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Thousands of plants bring the seasons to life, with colorful and fragrant displays laid out in a variety of formal gardens. Enjoy a stroll under blossoming crabapples and magnolia trees while exploring a rose garden, peony garden, daylily garden, and more! Here we work at cultivating the beauty and living legacy of Boerner Botanical Gardens to inspire, connect, and engage people with nature.
See What's Blooming
IDs required for discounts
*Note: Each AHS card will admit only the individual whose name is listed on the card and one other person. In the case of a family, couple, or household membership card that does not list individual names, the Botanical Gardens will admit a total of two of the members. A photo ID is required.
Themed garden spaces offer a succession of blooms from early spring through late fall. See something new each time you visit!
This 3-acre garden is designed especially for children. The flower-themed garden features an "enchanted village" with a playhouse, fiddlehead path, twig hut and mushroom-chair rings. Additional spaces within Margie's Garden include a sound garden, secret garden, bug garden with friendly bug sculptures, a storybook nook, a pollinator garden, sunflower garden, and prairie and wildflower zones.
In keeping with its educational mission, Boerner Botanical Gardens offers a Trial Garden, featuring over 500 new varieties of plants. These plants are tested for their suitability for the Great Lakes region.
May – September
Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens offers one-hour, educational, docent-guided tours to groups of 12 or more.
More About Garden Tours with the Friends
Stop at the Visitor Center to find unique items in the Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens Gift Shop. Entry to the Visitor Center is free. The Visitor Center also houses a library, classrooms and event spaces available to rent.
Last Friday in April
Each spring we celebrate Arbor Day at Boerner by inviting local school children to plant a new tree in the gardens with the Milwaukee County Parks Forestry team. The day also marks the official start of the botanical gardens season, with free admission to view the work that goes into preparing the gardens for the season. Admission fees begin May 1st through October 31st.
July & August
Enjoy a free summer concert series, sponsored by Wimmer Communities, held on Thursday evenings, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Food and beverages are available for purchase at the concerts but guests may also bring food.
Learn More About Concerts in the Gardens
September & October
Brighten your autumn evenings with a visit to China Lights, on the grounds of Boerner Botanical Gardens. Enjoy illuminated scenes, live performances, cultural displays, and a bustling marketplace. Food and beverages are available for purchase at this family-friendly event.
Learn More About China Lights
The Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens (FBBG) is an independent, non-profit group that supports Boerner Botanical Gardens through fundraising, educational programing and special events.
Become a Member
Boerner Botanical Gardens offers variety in venue size, function and decoration. With expansive wide-windowed halls, as well as more intimate gathering spaces, the Gardens has options for every event, wedding, or corporate party. Located just 15 minutes outside of Milwaukee, this location not only offers convenience, but also impresses — and offers 300 free parking spaces!
The Garden House was constructed in 1935 using native fieldstone. The Exhibit Room features hand-carved animals above the entrance, hand-hewn oak beams, wooden furniture, and a fireplace mantel inscribed with an excerpt from a poem by Alexander Pope. Renters may bring in beverages, home-prepared foods, and light snacks only. Formal catering is available from Zilli Hospitality Group.
During the garden season, April through October, admission fees to the Botanical Gardens are required with rentals. Ask about group rates for admission.
Capacity: 45
Request Rental
These rooms are ideal for presentations, meetings, or art and garden workshops. Educational partners, plant societies, and garden clubs qualify for special rates. Group admission rates to Boerner Botanical Gardens are also available. Audio/video equipment is available for an extra fee. Catering is available from Zilli Hospitality Group.
Capacities:
For more information, including rates and reservations, call the Botanical Gardens at (414) 525-5601
Boerner Botanical Gardens provides the perfect backdrop for engagement, wedding, prom, and family photos. Formal photography requires a photography permit.
For more information, call the Botanical Gardens at (414) 525-5601
Complete the Boerner Photo Permit Request
Boerner Botanical Gardens is ideal for everything from an intimate wedding for 30 guests in the Annual Garden gazebo to a large ceremony for 200 guests in the Shrub Mall. The historic Garden House can also be rented for use as a bridal room, or an alternative ceremony site in case of inclement weather. Outdoor areas are available spring through fall and remain open to the public.
Boerner also offers several indoor spaces for receptions through our catering partner, Zilli Hospitality Group.
Ceremony Site Map
The Annual Garden includes a central water garden with water lily and lotus, grassy malls with flowered borders, ornamental flowering trees, and dazzling beds of colorful annual flowers. A low, decorative wall made from native glacial-stone outlines the garden, and a traditional gazebo offers quiet repose.
Capacity: 30
In early spring the Rock Garden is carpeted with Wisconsin wildflowers and the delicate blooms of Asian and European bulbs. As spring flows into summer, Japanese Primrose and Siberian Iris lead a parade of flowering perennials. Summer gives rise to a host of ferns, fragrant-flowered Japanese Hostas, and bright South American and African tropical flowers.
Capacity: 200
The Rose Garden that today’s visitor sees is very much the same garden seen by guests in the 1930s. Many of the roses originally planted in this garden were provided by Eugene Boerner. The wedding site also offers a vista beyond the Rose Garden.
Capacity: 200, larger events may expand into the Perennial Mall
The Shrub Mall has the regal look and feel of an English country estate garden. Its impressive central lawn or “mall” offers an impressive vista to the south.
Capacity: 300
Rentals and catering are provided by Zilli Hospitality Group. Contact Zilli’s for current rates at (262) 547-9447. Group admission rates to Boerner Botanical Gardens are also available.
Contact Zilli Hospitality
Purchase a personalized paver as a memorial, to honor an individual, family or organization, or to share a favorite nature quote, poem or haiku!
The pavers are part of the Rotary Circle, an accessible pathway and terrace that not only provide connections to previously wheelchair-inaccessible garden collections, but also showcase best practices in storm water management.
The permeable pavers are available in four sizes, with pricing starting at $100.
Get Details & Request Your Bricks
9400 Boerner Dr, Hales Corners, WI 53130 (414) 525-5600
Parking Available
Wheelchair Accessible
Gift Shop
NO DOGS - except service dogs performing tasks for a person with a disability
9480 W. Watertown Plank Road Wauwatosa, WI 53226 (414) 257-PARK (7275) Parks E-News Signup