The Alice in Wonderland Gardens Exhibit in Atlanta

I’ve been to some botanical gardens before and quite honestly they are hit or miss. Some gardens have unique plants but if you don’t go when they are in bloom (which none are in sync or anything), it can be a let down. (Not me still bitter about the Keukenhof tulip fields not being in bloom when we visited…one week too early.) And I’m no botanist but I do like the ‘wow factor’ of gardens, like the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. I just assumed the US didn’t have anything comparable. That is until I came across a photo on Instagram of some crazy looking Alice in Wonderland gardens.

I thought for sure they’d be somewhere else in the world, but further inquiry told me they were right in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time, I was living in Tallahassee, which is about 4.5 hours away. So of course I had to plan a visit to my friend who lived nearby.

I also think I have an underground obsession with Alice in Wonderland that I haven’t really realized. I actually did an Alice Through the Looking Glass inspired photoshoot during my modeling days that was one of my favorite shoots ever. I’ve also unintentionally dressed up like several of the characters for Halloween: Alice, the Queen of Hearts and even the Cheshire Cat! So yeah, I was definitely getting to these gardens.

The Alice in Wonderland Gardens Exhibit:

I was pretty stoked to see these gardens and they did not disappoint. When I went, they had several sculptures that comprised the Alice in Wonderland Gardens. You just had to find them. It was kind of a fun little scavenger hunt to find the different characters because they weren’t all in the same area.

The White Rabbit

The tallest sculpture is the 27-foot tall white rabbit in the middle of the Skyline Garden. He sits in his umbrella in the middle of a small pond with green swirls around him. It is pretty impressive and you can see the Atlanta skyline peeking out behind the trees.

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The Queen of Heart’s Chess Board

My favorite part of the exhibit was the chess board from the Queen of Hearts. The sculptures are probably about 6-10 feet tall but they look awesome. The heart trees are a cute touch and I think they did such a good job on the soldier chess pieces. They don’t let you get too close, probably for good reason. But at least it allows you to get an empty photo!

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The Cheshire Cat

This one was a little more difficult to find but mostly because I anticipated it being a lot larger. It’s not large and I guess true to movie or book, he’s a little hidden in the trees.

The year after I visited, they added on a 16-foot red queen sculpture and a 14-foot rotating Alice falling down the rabbit hole!

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Other Sculptures in the Gardens:

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens do seem to have some recurring sculptures, but again, they change things up each year. Here are some of the others that were there when I went! And no matter what they have each year, you can expect them to be pretty awesome. But head to their website to see what they currently have.

The Dragon/Pegasus

The dragon is pretty hard to beat. I actually think it might be a pegasus (I think I read that somewhere). But whichever it is, the wings and detail are great! Like I said, no matter what they have each year, you know they are going to be good.

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The Phoenix

Again, not sure this is a phoenix or what but it’s another cool one with pretty great detail.

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The Camel Caravan

There are 3 camels in a little caravan along one of the walkways. They got pretty creative with these. They had some sort of long shaggy plant to resemble fur and of course had details in the saddle and people.

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The Mermaid

This part of the garden is pretty neat because you can see a lot of the Atlanta skyline behind it. Most gardens aren’t surrounded by big city buildings so the contrast is kinda cool.

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About the Atlanta Botanical Gardens:

You might be wondering how they create the large scale plant sculptures. Apparently they are large metal structures that are covered in fabric and somehow dirt and thousands of plants (yes, they’re alive!) are then placed in the designated area. I think some might have an irrigation system of sorts in place so that the plants are watered frequently.

Best time to go:

The main exhibits are usually open from Spring into Fall, but they constantly have events! They have a Garden Lights, Holiday Nights event for the winter where the gardens are lit up with different light displays. Obviously to see the gardens in bloom and at their best, spring and summer are your best times to go.

Information:

Adult tickets are $22 and children are $19. The gardens also have different operating times throughout the year so check their website for the most up to date information on exhibits and hours.

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I was pretty surprised they had such a cool exhibit. Walking around, we also saw that they had a lot of fun activities for kids as well. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon and the Alice in Wonderland sculptures were amazing!

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