Reviews of Rotary Botanical Gardens (Tourist Attraction)

Marlene Cusack

Beautiful place to visit. So many different varieties of plants. Such clean fresh air. It smells so good with all of the plants surrounding you. Like a little Oasis.

Nick P

Absolutely beautiful during the summer and magical during the winter, with the annual holiday lights event!

Robert Sloma

OMG! We should have prepared a lunch. You could have spent the whole day looking at all of the gardens

Shelby Foxy

If you come to Janesville Wisconsin you must go to the Botanical Gardens year-round they always have something going on and it is absolutely beautiful they're very relaxing very calming very peaceful me and my girlfriend go all the time and we absolutely love it thank you for gardens..

Ron Hoagland

When there for an office function. When staff was great. The pace was really nice. Recommend

Wilma Domingo

My son & daughter-in-law had taken me to see the lights... Only my second time there, but what a extraordinary display of Christmas lights! If you never been here, stop and treat yourself and your family a memorial Christmas for years to come! ;)

Laurie Whitby

Holiday Light show was beautiful but should use more shuttle buses at peak hours.

Suzy Yates

Such a wonderfully decorated place for our family to have together time and a snack. Every body is in high spirits and so festive!! Thanks for a wonderful time!!

June Grogan

We were in the area and stopped by. We were a little early in the season to go. I want to go back in June. (Kids thought it was GREAT as there were lots of Poke Stops, lol)

Tasha Smith

My daughter took her wedding photos here. A beautiful place to take your wedding photos and to see the different gardens!

Sue Eicher

The gift shop at Rotary Gardens has a nice selection of unique gifts, some locally made. There are also hand crafted cards and beautiful photographs of the garden. Everything is reasonably priced.

Jen Shakeel

Very pretty and has a cool around the world food garden. The only reason I can't give 5 stars is that they need to do better upkeep of the grounds and the large pond area. But it was a nice place to walk through and a couple of really nice places to sit and just breathe. Perhaps my favorite part is all the quotes on the benches.

Mark Porter

Spectacular gardens in summer, spectacular lighted gardens in winter!! Excellent arrangement of multiple styles of gardens from across the world. Incredible variety of plants and plenty of informative plaques. Light show in winter is astonishing. This place must require an additional power plant to offset the load! Beautifully done, well worth the $5 admission!

lily laskowski

Lights were very beautiful! I personally love the trees.

Nancy Beyer

It was very crowded but I didn't feel hurried or uncomfortable. People were all in good spirits and polite. We used the shuttle bus and I'm glad we did, very convenient

Brian Romack

The holiday light show was impressive as always, I would recommend it to anyone.

Cathy Caban-Treat

It was beautiful and busy. The wait is not long. The cost is inexpensive. And the lights, the lights are absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!

Karen Calta

Definately worth the stop. Beautiful area, a gem

Dixie Scwenn

They have a lovley garden but they had 5 weddings that day and parking for one. People had to park blocks away an this is unacceptable.

Nicolas Reinke

This place is gorgeous! A great place to visit year round.

Cheryl Blake

It was a most spectacular ninety minute walk. Everyone was having a good time.

Scott Schable

A nice place to visit through out the year.

Ma. Jamie Ann Beltran

Very nice

Emily McGaver

The Holiday Light Show here is fantastic every year! Very nice gardens in warmer months as well. Everything is nicely labelled and they have a wide variety of areas and plants to explore. One of my favorite places to visit!

Deb Zickert

The light display was stunning. Our family loved it. Thank you Rotary Gardens.

Marcelo Venegaz

The place is beautiful but the reception lady is very arrogant, she acts as if she were the owner and did a favor to the people who visit the gardens, lol I think never come back again, Madison has equal or more beautiful and free gardens, you don't even have to see the arrogant and despotic , big face to anyone

Tonya M.

Love the Christmas Light Show each Christmas season! Keep up the beautiful work!

Tabatha Moran

Beautiful sprawling gardens, lots to explore!

Melissa True

The Holuday light show was amazing. The shuttle was perfect and the Hot Cocoa is totally worth it!

Kate Dallman

Beautiful, fun for whole family

Glenn E

Went for the Christmas light display. First time there. Was blown away by the number of lights that they had. Was a weekend and the number of people there I didn't expect. Still worth waiting for, dress warm. This coming after the season is over. I was surprised that they are open till the new year. Will try to make the trip up there earlier next year and try a week day maybe.

