The Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis

TRAVEL THERE: BEAUTIFUL MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN

The Missouri Botanical Garden is one of those places you have to go to. I’m a big fan of my Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Society, but by the time we’d been through Missouri’s garden, I had to admit the Show Me State had time on its side.

 

Time on Its Side

Missouri’s Botanical Garden has been around since 1859, giving it one hundred and sixteen more years of development than our Dallas garden. I wouldn’t say that Missouri beat Dallas, but I will say this:  I’d like to see Dallas after it’s 100th birthday party. DABS is just over twenty-five years old.

I’m grateful I got to the chance see the Missouri garden, but I do wish I’d had a little more time. I didn’t need a century, but the two hours I had were barely enough to scratch the surface.

However, I was jealous of Missouri from the moment we walked in.  DABS was at its most glorious last year, when Chihuly’s art was on display, but when the exhibit was over, all the Chihuly’s left.  In Missouri, a Chihuly chandelier graces the entry way to the gardens.

Stepping outside of the visitor’s center is overwhelming.  How do you decide where to go?  Chihuly lovers that we are, Deb and I headed toward another Chihuly.  It’s a good thing it was the last one in the garden, because if not, my skin might have turned permanently green.

Chihuly’s aside, the garden was  marvelous.  We dragged ourselves from one wonder to another – a greenhouse, an iris garden, a gatehouse, a Victorian garden, a Japanese garden, a Boxwood  garden…Are you tired yet?  I haven’t even mentioned the Climatron, yet.

Visiting the garden on a Friday evening was extra special, because they were setting up for weddings at several different venues.  The lady who sold us a ticket told us to take it in at our leisure and not worry about the 5 PM closing time.  Unfortunately, after two hours we were exhausted and still had an art museum to find.. No one had to kick us out of the garden and we didn’t crash any weddings.

We did find some favorite areas in the garden.  Deb loves Irises and the Iris beds were in full bloom.  I’d be embarrassed to tell you how many pictures we took of them.  It’s a good thing film is cheap in this digital era.  I particularly liked the boxwood gardens.  I adore the smell of boxwood and the look of a formal garden with manicured hedges.  Though it wasn’t my favorite part, I did admire the large area devoted to helping backyard gardeners turn their space into minor miracles.  The Japanese Garden on it’s own was as big and ornate as some Japanese Gardens I’ve paid to see separately. We never made it to the Climatron.

I could go on and on about the garden, but I won’t.  Enjoy the pictures, instead. I realize Bill’s a better photographer than I am, but I was there and he wasn’t!  Come back next week and we’ll enjoy Forest Park and the St. Louis Art Museum.