Garden is not what you imagine when you hear New Jersey.

Four stars for a crowning acheivement in Newspeak. Aldous Huxley would be proud. There are indeed some very nice garden spots in NJ, however. I thought it was ironically amusing when the governor of NJ was head of the EPA for awhile.

I'm not so sure about the whole state, but Cape May was beautiful. I would go back there in a heartbeat for a vacation. The people were great as well. There were plenty of good restaurants and good hotels and beautiful old restored Victorian homes overlooking the ocean.

Sadly, I agree with Djahuti. As a resident of NJ, I have to say it has few redeeming qualities other then pretty good beaches and Atlantic City(unless you don't like gambling). The property taxes are off the charts. People really aren't very friendly and its the road rage capital of the world. If it were a Baseball team it would be the Farmteam of New York.

Maybe 75 years ago this fit,but todays N.J. is over-run with Condos,ugly strip malls and other man-made blights.Maybe they should change it to the Garbage State.Over-Development at it's worst!!!It's a shame, as it really WAS beautiful when I was a kid there.

I'm still looking for the Gardens. I like to refer to it as the lousy turnpike state.

I was born and bred in NJ (like the great Redd Foxx once said, I'm not sure where I was buttered), but it's not necessarily my favorite place on earth (I prefer parts of upstate NY or New England). I'm not a fan of Bruce Springsteen, I've only been to Atlantic City twice in my lifetime, and I'd rather swim at Cape Cod or Florida. Having said that, however, I do think NJ has gotten a bad rap. Yeah, there's been a history of corruption, but was it really that much worse than Chicago or NY (or other places)? For such a small state, there is indeed a surprising amount of diversity. Urban sprawl? Sure, but we do have more rural communities than we do cities- we have mountains, lakes, rivers (some are not even that polluted), pine woods, tomato farms, cranberry bogs, Princeton, pastoral landscapes...we once had a ski slope, we had Palisades Park (one of my fondest early memories) and we even have a zoo or two. So, ok, it's not the greatest place on earth, but is it really that much worse or nastier or uglier than Michigan or Ohio or...?

Okay... I will concede that New Jersey's state nickname might be slightly misleading to those who have only visited a small portion of the state where it is very industrial and urban. Once you see more of New Jersey, the majority in fact, you would be pleasantly surprised at how suburban and naturally beautiful the state is. I'm not really sure why New Jersey gardens are worth the special attention but I can tell you that I certainly would prefer that over What Died? lol....

Having lived in New Jersey all but the first 6 months of my life I must say people would be surprised how pretty some parts of the state are, however, there are also the parts that have given New Jersey it's national reputation, so it really is half-and-hald.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to point out the irony of NJ's nickname, given the high concentration of chemical processing plants in the state. Also this is one of the most urbanized states in the country. They do have gardens here, but what makes it more noteworthy over other states in the region or country?

Thinking about a nickname for New Jersey makes me think of a time several years ago when some talk jocks were making jokes about the slogans written on license plates. For New Jersey it was: What Died? I'm sure New Jersey natives would rather stick with the above.