Shakespeare Garden

Shakespeare Garden is a four-acre landscape named for the famed English poet and playwright. 

One of the most famous Shakespeare Gardens in the world is located right here in Central Park. What had formerly been known as the Garden of the Heart was, in 1916, renamed the Shakespeare Garden to mark the 300th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. The garden features flowers and plants mentioned in Shakespeare’s poems and plays and is designed to resemble the playwright’s native English countryside. The Garden covers four acres of plants that change according to season. Included among these are plants such as rosemary and pansies, alluded to by Ophelia in Hamlet, thistle, mentioned in the play Much Ado About Nothing, and even a white mulberry tree that is said to have grown from a graft of a tree planted by Shakespeare himself in 1602. To aid you in identifying the various species of plant life located within the space, bronze plaques with corresponding quotations from Shakespeare's plays have been placed sporadically along the path. The Garden is located near the Delacorte Theatre, the site of the annual "Shakespeare in the Park" series held in the summer.