A giraffe at the Cincinnati Zoo is pregnant
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden will welcome Tessa’s fifth calf in October.
Provided by the Cincinnati Zoo.
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden was named the best botanical garden in the country by USA TODAY readers.
The Avondale attraction took the No. 1 spot on the “Best Botanical Garden” list in the 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards, released Wednesday, March 18.
Despite its national prestige, the botanical garden is often overlooked when people visit the zoo.
“I get asked all the time where the botanical garden is,” Ed Atkinson told The Enquirer in 2022 while working as a zoo horticulturist. “It’s not in one marked location,” he said. “It’s everywhere.”
The zoo’s heavily maintained and diverse garden is woven throughout the zoo, within and in between exhibits. Different plants are grown in different habitats, often mimicking the animals’ native landscapes.
The “Best Botanical Garden” list features gardens that showcase “extraordinary” plant collections and incorporate conservation and education efforts. For the full rankings, see below.
USA TODAY readers also ranked the Cincinnati Zoo No. 3 on both the “Best Zoo” list and the “Best Zoo Membership” list. Hippo Cove, the home of the famous Fiona and her little brother Fritz, ranked No. 3 on the list of “Best Zoo Exhibit.”
Best Botanical GardenCincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (Cincinnati, Ohio)Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pennsylvania)Lauritzen Gardens (Omaha, Nebraska)Missouri Botanical Garden (St Louis, Missouri)Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Grand Rapids, Michigan)Botanica, The Wichita Gardens (Wichita, Kansas)Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (Boothbay, Maine)Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (Fort Bragg, California)Cheekwood Estate & Gardens (Nashville, Tennessee)Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Coral Gables, Florida)What is USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards?
USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards highlight the very best in travel, food and drink, and lifestyle. Every week, USA TODAY 10Best invites a panel of industry experts to nominate their favorite points of interest and attractions across a wide range of categories. 10Best editors then vet these nominations and select a final set of nominees to be presented to the voting public for a period of four weeks.
USA TODAY and The Enquirer are owned by the same parent company.
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