Missouri Botanical Gardens

Monday, we headed to St. Louis for a little get-away.

Our first stop, The Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Needless to say it was warm, I think in the 90’s, but in the

gardens there were quite a few shady spots to help

beat the heat.  Plus, seeing all of the flowers in bloom,

seems to make the heat not seem nearly as hot.

There are many old huge buildings filled with flora

and we would walk through them and think how grand

it would be to have a beautiful conservatory that large

to garden in year round.  That way, Kenny would not have to

drag tropical plants in and out of the sunroom in the spring and

the fall.

The daylilies were blooming profusely and there

were so many different varieties, many visitors were

there with notebooks, jotting down names of daylilies

they wanted to acquire for their own gardens.

This is one that I liked, that had a ruffled edge.

In the Victorian garden, we were taken with these

balls made of succulents.

Inspiring!

After seeing this specimen of spotted may-apple,

Kenny is now on a quest to find one for his garden.

Yes, he has “regular” may-apple plants, but

he is always on the search for something more

unique.

Below is a cool spot of shade,

with a beautiful sculpture.

Small running creeks.

The gardens are VAST and amazing, this picture

gives you a little idea of just how vast….

A waterfall in the Japanese garden area….

I especially liked this combination of flowers.

The tall dark grass combined with the bright yellow

and deep scarlet.

The whimsical nature of this water sculpture made me

smile. I love the way the water is splashing against the

feet of the ducks and they are spitting water out of their

beaks.

More fun water sculpture….playful racoons!

Of course, we saved the best for last….or at least it

is always our favorite part of the botanical gardens….

the Climatron!  Full of tropical plants, waterfalls and even

a few visitors.

“The Climatron has no interior support and no columns from floor to ceiling, allowing more light and space per square foot for plants than conventional designs. It rises 70 feet in the center, spans 175 feet in diameter at the base, has 1.3 million cubic feet, and encloses approximately 24,000 square feet (more than half an acre).”

Yes, it’s big…..

This is one of the visitors….I think it’s called a rhinoceros beetle….

looks like something from dinosaur times!

This is one of the waterfalls you can walk underneath.

Chihuly glass sculptures inserted into the gardens

Pineapple ginger

Beautiful orchids, ferns, air plants, etc.

The large tree in the middle, below, is an Australian

tree fern.

Another visitor….no, the pictures aren’t upside

down, he is!

I have no idea what plant this was, but it

was spectacular!

More beautiful waterfalls

This is called a corpse flower….

it rarely blooms, but this one had just finished

blooming…

We spent about 3 hours at the gardens, but you

could easily spend an entire day there! 

Needless to say, by the time we finished we were hot

and parched….which made our next stop a complete

necessity!

Ted Drewes frozen custard!

More tomorrow….I’ll say just one thing, the

3 hours walking at the gardens was just a warm up

for all the walking we would do the next day!

Oh yeah, with all that walking we also had room for Pi!

Custard AND Pi?!

Ohhhhhh, I meant pizza Pi!

Made with a cornmeal crust….delish!