A Haven for Green Thumbs!!

On June 15 we visited Missouri Botanical Garden with our daughter and the grandchildren on the occasion of its 150th anniversary (PDF Map of garden). This is one the great places to visit in St. Louis and we had not been there in probably 15 plus years. It is a beautiful place to visit any season of the year. On this day, 150 years to the day of it's being opened to the public, the admission price was $1.50 (150 pennies) instead of the usual $8.00. We spent a lot of time in the Victorian District of the garden which is the historic heart of the garden when it was founded in 1859. Here we toured Tower Grove House (the Home of Henry Shaw, founder of the garden) and his library building (closed to the public for many years).

Tower Grove House (Henry Shaw's Home) - Two different views


Henry Shaw's Burial Place


We enjoyed the beautiful Victorian garden around Tower Grove House while the grandchildren were completing a treasure hunt for garden features in that area.





Another area that we spent a lot of time in was the Japanese Garden which is the largest traditional Japanese Garden in North America. The Japanese Garden consists of a four-acre lake that is complemented with waterfalls, streams, water-filled basins, and stone lanterns. Dry gravel gardens are raked into beautiful, rippling patterns. Four islands rise from the lake to form symbolic images. Several Japanese bridges link shorelines; families delight in feeding the giant “koi” (Japanese carp).




Another favorite area is the Climatron (a tropical rain forest inside the world’s first geodesic dome greenhouse)..


They are so many different areas to visit such as:

Children's Garden
Vegetable Garden


Lily Gardens

Many Rose Gardens
Many flower beds
Fountains



Blown Glass Sculpture in Ridgeway Visitor Center.

Every season is a great time to visit the gardens as the variety of flowers in bloom change with each season.

The Missouri Botanical Garden was founded for “the promotion of knowledge.” It has many education opportunities and is a global center for studies of botany, biology, and horticulture.

Now that we live in St. Peters, Mo(St. Charles County, 35 miles to garden) it is not as convienient to visit the garden as it was when we lived in Webster Groves (St. Louis County 7 miles to garden). Also the admission is higher for St. Charles County residents.