Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth to open April 16

PORTSMOUTH — Green Animals Topiary Garden, a historic property along Narragansett Bay featuring more than 80 boxwood, privet and yew plants shaped like animals and other decorative forms, will open daily to the public beginning April 16.

Green Animals will join Marble House in Newport as the two Preservation Society of Newport County properties currently open for tours, but other schedule changes are coming in May.

“We believe Green Animals will be a popular place to visit, as it was last summer and fall, because people are still looking for outdoor activities during the pandemic,” said Trudy Coxe, CEO and Executive Director of the Preservation Society. “And once again it will be part of our ‘Stroll the Gardens and Grounds’ ticket, which we introduced last year to allow people to enjoy the landscapes at all of our properties that are open.”

“Stroll the Gardens and Grounds” is an outdoors-only ticket that includes permission to picnic on the properties. It costs $18 for adults and $8 for children, and will be available at NewportMansions.org starting April 14. Members of the Preservation Society are always admitted for free.

Green Animals is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. In addition to the topiaries, which were started in the early 20th century by an immigrant gardener from the Azores, the seven-acre property includes flower and vegetable gardens.

In 2019, it was recognized by the American Daffodil Society as one of 28 official Daffodil Display Gardens in the United States, and one of only three in New England. The property features 16,000 daffodil bulbs in 42 varieties as well as many other flower species that bloom at different times of the year.

Green Animals is also part of the annual Newport Daffodil Days celebration. Visitors with a 2021 daffodil pin (visit newportdaffydays.com) will receive $1 off admission through April 30.

The historic Brayton House on the Green Animals estate will remain closed to the public until further notice.

Other Newport Mansions schedule changes

The Breakers, the largest of the Newport Mansions, will open on Monday, May 3. Marble House will close from May 3 until Friday, May 28. Starting Memorial Day weekend, The Breakers, Marble House and Green Animals will remain open every day through the summer.

For the full Newport Mansions operating schedule, go to NewportMansions.org and look under “Plan A Visit.”