4.5Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum(356 reviews) - Beautiful architecture and gardens and gorgeous water views!!!! Saturday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Spent 1-2 hours Historic Sites • Points of Interest & Landmarks • Gardens
Blithewold, named in Yankee Magazine's 2010 Best 5 Public Gardens in New England is located on Narragansett Bay, 25 minutes east of Providence and 60 minutes south of Boston. Blithewold, a 33-acre summer estate with grand views of Narragansett Bay, is nationally significant in American history as one of the most fully developed and authentic examples of the Country Place era. The property features a 45-room mansion filled with family heirlooms framed by a series of lovely gardens that range in character from mysterious to exotic and from poetic to practical. An exceptional collection of rare and unusual plants, specimen trees, an accessible greenhouse, and whimsical stonework project a character that is romantic, fresh and inspiring - and unique to Blithewold. Come...and be inspired.See more..
4.5Roger Williams Park(283 reviews) - Beautiful Urban Park Saturday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Parks • Gardens
Roger Williams Park is a tranquil, pretty, and inviting park that makes for a lovely way to spend the day. While on vacation in Rhode Island, we took our 7 year old daughter to the zoo, then for a stroll in the nearby Japanese Garden, and rented an electric boat from the "swan boat" stand and had a relaxing ride on the pond. My daughter enjoyed seeing swans and Canadian geese throughout the park, and we even spotted a muskrat while on our boat ride. Although the Japanese Garden can use some better upkeep on the grass especially, we found the park overall to be quite pristine. This is a great way to spend a quiet day in Providence.See more..
4.5Green Animals Topiary Garden(235 reviews) - Must see Topiary Garden Saturday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Speciality Museums • Gardens
Green Animals is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. This small country estate in Portsmouth was purchased in 1872 by Thomas E. Brayton, Treasurer of the Union Cotton Manufacturing Company in Fall River, Massachusetts. It consisted of seven acres of land, a white clapboard summer residence, farm outbuildings, a pasture and a vegetable garden. Gardener Joseph Carreiro, superintendent of the property from 1905 to 1945, and his son-in-law, George Mendonca, superintendent until 1985, were responsible for creating the topiaries. There are more than 80 pieces of topiary throughout the gardens, including animals and birds, geometric figures and ornamental designs, sculpted from California privet, yew, and English boxwood. Today, Green Animals remains as a rare example of a self-sufficient estate combining formal topiaries, vegetable and herb gardens, orchards and a Victorian house overlooking Narragansett Bay.See more..
Not much to see outside in October, except the roses. But some nice displays in the large greenhouses and there are goats! That was the best part. Worth the small admission fee, would be a great cool weather activity as the majority of plants are inside. See more..
