Green Animals Topiary Garden is OPEN DAILY
Opens at 10 a.m. Last tour admission at 5 p.m. Grounds close at 6 p.m. Free parking available.
In addition to more than 80 topiaries in the shape of animals and geometric designs, Green Animals is home to a remarkable array of flowering bulbs, perennials, annuals and shrubs that bloom colorfully throughout the spring, summer and fall.
In 2019, Green Animals was recognized as one of just 28 official Daffodil Display Gardens in the United States – and one of only three in New England – by the American Daffodil Society. Chief Horticulturist Dan Christina and his crew have planted almost 16,000 bulbs since 2016! There are 49 varieties of daffodils representing all 13 divisions and 19 color codes featuring evocative names like Misty Glen, King Alfred and Queens Day.
Thousands of tulips contribute more color during the spring before late spring perennials like columbine, lupine and coral bells give way to summer annuals, hydrangeas, daylilies and countless more unique specimens. In the fall, highlights include late-blooming mums, asters, daisies, dahlias and more.
Visit every three weeks to see the garden transform and transition from season to season!
Stroll the Gardens & Grounds Package
Enjoy the gardens & fresh air with our Stroll the Gardens & Grounds package. Stroll among a menagerie of topiary animals at Green Animals, picnic with a green giraffe or take a selfie with a unicorn. Picnic baskets welcome!
A Fascinating History
This small country estate was purchased in 1872 by Thomas E. Brayton (1844-1939), 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.
Take a virtual tour of Brayton House.
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.
Green Animals is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. Mr. Brayton's daughter Alice gave the estate its name because of the profusion of "green animals." She made the estate her permanent residence in 1939. Upon her death in 1972, at the age of 94, Miss Brayton left Green Animals to The Preservation Society of Newport County. 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.
Green Animals is located at 380 Corys Lane, Portsmouth, R.I.
Please click here to view the full Newport Mansions Operating Schedule.
Only certified service animals are permitted on any of the Preservation Society properties. No other pets are permitted in the houses or on the grounds. This will be strictly enforced during the COVID-19 recovery period. We also request that pets not be left in your vehicle while you take your tour, as temperatures inside a locked car will quickly become unsafe and even deadly.
