Historic Gardens Now Open for the Season

Visitors can enjoy Spring Plant Sale, Story Stroll, Garden Vibes concert series, and more.

Rochester, NY - The gardens at the historic George Eastman Museum reopen for the season, welcoming visitors to experience their beauty in bloom. Guestsare invited to enjoy a stroll in one of Rochester’s most iconic landscapes as well as participate in seasonal experiences and programs. Guided tours of the historic landscape, free with museum admission, are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30 p.m., from May through October.

New in 2026

Ideal for children and families, a Story Stroll in the Library Garden features The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter by Shabazz Larkin, presented in collaboration with the Monroe County Public Library System. Separate pages of the book are mounted throughout the garden for a read-as-you-walk experience.

Visitors are also invited to participate in a hands-on citizen science initiative by contributing to the Great Sunflower Project. Participants have the opportunity to pick up a clipboard with all necessary materials and head to designated blooms in the garden to observe and count pollinators.

The historic landscape can be explored through the lens of the exhibition in the Main Galleries, Edward Steichen and the Garden, which extends beyond the gallery through interpretive labels that encourage visitors to step outside and experience the same flowers in bloom as are represented in the objects.

Finally, guests will be able to enjoy the Rock Garden’s grape arbor, which is currently undergoing extensive restoration and anticipated to reopen in July. This project was funded in part by a grant administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through Title 9 of the Environmental Protection Act of 1993, the estate of Bruce B. Bates, Davenport-Hatch Foundation, Rochester Area Community Foundation, Rochester Garden Club, Allyn’s Creek Garden Club, Linda and John Butrill, and many others.

Public programs

● May 9: Spring Plant Sale

● May 14: In Focus: How Samuel Yellin transformed Eastman's Conservatory

● June 3: Rochester Cocktail Revival: Delphinium Garden Party

● June 11: Exhibition Conversation: Edward Steichen and the Garden

● July 1: Garden Vibes: Kahlil Kwame Bell

● July 15: Garden Vibes: Mosaic Foundation

● August 19: Garden Vibes: Guabaza

About the historic landscape

In 1902, George Eastman purchased the last 8.5 acres of the Marvin Culver Farm on East Avenue. Assisted by landscape architect Alling Stephen DeForest (1875–1957), Eastman transformed the farmland into a unique metropolitan estate that integrated a working farm with informal gardens and elegant formal gardens. More gardens were added in 1916 when Eastman purchased the adjacent property to the west, and commissioned architect Claude Bragdon to create the design.

Today, the George Eastman Museum landscape collection comprises lawns, trees, ornamental shrubs, vines, and five restored or adapted garden areas planted with perennials, bulbs, annuals, and ground covers typically grown during Eastman’s residency (1905–1932). Historic buildings, structures, and architectural elements such as the Loggia, grape arbor, pergola, oval sunken lily pool, and seventeenth-century Venetian wellheads are also part of this collection.

For more about the museum’s historic landscape, visit eastman.org/historic-landscape.