Discover The Elizabethan Gardens

Make lasting memories at The Elizabethan Gardens

The Elizabethan Gardens is a public garden spanning 10.5 acre within Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, beside Waterside Theatre. The Elizabethan Gardens, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc.

Across The Gardens, visitors can find over 500 different species of plants. Notable plantings include hydrangeas, camellias, historic herbs, and many native coastal species. The Gardens are maintained by 5 full-time gardeners along with several seasonal and part-time assistants. To keep the grounds vivid all year, the flower displays are refreshed with the seasons.

The camellia collection at The Gardens is especially noteworthy. Around the Great Lawn, The Elizabethan Gardens features more than 85 varieties of Camellias. The first specimens were arranged by color and included early-blooming Camellia sasanqua (C. sasanqua), winter-blooming C. japonica, C. sinensis (tea camellia), and several C. hiemalis and C.vernalis, which look similar to sasanqua camellias while differing enough to be classified separately.

The Camellia Society of North Carolina donated the collection, which reached the site shortly before Hurricane Donna arrived in 1960. Two members of the society, joined by an un-named nurseryman, worked quickly to get the young shrubs planted ahead of the storm. Even though Hurricane Donna brought gale force winds to Roanoke Island, the camellias endured and flourished with help from the early rains.

In 2003, the collection was formally dedicated in honor of Louis Midgette, Jr., superintendent of The Elizabethan Gardens during its first 28 years. His own camellias, grown at home, earned many awards in juried flower shows, even when competing against entries raised in protected climate controlled conditions.

The camellias remain a meaningful part of The Elizabethan Gardens botanical collection today, bringing life and color to the landscape during the coldest part of the year. In a gentle spring, the display can last into early April, adding still more color to the already striking grounds.

Within the rose garden, nestled among the roses, is the rose sent by H.M., Queen Elizabeth II, from the royal rose garden at Windsor Castle. The Queen’s Rose Garden was dedicated in honor of Queen Elizabeth II by her emissary, Sir Peter Ramsbotham, British Ambassador, in September, 1976.

One of the living collection’s most remarkable treasures is an ancient live oak, estimated to have already been alive in 1585, when the first colonists arrived.

Plant lovers are drawn to the wide range of plants and trees found here, including hybrid lilies originally donated by the N.C. Lily Society, bright daylilies provided by the Hemerocallis Society, and thousands of annuals and perennials planted and cared for by a small, dedicated garden staff. The Gardens invite visitors to enjoy and value this landscape in the same spirit.