WRAL Azalea Gardens

Used to love this place. But the last few years, especially this year, it is overrun with professional photographers doing portrait shoots. Not just making it overcrowded, you can't walk around anymore. Every path you go on is blocked by someone posing and doing a shoot. Please get this under control. This is supposed to be a beautiful space for the city to enjoy. Not for professionals to cash in on and get in the public's way. And don't even try and sit peacefully uner the tree with the circular bench and white Azaleas. Constant stream of photography groups coming in and posing right in front of you, or asking you to leave.

And now others are starting to take over, too - this last weekend had one birthday party just take over the terrace area in the middle. I took all the chairs, rearranged the tables to set up a buffet, and camped out for the entire afternoon. And when I was leaving, two more were showing up. And another group set up a cornhole game for hours, blocking pretty much the entire way to the lawn from the walkway.

People are abusing this place and ruining it..

This is the perfect place to go to for photos or for a stroll. Pay attention to their social media to see when the prime flower times are!

This morning I noticed the Azaleas in my neighborhood were blooming. I put two and two together and decided to finally make a trip to this popular garden. Wow, what an amazing place, I'm so glad I went!

I was pretty bummed that Duke Gardens was closed to the general public this spring due to Covid, but this was a wonderful substitution for some flowery goodness.

We arrived around 1 pm, there were a good number of people visiting but the parking was very ample. I had seen a few pictures online of the garden, but I didn't realize how large it would actually be.

The garden is filled with many brightly colored Azaleas, so many vibrant flowers to see. I saw a few groups doing family or engagement photos. We even saw a small wedding taking place, what a great backdrop.

I took a lot of photos during our visit, but I'd say we spent about 30 minutes there. On the way out, I noticed that a container with maps of the garden.

Great spot to take someone on a date or out of town visitors. I plan to come back again next spring and see this lovely spot.

The azaleas are in bloom and WRAL Gardens are very colorful right now. This is a popular time of year to visit and it was busy when I was there but everyone was doing a pretty good job at social distancing and the gardens are large enough to do that. It was about 50/50 as to whether someone was wearing a mask.

The gardens may be expanding into another section. It appeared the ground had been prepared for new plantings and there were some containers of new plants.

I will return in June to see the hydrangeas and other flowers and plants as it is a nice place to visit and see the changes throughout the year.

Great place for a walk when you are in the area. Blooms and birds in abundance nearly all year around.

This is serene and natural space in the center of Raleigh, right off the NC State campus that provides seating areas and walking paths in a private garden feel, though it is open to the public with lots of parking availability. As we wondered through, enjoying the art, wind chimes, and landscaping, several groups were taking Quinceañera and engagement/pregnancy photos in different spots throughout the garden, yet were not readily visible until we walked within a few feet of them. There is a nice private feel. This was a perfect first day of fall with crisp and sunny breezes. Honeybees lounged at each fountain lip, sipping water and peacefully buzzing nearby. I'm so glad we discovered this gem on our Saturday visit.

If you have some time during your day I definitely think you should check out the beautiful Azalea Gardens! The campus itself looks like where the avengers lived! We saw a helicopter land on the building and that alone had me impressed while I was walking through a beautiful garden. I will say some plants were going through natures cycle and we're not alive but that really just has to do with the time we went. It was very cute and quaint and definitely check it out! I can't wait to return in the spring when flowers are blooming!

Took some grad pictures here and it was really nice. I'd never been but I would definitely come back! This is the perfect place for pictures, lunch, reading, etc. It's fairly quiet except for the WRAL helicopter that comes in every now and then. They have tables and chairs throughout the garden, along with benches. There is also a porta potty in the parking lot for visitors to use - which is surprisingly pretty clean, unlike your average porta potty. The only thing is you really have to take the time of year into consideration if you want to see flowers. There were only a handful of flowers out there as of now. A great spot to go!!

Leaving another review!! The flowers are so gorgeous every year! I never noticed this huge bunny before in the garden. I swear they have planted new flowers. It looks like they are expanding the garden to the back of the property. The public restrooms are currently closed. There are plenty of benches and tables around the gardens. I love coming here every spring!

The gardens has potential to be great! The flowers have not fully bloomed so it's a lot of greenery and not much colors from flowers. Nice spot would visit again with the the hopes that the flowers are in full bloom.