Missouri Botanical Gardens among best in the nation

The Climatron was the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse (1960) and it is filled with 1500+ plants from lowland rain forest environments

The largest Japanese garden in North America was my favorite section of the park; I appreciated that almost every tree and plant was identified

The Missouri Botanical Garden is the second largest in North America, behind that of the New York Botanical Garden; visiting in late October was not ideal nor was the cold and rainy weather

Construction is underway on a brand new visitor center for the garden scheduled to open in late 2022; it is designed to better handle the 1+ million annual visitors

For part of 2006, the Missouri Botanical Garden featured Glass in the Garden, with glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly placed throughout the garden; Sunset Herons is one of four works purchased that remain in the gardens

The interior of the Climatron was filled with plants from around the world with a focus on unique areas of biodiversity such as Madagascar, admission to the gardens is $14

Beautyberry, SE USA (yet I've never seen this plant); the berries were a folk remedy to prevent mosquito bites with four chemicals from the berries now determined to act as a natural insect repellent

Each section here features a different type of grass; I found this educational and thought it a very informative display that would be of interest to anyone with a lawn

Mosaic plant, native to South America; my last visit to St. Louis was 40+ years ago when my Mom brought my sister and me to Six Flags Over Mid-America, the Gateway Arch and the Anheuser-Busch brewery

The Japanese Garden, dedicated in 1977, was designed by a landscape architecture professor from UCLA; it is so authentic that it could be in any Japanese city

The statue and fountain honor Missouri native George Washington Carver who was the most prominent Black scientist of the early 20th century; I stayed at the River City Casino which I left with a $150 profit!

The red maples were just past their prime colors; there were a couple of rose gardens that probably look great in the summer but had no blooms this time of year

Victory of Science over Ignorance, Carlo Nicoli; a copy of the original (1859) by Vincenzo Consani in the Pitti Palace, Florence; what a perfect statement for our times!

In the spring this becomes a manicured garden of Victorian-style plantings; many buildings and interior exhibits were closed to visitors due to the pandemic

Orchids are one of the most highly evolved plants, fusing their male and female parts into a column; I had planned to visit the free St. Louis Zoo but opted not to in the pouring rain