and car panels worldwide
Have a look at this trail sheet of some of our favourite plants around Eden (PDF).
“A great, child-friendly garden”
TV gardener Charlie Dimmock