Jeff Yates

Fun seeing Christmas lights and was able to take good photos.

Joel

A very nice place to add to a weekend visit. You can't miss the gardens during the Christmas season.

Jeffrey Skurka

What a wonderful garden to spend time in ; check it out and lose time . . .

Emily Truman

Beautiful gardens... but when we were trying to book our wedding here they were impossible to get a hold of. I tried emailing back and recieved no response. I then tried calling and was told by whoever answered the phone that my best bet was to email. I sent another email through their website this time and waited another week and still to this day have no response.

TRISTAN gbh

This place was huge for a garden, was beautiful and wasn't as filled with bugs as I thought. I had a good time there and its a great date night idea ;)

pamela schubring

Gardens are beautiful and well kept. A peaceful place to walk around or sit and read. A beautiful venue for weddings and their Christmas light show is a must-see!

Debbie Burkman

A magical tiny twinkle light experience! The perfect way to get into the holiday spirit!

Omer Gurlekce

Delicious foods and smiling face!

Kim Sheldon

Beautiful gardens. Janesville is fortunate to have such a special place. Beautiful spring, summer and holiday time!

Lon Sherman

Beautiful place. Enjoyed it very much!

DAVIS PAINTING& DECKCARE

AWESOME DISPLAY OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!! WELL WORTH THE ENTRY FEE. ($5.00)

Eric Jubeck

Always an impressive assortment of flowers and plants. A gem of Janesville and worth spending an afternoon roaming around. Vegetables from around the world was neat to see.

Steve Lisowski

A real gem in Janesville. Pretty impressive collection of beautiful flowers and nice grounds. We went a little early so not a ton was in bloom but even then it was wonderful. Affordable entry as well.

Dan Kletti

Great place for pictures! Quite a variety of backgrounds - flowers, bridges, trees, water, etc

Eric Sawyers

Tried to book this venue for our wedding, came and visited the gardens back in early June and decided this was the place we wanted to get married. Got a card for the lady in charge of booking the venue, Becky, and my fiancé continued to call over 8 times between June 10th and today July 16th, even stopping in to potentially catch Becky at the gardens. We left over 5 voicemails trying to get someone, anyone to give us a call back. Not one single phone call was returned. My fiancé stopped in today on her way home from work and oddly enough happened to catch Becky in the main lobby talking with some patrons. My fiancé inquired about the date we had wanted to get married telling her she had been trying to get ahold of her for the last month with no success. Becky then told her that the date we wanted, she literally just booked it on Monday of this week for someone else... we have been trying to book that date for over a month with not a single soul helping us or returning our calls, with anyone at the front desk just giving us Becky’s card and telling us to call her, and then we get told that literally someone called in on Monday June 15th and booked the venue for their reception on the day we wanted. Absolute trash. What a way to treat your patrons. Zero accountability. Becky I hope you read this, you single handedly ruined our wedding plans that we wanted to make happen at the beautiful botanical gardens simply because of your lack of communication. The unprofessionalism you’ve shown blows me away.

Toni Hulick

Absolutely lovely!

Alfred Skerpan

Beautiful and peaceful. Definitely worth a visit.

Pegasus Mary

I thoroughly enjoyed these gardens. So many varieties of plants from different parts of the world. Very beautifully put together. Great place to spend quality time with family.

Cara Heagney

We attend this every year, it's beautiful. However, in the past we usually do a week night. This year we went on a Saturday. Absolutely, crazy! Even the kids said they didn't enjoy it. Way too many people. They need to go back to having more hours on week nights. This year they only offered Thursday-Sundays.

Sara Martalock

A good variety and well-balanced. A lot of alcoves places to look. Not really huge but a lot in there. Renting the hall and grounds area for a wedding and reception. Plenty of space and good color schemes.

Babette Suter

My daughter had recommended this place. We went there right before Christmas time to see the gorgeous lights with her and our grandsons. It was an absolutely breathtaking Beautiful, display. I would highly recommend going there at Christmas time.

Nicole P

Very nice gardens, would love to go back in another month when all the plants and flowers are much bigger as lots were just put in the ground. We liked the Japanese gardens best even tho it was really buggy!

