Missouri Botanical Garden provides shot of Spring

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Winter weather doesn’t prevent flowers from blooming in the heart of St. Louis.

The Missouri Botanical Center is open year round. While not all of the 79-acre site has flowers and plants on display, there are enough of them available to warrant a visit. We spent more than two hours there.

The visitor center hosted an orchid show during our visit. It actually runs until March 23rd.

The flowers on display were more than enough to keep us busy for at least an hour. We checked out each display and took in the beauty of the flowers.

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I ran into a photographer, who was trying out his new lens on the display. We visited for a couple of minutes about the many photo opps in front of us.

The garden entrance has an art piece hanging above the entrance. The Chihuly piece was beautiful to check out.

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The exterior portion of the Botanical Garden didn’t have any flowers or plants on display, for obvious reasons.

However, sculptures were available for viewing throughout the walk.

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I immediately saw one that has a mother bird protecting her eggs.

Another showed a family playing.

We walked a short distance to the rainforest garden – the Climatron. It’s located inside a dome. Omaha has the world’s largest indoor rainforest. But, the St. Louis attraction was an enjoyable visit. It was an interesting visit.

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We started next door, actually. The Temperate House offered a look at a variety of flowers and plants. The center of the building had a style that resembled a Greek garden. You walked through an arch to the fountain in the middle of the garden.

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Variety of flowers lined the pool.

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It was a pretty attraction.

Next door, the Climatron offered a look into rain forests.

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Waterfalls, birds and plants highlighted the paths through the building.

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We checked out several attractive plant exhibits.

The exhibits were dense and so green. It reminded one of actually being in a tropical rain forest.

The garden staff makes good use of the space. Waterfall pools have exotic fish or art displays in them.

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While we didn’t get to take advantage of the outdoor walking paths, the Botanical Garden has some excellent areas to check out.

Floral areas include: The Japanese Garden, Victorian District, English Wooden Garden, German Garden, and others.

It would be an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a nice day.

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I’ve already told Lisa I want to visit again during a warm weather trip.

For more information on the Missouri Botanical Garden, please visit the website www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.

Disclaimer: Thank you to the St. Louis Visitors Bureau for the complimentary tickets to the botanical garden. However, all opinions and views are ours.