Thursday, October 28, 2010

Bo-Gards with Maria and Ger

Went to the Missouri Botanical Garden (often referred to as "Shaw's Garden") the other week with my parents for their anniversary.  (It was very nice that I was invited along.)  We used to go to the Botanical Garden at Christmas to see the poinsettia display, which is inside thankfully, but you can't really take in the grounds at Christmastime.  And the grounds of the gardens are quite spectacular.  There is a 14-acre Japanese garden, as well as the original homes of Henry Shaw, the founder of the garden.  (What an incredible gift he bestowed on the city of St. Louis!  Thanks, Mr. Shaw!)  There is also a huge home gardening center, a children's garden, an herb garden, a maze, an Ottoman garden, the Climatron and lots of other stuff.

Anyway, our fair botanical garden is the oldest garden of its kind in continuous operation in the United States.  It was founded in 1859 and is a National Historic Landmark.


Here's an oldie of some folks carousing on the lily pads.  Cool!



These autumn trees are killing me!  So pretty!











The Climatron.




Pretty iPhone sun flares.  Oh, and flowers.




Mini lily pads.




There was a rad photo exhibit of frost flowers, which are the delicate, frozen extrusions of water from the stems of certain plants.  They are only formed when the conditions are just so and are really lovely.