Monday, April 28, 2014

Spring Vacation Day One, Part Two - Missouri Botanical Gardens

Hello!  Welcome to my second post of our first day of our spring vacation.   The morning of our first day was spent visiting The Gateway Arch;  from there we drove just a few miles to visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens.    As most of my readers already know, I love to garden and I have a very large perennial garden of my own;  so every time we travel, I always like to visit the local botanical gardens of the city we are visiting.  Well, during this road trip we went to four major cities, and we only had time to visit one garden, so I chose the Missouri Botanical Gardens because they are the oldest botanical gardens in the United States.

First of all, I can't even begin to tell you what sheer joy it was to feel warm air, and see flowers, trees and grass again.  When we left Wisconsin it was in the forties and there were still patches of snow on the ground.  After driving only about eight hours south, we started to see grass and feel warm air.  Oh, it was wonderful!  I was so happy that I will get to experience my favorite season twice this year;  once on this vacation, and when it ever makes it way to Wisconsin (still waiting for that!).  

Here is a lovely picture of some gorgeous pink hyacinths, daffodils, and blue grape hyacinths.  Needless to say I got down on my knees to smell these beauties!



 There was a beautiful green house on the property, and when we opened the doors I was immediately engulfed in the intoxicating and wonderful scent of this beautiful jasmine shrub hanging above a water feature:
 Here's an interior shot of this building.  I love the stained glass in the windows and the old door and brick pathway.

Outside of this building is a lovely patio of raised garden beds and tile paths.  There is also another pretty water feature in the middle.

 There were many interesting colorful blown glass artwork throughout the property, such as the yellow ones attached to the arches below.  They really helped bring in a nice pop of color when there is still is a lot of green because not much is in bloom this early in the season.
 Many of their trees were starting to bloom and were absolutely stunning.  I saw many varieties we can't grow up north;  so that was quite a treat for me!
 A beautiful bed of orange tulips.



This was one of my favorite trees.  I love it's massive pink and white blooms and how they cover the ground with petals as they fall.  It's so romantic.  Did you know that in China this is called The Princess Tree?   Traditionally, this tree is planted every time a baby girl is born, and when she is married the tree is cut down and items are made of it's bark for the bride's dowry.  What a beautiful tradition!

 An interesting fact about the Missouri Botanical Gardens was that it started off as wealthy estate, so there are many beautiful old homes and buildings on the grounds like these:




 A fun activity that children enjoy is the maze.  There is even a tower people can climb up to get this view of the maze and help guide the lost explorer to find his way out.
 There is one large dome on the property that houses  tropical and Mediterranean gardens.
 The gardens were filled with every type of spring flowering bulb you could imagine.

 There is a very large Japanese Garden on the property, but unfortunately it was closed the day we visited.  I did manage to stand on a bench and get this picture over the fence:
 Here are some close ups of all the colorful bulbs, spring pansies, and blooming trees and bushes we saw:




 This is a picture of me inside the dome of the Botanical Gardens.    There were many water features inside the dome, like the waterfall cascading behind me:
 I loved this mosaic tile of this water feature:   The violet blue annuals go beautifully with the tile.
 This gorgeous rose was growing next to the water feature.
 A beautiful forsythia bush.
 A lovely balcony overlooking this gorgeous Mediterranean garden inside the dome.
 As we were leaving the gardens,  this beautiful white magnolia tree caught my eye:  absolutely gorgeous!

I hope you are experiencing the joys of spring wherever you live,  but if your still waiting for spring to come like I am,  I hope these pictures have given you some hope that it will be soon!

Have a great day!   Amy

4 comments:

  1. Spring at it's best, beautiful photo's!
    hugs
    Glenda

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  2. I used to live not too far from St. Louis, and have been to the gardens a few times. They are so beautiful! Your pictures are bringing back lots of memories. Love your outfits, too!

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  3. Thanks for al these shots, fabulous !
    xxx

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  4. Beautiful photos! Spring flowers are my favorites! Our family loves botanical gardens too.

    ReplyDelete

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