Jenni Hallet

Gorgeous place to visit. They have seasonal events, fundraisers, and frequently hold a free for the public attendance day. P.s. there are also a LOT of Pokemon Go stops if you play

Vickie Ward

Awesome place to visit. Wish we had more time to spend there.

Bryan Stewart

Visited for the first time for the Holiday Lights display. The garden was magical. The path through the garden was well organized and had a great mixture of kid lights and tastefully done. I will be back next year and probably in the warm weather too.

Scott Hopper

Beautiful place to relax and find inspiration.

Matt Vatter

Something spiritual about a walk through the gardens. The work the community volunteers do to make this such a great experience is awe inspiring. This is a great example of what a community can do when it values places everyone can access.

Benjamin Dickerson

We went during the holiday light show. It was packed with people but the lights were great.

Avonte

There were nice Christmas lights and decorations to be seen. Crowded, confined spaces. Dress warm!

erika budewitz

500,000 lights, absolutely amazed! Wonderful display! Alot of detail! Good job

Cari Sly

My son had a blast at the P4J Kickoff!

Christine Heck

Went to a company Christmas party here, the food and atmosphere were great and the Christmas lights outside were beautiful.

susan Buttchen

Beautiful place to walk in the gardens

Ashtin Lehman

The landscape is very pretty. I love the layout of the garden. I attended the lights during winter and it was absolutely magnificent. There was also not a lot of ice on the pathways, making it easy to walk.

Neil Johnson

Beautifully tended 20-acre botanical gardens that wrap around a picturesque pond. Includes several classic European gardens and a Japanese garden with a lovely foot bridge. The gardens feature a regionally known holiday light show with trails strung with more than 600,000 Christmas lights. An excellently run showcase of landscaping and plantings along with a stellar educational center and hall that is used (along with the grounds) as rental space for weddings and gala events.

Brett Siedschlag

I have been here for a wedding before and it was very nice. The holiday lights are fantastic and going right after Christmas, it wasn't too busy.

Matthew Pehl

Went for the Christmas light display and it was well worth the $5 admission. Will definatly go back again.

James Heinz

Drove 100 miles to see and was worth the drive.. would recommend this to many..

Barb Kolbe

Say high to Mark and crew. Great garden

Lily D.

It was beautiful. We spent almost 2 hours there walking around and we didn't even see everything thoroughly! So you could spend a while there. I think it's a great couple destination. They seemed to have activities for children as well so it's for all ages. They do have uneven steps in some areas so you gotta watch your step and a couple spots are not wheelchair accessible but still plenty of spots that are. Beautiful place for pictures. Overall a wonderful experience. Definitely planning on going back.

Ken Kolbe

Mark and crew are wonderful. Return often.

David Stier

Such a beautiful and serene place to visit.

Jenna Newton

Spectacular views, the flowers were beautiful! loved the bridge, the large chair you can sit in, the gazebo had a perfect lookout. If you are in the Janesville area at all, YOU MUST visit here.

David Wolken

Well worth the visit. Plan for 2-3 hours to just begin to appreciate the gardens. Bring snacks and beverage. Wonderful gift shop.

Gail Farr

Magnificent light display. Well laid out and organized, even with a huge crowd!

Laura Bruederle

I will have to come back on a nice day. The wedding we took photos for was a wash out with a deluge rainstorm. The gift shop was a fun distraction. The small hall venue is perfect for an intimate wedding.

Carl Sandstedt

Excellent botanical garden for smaller town Unexpectedly good.

Kathy Bruhnke

Beautiful fantastic display of Christmas lights! Wonderful gardens to walk through! A great couples or family affair!

Greg Carlson

Very pretty walk

Lauri lingnofski

Can't wait for the flowers to bloom. Really nice place with very helpful and friendly staff.

Cherie Salzman

We went on Free admission day and it was so much fun. I wish there was more paved paths to walk on cause we had our twins in a stroller and could not enjoy some of the areas but we totally understand this. It wouldn't be a garden if it was all paved.

Jennifer Haumschild

Absolutely worth the drive!! I bring my son who's in a wheelchair every year for the Christmas lights which are the best I've ever seen for a very low price. I recommend it to EVERYONE. I truly appreciate the accessibility and wonderful smiling staff. I've also come in the warmer months to view the gardens. Lovely!

Kendra Clevenger

Their lights were AMAZING, the best thing I've ever seen

Joayma Rivera

My high school best friend's weddinf was held here...Perfect location.

