Mission
The mission of Norfolk Botanical Garden is to enrich life by promoting the enjoyment of plants and the environment through beautiful gardens and educational programs

Description
The idea for what would eventually become Norfolk Botanical Garden came from Frederic Heutte, a young horticulturalist, and Thomas P. Thompson, Norfolk City Manager 1935-1938. Heutte had a fondness for azaleas and thought Hampton Roads had a climate uniquely suited for growing the plants. Heutte and Thompson believed that Norfolk could support an azalea garden to rival those of Charleston, S.C., which even during the depression years drew thousands of tourists annually.

The city of Norfolk provided Heutte and Thompson with a seventy-five acre section of high, wooded ground and another seventy-five acres of the Little Creek Reservoir to establish a city garden.