The Nicholas Conservatory Outdoor Gardens In May

Last May, for Mother's Day weekend, we met our kids in Rockford, Illinois to celebrate the holiday.  It's a good half way point for both us, about a four hour drive.  I needed to pick a spot to have a picnic lunch so I googled all the parks and ended up finding the Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens.  It was absolutely perfect because it was only a five minute drive to our next attraction, which I will talk about next week!

This post will only be about the outdoor gardens because we never went inside the conservatory.  You have to pay to go inside the conservatory, but the outside grounds are free.  We would have gone to the conservatory, but we actually had tickets to another garden nearby (that's the attraction I will share next week!).

It was the perfect spot to pick because at the very end of the gardens they had picnic tables, so we were able to have our picnic lunch as planned.

The Nicholas Conservatory and Garden is located right along side the Rockford River Walk so we had a beautiful view of the river as we ate.  And we were so excited to see a family of geese not too far from our picnic table.

The little goslings were so cute!

Now, I'm sure you won't be as enthralled with these pictures as I was, but you have to remember it was May!  After a long winter, we Wisconsonites get really excited at seeing anything green, and any flowers at all our just icing on the cake.  I thought the outdoor gardens were absolutely beautiful!  I would love to go back and see the gardens in the summer.

Because it was so early in spring pansies were the stars of the garden.  I loved how they put this flowering shrub inside the urn and encircled the pansies around it.

This is the rose garden.  Of course none of the roses were in bloom when I was there, but I can only imagine how gorgeous it is now!

The grand kids had so much fun running on all the pathways.  I'm sure being cooped up inside a car for four hours probably helped.

They also loved all the waterfalls, especially Atticus!  Ashley was so worried he was gonna fall in because he kept leaning over so far.

In front of the conservatory is a very long pond called the "Eclipse Lagoon"  which had ducks and swans swimming in it.

I don't understand it, but the grandkids were enamored with this statue of a little girl sitting on a bench reading a book.  They were infatuated with it, and it was hard to pull them away.  Even my son Jordan got in on the action.

There were lots of beautiful, large koi in the lagoon in front of the conservatory.

Another cute little statue.  This one, the grand kids had no interest in. Go figure.

This is the view of the lagoon looking back the other way, as if you were standing in front of the conservatory.

In front of the conservatory were more beautiful water features.

Some of their perennials were in bloom, like this hardy geranium.

There is the cutest bridge right in front of the conservatory.  I just love how the railings look like branches.

Atticus thought it was pretty cool to run across.

I just loved all the water and water features surrounding the conservatory.  I think I counted four waterfalls, plus the pond, and the river!

Aren't these pansies gorgeous?

Yet another beautiful water feature.  Did I mention the outside gardens are FREE?  Seriously, if you're ever passing through Rockford you must stop here and stroll these grounds.

I think this was my favorite water feature on the grounds.  I love the stone background and how the water flows over flat sheets of metal.  The potted plants are such a nice added touch.  I also love the greenery growing along the edge, and of course the koi!

These beautiful red winged black birds were singing to us the entire time we were eating our picnic lunch.  I had no idea they had such a beautiful song.  I was lucky enough to capture one posing on a flowering crab.  They seemed to be very friendly birds.

Yet, another water feature. Ahh!

This is another state.  Pretty realistic too!

This boardwalk along the pond was pretty cool. The kids just loved all the pathways to explore. Of course Ashley was constantly worried they would fall into the water.

More gorgeous potted urns.  I love the gnarly shrub in this one.

These daisy iron sculptures are amazing! I'd love to have these in my own garden.  They would fit right in!

Sweet Alethea posing for me.

As we headed back to our car to go onto our next destination, I couldn't help but take one last picture of the rose garden.  That arbor is so pretty and makes such a nice back drop.

The swan even came out of the water for me to get a close up!

The Nicholas Conservatory and Gardens is open every day but Monday.  Ticket prices to the conservatory depend on your age and residency.  They range from $3.00 to $9.00.  The outside gardens are FREE!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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