Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Garden ranked best nationally

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A national travel guide ranked Albuquerque’s BioPark Botanic Garden as one of the best in the entire country.

Day in and day out the people near and far stop to smell the roses at the Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Garden.

“It’s just such a jewel of a desert is what I have heard this facility called year after year you know our visitors come from far and wide, not just New Mexico. We get a lot of visitation from the Four Corners areas, from south Texas, a lot of folks from El Paso,” said Melissa Feeser, assistant curator of the Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Garden. 

Its numerous exhibits and various plants are getting a lot of attention lately. Fodor’s travel guide recently ranked New Mexico’s botanical garden twelfth best in the nation. Right alongside Phoenix, the Bronx and San Marino to name a few.

“It’s a huge honor, you know, when I scrolled through the list and saw the Botanic Garden ranked with all these other phenomenal botanic gardens across the U.S. I was just really, really happy to see that,” said Feeser.  

Feeser says it’s an honor they don’t take lightly. They work around the clock to make sure the experience is enjoyable for everyone.

‘It’s really interesting, we have about a little over 30 acres of different exhibits that showcase plants from different eco-regions. We have our Mediterranean garden and conservatory and that eco-region is very similar to Albuquerque’s region,” Feeser said. 

Because of the climate, the garden stays open year round, giving people a reason to come back as the seasons change. 

“We have a lot of areas blooming, our High Desert Rose Garden a lot of the roses are popping off, and you have a myriad of colors smells, textures back there. Just beyond the Japanese garden we have anemones blooming,” said Feeser. 

They have educational events in the Japanese garden throughout the year and are getting ready for their annual Harvest Festival in early October.