Botanical Gardens

While scrolling through Facebook this week, I saw a picture a friend posted from a visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.  I haven't been to many botanical gardens, but the ones I have been to have been beautiful, peaceful experiences.  One of the first that I remember visiting was the San Francisco Botanical Gardens at the Arboretum in the mid-1990s.  We were visiting our friends Michael Ann and Brian who played tour guide for the day, and this was one of the places they took us to.  It was beautiful!  Before that, the closest I had been to something like this was the gardens at the Opryland Hotel.

As you know, #flowersmakemehappy - and so do plants and bushes and trees and grass.  There are a few nearby gardens that we like to visit at different times of the year.  The closest one is Maclay Gardens which is part of the Florida State Parks system.  The Florida State Parks system is caretaker for several gardens which I didn't know until I was researching for this blog post.  Another one we enjoy is the Chapman Botanical Gardens which is located in Apalachicola, Florida.  It's a small park tucked away just a few blocks from the main shopping area and worth the walk.  And in Gainesville, Florida, there is the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of town.  We had the opportunity to visit there while our son was going to college in the area.

Several years ago, we spent a few days at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, and while there we took the hop-on-hop-off trolley to the Niagara Botanical Gardens and the Floral Clock.

So for our Middle States trip, I had already identified the Olbrich Botanical Gardens to visit on a Sunday afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin.  But after researching the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, we have added it to our list of activities for the weekend we are in St. Louis.  I'm excited about seeing the gardens during the late spring.

A few other places on our itinerary have botanical gardens that will go on the activities list as well.  In Hot Springs, Arkansas, there is the Garvan Woodlands Garden; in Springfield, Illinois, there is the Washington Park Botanical Gardens, and in Davenport, Iowa, the Vander Veer Botanical Park looks like a great place for a peaceful walk.  While we won't have much time in Omaha, I want to include the Lauritzen Gardens in case any of our readers are ever in the area.

So what about you?  Do you include botanical gardens and arboretums on your activities lists when you travel?  Have you visited one that really wow'ed you that you think we should check out (either on our itinerary or on another adventure)?  I do have Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama on my list!

~ Cindy D.

P.S.  Check out the link to Michael Ann's blog - the Big Green Bowl. She has some delicious recipes she shares there.

P.P.S. My stitches are out so I'm rehabbing my hand and arm for the next several weeks.