Judy McDonald

Wonderful light display!!! We had no trouble finding parking. Though they did have shuttles for parking elsewhere. There were a lot of people but the lines moved along and it was rarely crowded on the footpaths. $5pp for entrance. Definitely worth the trip from Madison. It was a little foggy which enhanced the viewing.

A Cherie

Purchased tickets on December 15th for the Holiday Light Show. Barely found parking, which was miles away from the shuttle buses and the Gardens. The shuttle bus service that was advertised on the event page to take people to the Botanical Gardens was not as advertised, and actually refused to pick up anymore people and take them to the Botanical Gardens. The driver said the event "reached capacity" and they were "done taking rides for the night, and not letting anymore people into the event". I attempted to call to find out why the buses were refusing passengers, and if we could even get into the event. I received an "I dont know what's going on" and was put on hold. Our call was actually not reattended to, we called back from another phone just to talk to someone. They offered to take our name for a refund, however after over 3 weeks of trying to get a hold of Becky, she refuses to give any refund! She said that the buses resumed later that night. Okay, great to know.. We already left the stupid event! We were unable to go to any of the very few dates that were left for the year, and some were cancelled due to weather! Also, according to the other Google review, the express line that was advertised if you purchased tickets online was just the regular line. What a scam! Poorly executed event, and poor customer service! I want my money back!

Sergio A.

Beautiful place.

Eugene Dumas

Beautiful colors, phenomenal variety, great place to enjoy plants and flowers.

rich gruber

One of the best kept secrets in the region.. always beautiful.

Ignacia Boersma

Beautiful gardens, so many styles including a small home garden representing different countries. Loved the paths by the lake and the sunken garden was so breezy and relaxing when I went. Stonework was also amazing.

Julie Wright

Great Holiday light show. Hope to go back in 2019

Wes stockham

Beautiful gardens. It was a great place to stop, stretch our legs, and take on the beauty of nature on our vacation.

Brianna Carothers

Love the holiday lights and the Halloween trick or treat. Great time for the kids. We all loved it. Also great for pokemon go!

Nichole Alex

Beautiful gardens, and purchasable memory stones for loved ones that have passed on. Each garden has a different country's theme such as Germany, and Japan just to name two.

Tom Rucinski

First time to this Gardens. Travel a 150 miles to see it. Will do it again next year.

Kate Lawton

Just beyond wonderful!

Joy Ireland

We had the first wedding at the Wellness Garden!!!! And it was amazing! The staff were great and they opened the back gate so our guests could go straight to our ceremony garden. The Wellness Garden is beautiful! Take my word for it or go see it for yourself, either way you won't regret you did.

Cheryl

Such cute gardens~ especially around the holidays.

Nick Staver

Need to stop asking for money from the public. It should be free.

Merriel

First visit to the Rotary Gardens, despite being a long time resident of Wisconsin. The Japanese garden is stunning! Other gardens, English cottage, French formal, Italian, are also worth seeing.

Kyla Walsh

Beautiful collection of flowers and plants!

Dean Emery

These people have done a great job awesome lights everywhere

Sandy Yu

Beautiful, well kept garden a little for everyone in the family. There's a storybook garden for the young and the old. The trail around the pond is just perfect for a hot summer day. The gardens around the world was educational. Great field trip!

pavan laxmeshwar

Great for a walk.. peaceful calm and romantic

Paul & Ashley Veneman

We had known about the Holiday Light Walk for years. To be honest, I didn't think it sounded very intriguing or fun. We went two weeks ago. It was so neat. We were very impressed. We wish we would have gone in years past.

Christine McDade

Beautiful collection of different garden types. Educational signs plus whimsical statues and other elements. On the Ice Age Trail and near other parks and golf. Nice events throughout the year. Great holiday light display in December.

lisa johnson

Lovely place for a walk! Nice and quiet beautiful scenery everywhere. They did a wonderful job!

Tara Smith

Complete Christmas Spirit! A must see, dont forget the coco and cookies inside. Pre buy tickets..no waiting for entry. I bought mine while in line and then was able to walk out of line and right in.

Michelle Becker

First time visiting! We will have to go back for the Holiday light show and next summer July/August for peak flowers! So beautiful!

Aimee Yunto

It's Beautiful.

