Spotlight on St. Louis: The Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden spreads over 79 lovely acres in the Shaw neighborhood near Tower Grove Park. This natural oasis in St. Louis city was a passion project of Englishman Henry Shaw who moved to St. Louis as a young man and founded the garden in 1859. It is the nation’s oldest botanical garden in continuous operation and a National Historic Landmark - it’s also a fixture in many St. Louisans lives.
From holidays to Sunday brunch to meeting up with friends and family at garden events or serving as a meeting place for dates and mid-afternoon strolls, the Botanical Garden is a multi-purpose attraction that is both formal and informal, beautiful and educational.
The Missouri Botanical Garden isn’t just a source for beautiful landscapes and enjoyable walks, but a center for conservation, education, and horticultural science behind the scenes and though many programs for the general public.
Research and conservation work are such a big part of the Garden’s mission they created the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development and the William L. Brown Center which further their mission of researching and preserving plant species around the world and learning more about their many uses.
Humans haven’t yet found and documented all species of plants on the Earth, and MoBot scientists are playing an important role in that work on a global scale as well as studying the way those plants behave over time and how to care for them. Some of the many countries in which they have a strong presence include Bolivia, Madagascar, Peru, and Vietnam.
Clearly, most of the scientific work happens behind the scenes, but in a more front-of-house effort the Garden has started an initiative called BiodiverseCity St. Louis to encourage everyone to “share a stake in improving quality of life for all through actions that welcome nature into our urban, suburban and rural communities.”
The Missouri Botanical Garden isn’t just a source for beautiful landscapes and enjoyable walks, but a center for conservation, education, and horticultural science behind the scenes and though many programs for the general public.
MoBot also owns and runs the Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, Missouri and education and sustainability programs for all ages here in St. Louis.
The Missouri Botanical Garden also re-opened the restored Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum on the garden’s grounds in 2018. A massive undertaking, the newly renovated museum was the first building built on the Garden grounds and was a Henry Shaw’s personal project, but was closed and deteriorated over time. Now, it showcases artifacts from the Garden’s history as well as endangered plants and other aspects of the Garden’s work.
Even without their formal programs, classroom visits, activities for kids and families, workshops for adults and more it’s hard not learn something when visiting the garden. Who hasn’t checked the plant signs to see what an interesting looking plant was called or where a beautiful flower was native to?
The English Woodland Garden, Chinese Garden, Rose Garden, Linnean House, and Japanese garden are among regular patrons’ favorites. A walk through the grounds can take you through, the bulb, Iris, and Daylily gardens, the Climatron, the newer George Washington Carver Garden as well as experimental gardens, demonstration gardens, both sun and shade gardens and - if you can find them - a secret garden or two.
The Cornelia Sunnen Backyard Garden gives the ambitious ideas of what they might be able to do in their backyard, while the Kemper Center for Home Gardening teaches us about vegetable and flower growing, indoor plants, landscaping ornamental shrubs and more. I for one loved checking on the see-through beehive as a child or running around the raccoon sculptures in the Kemper Center garden.
Several of their events have become yearly traditions such as the Holiday Garden Glow in the winter, the Orchid Show in the spring, and their free summer concert series, Whitaker Music Festival which will run every Wednesday evening for the majority of the summer. You can find at least one amazing event every month on their website or Facebook page.
Whether at the garden for brunch, a casual stroll or a special event, it’s guaranteed to offer a different experience every time and a beautiful one at that.
What are some of your favorite memories of the Missouri Botanical Garden or some of your favorite gardens there? Leave a comment below!
The Missouri Botanical Garden is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. Admission is free for members, or $12 adults (ages 13 & over) and free for children. With proof of city or country residency admission is $6 for adults and $4 for seniors (over 65).
Copyright © Amanda Honigfort, 2019