Gardening in retirement

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a free public garden on 67 acres in Mountain Brook, featuring more than 12,000 plants and a Japanese garden section. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System runs a Master Gardener program through county offices statewide.

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix spans 140 acres and displays more than 50,000 desert plants, with senior discount admission and a robust calendar of guided walks. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension runs a Maricopa County Master Gardener program with monthly volunteer events and public plant clinics.

UF/IFAS Extension offers a year-round Florida Gardening Calendar that guides vegetable planting across all three seasons, and Master Gardener Volunteer programs run through county extension offices statewide, including Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension.

Georgia Cooperative Extension, part of the University of Georgia, runs Master Gardener programs in most counties, offering hands-on training and community garden support. The Atlanta Botanical Garden in Midtown Atlanta hosts adult education classes and seasonal plant events.

Hawaii's tropical climate allows year-round planting across most islands, with the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension providing gardening calendars and Master Gardener programs on each island. Waimea Valley on Oahu and the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai offer botanical garden access.

Louisiana's long growing season, stretching roughly nine to ten months in the south, supports vegetable gardening nearly year-round, and the LSU AgCenter Extension Service runs Master Gardener programs in parishes across the state. The New Orleans City Park botanical area and Baton Rouge's community garden network offer accessible public growing and demonstration spaces.

Mississippi State University Extension operates the state Master Gardener program through county offices, and community gardens are found in Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Oxford. The long growing season, typically March through November, allows for warm-season crops including sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and okra.

The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension runs Master Gardener programs in Clark, Washoe, and Elko counties, with programming focused on high-desert and xeriscape gardening suited to Nevada's arid conditions. Community gardens operate in Las Vegas (Springs Preserve) and Reno's Moana Nursery community plot network, with typical growing windows in spring and fall for most vegetables.

Clemson University Cooperative Extension operates a Master Gardener program in counties across South Carolina, offering plant clinics, community garden support, and horticulture education. The state's long growing season extends from March through November in many areas, making vegetable and ornamental gardening productive for much of the year.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension operates one of the largest Master Gardener programs in the country with thousands of active volunteers across all 254 Texas counties. Growing seasons vary widely by region, from the near year-round conditions of the Rio Grande Valley to a shorter April-through-October window in the Panhandle, and community gardens are common in urban areas statewide.

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville hosts the annual Arkansas Gardening School, a day-long educational symposium open to all skill levels. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service runs a statewide Master Gardener program through county Extension offices.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino spans 130 acres of themed gardens and is considered one of the most visited botanic gardens in the U.S., with senior admission rates. The University of California Cooperative Extension runs Master Gardener programs in all 58 counties.

The San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park spans 55 acres with over 9,000 plant species from around the world, free to San Francisco residents year-round. Community garden plots in city parks are administered through SF Recreation and Parks, with a waitlist program and regular volunteer gardening days at sites like McLaren Park.

El Dorado Nature Center at 7550 E Spring St is a 105-acre urban nature preserve with walking trails and demonstration plantings managed by Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine. The City's Parks department hosted its 40th anniversary community garden celebration in late 2025, noting an active network of neighborhood plots across the city.

Oakland Parks, Recreation and Youth Development runs 13 community garden sites across the city, including rental plots at Bushrod Park, Mosswood, and Temescal Community Garden for a $60 annual fee, alongside free volunteer days at the Edible Demonstration Gardens at Lake Merritt.

Oceanside Parks and Recreation offers the GOWalk program with detailed walking maps of parks, and the city's parks system includes several green spaces where community horticulture events take place; UC Cooperative Extension serves San Diego County with Master Gardener advice and public clinics throughout the year.

The North Carolina State Extension Master Gardener program in Wake County holds plant clinics at multiple locations and coordinates with Raleigh Parks on community garden programming. Lake Johnson Park's Waterfront Center and the Thomas G. Crowder Woodland Center at the same park host environmental education and horticultural events.

The Western Science Center at 2345 Searl Parkway in Hemet, opened in 2006 following paleontological discoveries during Diamond Valley Lake's construction, offers interpretive exhibits on the valley's deep natural history and periodically partners with community education programs. The UC Master Gardeners of Riverside County serve the Hemet area with horticultural help desk and community education.

Knox County Master Gardeners, an award-winning program affiliated with UT and TSU Extension, fields over 200 active volunteers who staff the Master Gardener hotline at 865-215-3554 on Tuesdays and Fridays, 9 am to noon. A separate Green Thumb Program connected to senior services provides free vegetable seeds and plants to eligible Knoxville and Knox County gardeners.

Will Rogers Gardens at 3400 NW 36th Street features a 2-acre color garden, a historic Victorian conservatory housing the state's largest cactus collection, and a 10-acre arboretum; OSU-OKC Master Gardeners work in partnership with city horticulturalists to maintain the beds and offer how-to classes throughout the year.

The New Orleans Botanical Garden inside City Park spans 10 acres with more than 2,000 plant varieties and hosts regular Master Gardener talks presented by the Master Gardeners of Greater New Orleans (mggno.com). The MGGNO program, started in 1998 through LSU AgCenter's Orleans Parish extension, coordinates educational garden projects and volunteer opportunities city-wide.

The City of Sacramento Parks department maintains community garden sites in multiple neighborhoods, listed under Specialty Parks on the city's parks portal. The UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program in Sacramento County runs a Garden Education Center at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, open to the public for tours and classes.

McAllen's mild subtropical climate supports year-round gardening, and the city's Camp McAllen at 8621 N 23rd St opened in 2026 as a nature and outdoor recreation destination with trail systems and planned educational gardens. The Texas AgriLife Extension Service for Hidalgo County supports a Master Gardener program offering workshops and demonstration plantings.

Cheekwood Estate and Gardens (1200 Forrest Park Dr.) operates the Cheekwood Gardening School, where instruction is led by local Master Gardeners, area plant societies, and in-house horticultural staff across a 55-acre historic landscape. HGTV has recognized Cheekwood as the best garden in Tennessee, and the estate welcomed roughly 380,000 visitors in 2024.