Lori Harvel

Beautiful gardens flowers birds n butterflies

Rebekah Tisdale

We went to view the light show tonight and it was completely nuts and disorganized. Very little main parking with no one directing traffic. No line control to keep people from cutting in line, and no separate entrance for prepaid people which made the main entrance extra congested. (Honestly I don't understand why prepaid gets to skip the line and wait). We finally got in and no one was even working at the cash spot so we were just standing there waiting for someone to show up. Another person in our group parked down by the school and was waiting for the bus for an hour. They bus kept coming and dropping people off but not picking them up. Finally one of the bus drivers told them they were not picking up anymore people because it was too congested, so they had to leave after waiting that hour outside and driving 30 mins already to get there. When we walked through it was so congested we couldn't even get pictures or actually enjoy the lights. The exit and the entrance merge into each other and causing traffic jams. A bunch of lights were not even lit because they were burned out or something. Just a big disappointment and not worth the $5 per person fee. It would have been much better if they actually controlled the line and slowed the traffic coming in to have it less congested, and had more organization and a better flow to keep traffic jams down. They need to do something about the parking too, and if they decide to stop the bus they should have announced it so people knew instead of standing there waiting.

Xochitl Koppelmeyer

Loved the lights! We usually visit in the summertime and enjoy the gardens, but this is a nice way to enjoy the gardens in the wintertime.

v johnson

It's beautiful there. You can also rent rooms for any occasion.

Shani Phillips

Sooo awesome! We loved it! Wow that had to take a long time to set that all up! ! It was gorgeous! !

Carina Phillips

Loved the light show this year. Been a few years since we went. Definitely more lights this year. Beautiful

sue slowey

Beautiful Garden to walk through

Sally Schweitzer

Wonderful gardens with so many plants and trees with the plant names all prominently displayed. Will have to go back at Xmas time for the light show.

Dorothy Kosowski

Beautiful garden so well cared for and just the right size

rakshit kumar

It's a nice place to visit for the Christmas lighting, they had a very beautiful arrangement done for this special occasion, u can buy tickets still the venue, the light show time is from 4:30PM to 8:30 PM, they have a gift shop and a cafe.

Cynthia Skaar

Was Great Had a great Meeting

Jen Wolf

Beautiful place! Lights at Christmas are something to see!

ray morales

If you want to regain your inner self this is the place for peace and quiet beautiful flowers beautiful walkways

Ben James

If you can make it to the Christmas lights they are a treat. Lots of effort from volunteers shows year round. In the summer the gardens are beautiful so make sure to bring your camera.

Michael Taylor

Fun garden for winter light display. Will have to come back in the spring.

Joan Cramer

Wonderful gardens, lots of very colorful annuals. We were there for the frog art which was worthwhile. We really enjoyed the Plants of the World garden. Very friendly people

Kelly A. Burnett

A destination worth the drive if you enjoy gardening. Upgrades every year and changes every season. A true asset to the entire Midwest. Kudos to donors and volunteers.

Debbie Gajdosik

Just driving by is just enough to pique your interest to explore.

Chellsea w.

The winter light show is beautiful... purchased our tickets online....the lines when we arrived were separated for online purchaes and we got through quickly(would recommend doing this as the other line was packed)....there are indoor restrooms and concessions

Mike Broskowski

Beautiful gardens, well maintained.

brenda esselman

besides the shade garden,it is not worth the cost in my opinion

Phillip Wilkins

Many beautiful plants. My 2 and 4 year old enjoyed the plants around the world immensely. It started to rain a bit but that was fine as they have pavilions and gazebos throughout that we were able to watch ducks from while we waited it out.

Âmanda Hornung

Had a 50th anniversary celebration at Rotary Gardens for our parents. Everything went smooth. Would highly recommend for events!

Ruben Garcia

It's a beautiful amazing place thanks for everything for the for my sister's wedding

Maggie Aurit

This place is a true treasure to Janesville! Year-around events, community involvement, and dedicated volunteers make the Rotary Gardens a must-see attraction. They're also constantly growing and improving the grounds. I recommend everyone take the opportunity to visit the gardens at least once.

Dava Dahlgran

Nice evening to take a couple lake & tree & reflection photos. I have a drawing idea.

JoAnna Knutsen

The lights were spectacular. The only real down side was the sheer amount of people walking through. It was frustrating, and I would not suggest anyone with severe anxiety in a crowded environment attend.