Saturday, July 23, 2011

Albuquerque Botanic Garden

If you ever get to Albuquerque, be certain you have time to go to the Albuquerque Botanic Garden.  You will be impressed.  I'm not certain I have ever seen any botanical garden as wonderful as this one.  Read on to find out why.

The Japanese garden was beautiful.  The waterfall made it special.


The farm garden was lovely.  It's my garden dream.  If only my vegetable garden looked like this!


The rose garden was blooming.  They had planted climbing roses in the most unusual way.


Fabulous planters.


Gorgeous pavilions.


Lovely walkways.


The butterfly habitat was thrilling.  There were so many butterflies, it was hard to not step on them!


And the garden railroad, complete with its own town, was fascinating.


Now, all of those areas were lovely, beautiful, nice, and enjoyable.  But, don't you kind of expect that from a public garden?  No, those areas, as pretty as they were, was not what made this garden unforgettable, unique, exciting, wonderful, creative, and imaginative.

What made this botanical garden stand out was the children's area.

In the children's area, you suddenly seemed to be the size of an ant.  It was if you actually became an ant!

Vegetables were huge.  Tracks were embedded in the ground, and it was fun to figure out what would have made them (rabbit, people, earthworm, etc.).


Here we are inside of a pumpkin!


This bee, giant size to us ants, made a buzzing noise when you passed under it.  I didn't realize it was above my head, and I kept looking for some giant killer bee hive!  hahaha  It was finally pointed out to me that the bee was above my head!  Makes you think of the sounds ants hear!


And there were ant tunnels.  Lots of ant tunnels.  Inside, outside, around and back.  A maze of tunnels, leading to different areas.


So much fun!
So much laughter!
So much delight!
And I bet children would like it just as much as I did!

In fact, Albuquerque Botanic Garden was all about experiencing and learning.  With discovery stations located all throughout the garden areas, children of all ages were encouraged to touch, feel, learn, experience, and discover gardening.  Isn't that as it should be?  Shouldn't we be teaching our love of gardens to all generations?  Albuquerque Botanic Garden has succeeded, exceptionally.

Definitely put this one on your list.  And bring your kids.  That way you'll have a good excuse to run through the ant tunnels over and over again!

22 comments:

  1. That is a fantastic visit. Love the falls!
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. Oh, my the Children's garden was a treat! What an amazing place and such inventiveness on the part of the designer with the huge vegetables, just a wonderland for little ones. I love the Japanese gardens too and the vegetable garden is a treasure.

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  3. How neat to have a garden from the ant's point of view. I will have to visit there one day.

    I enjoyed the children's garden at Winterthur but don't think Longwood Gardens had one.

    Pavonia is doing fine is our high heat. I guess it's used to it being from TX. Too hot to dig in the garden to dig up day lilies. I think I'll wait until late August or early September before I send those to you.

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  4. What a wonderful virtual tour! I can only begin to imagine the creative minds that put together the Children's Garden - what a clever way to engage kids (of ALL ages). Thanks for sharing! :)

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  5. What a cool and interactive place.

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  6. Cher - There was a pathway going behind the falls, too, but it was closed when we were there. That would be so fun to go behind!

    Karen - I kept thinking how creative the designer was. I was quite impressed. All of it was beautiful, very well tended, and had something for everyone.

    Marcia - Glad your pavonia is doing well. It does take the heat! I thought the ant's point of view in the garden was such a wonderful idea. So many learning opportunities as well as just enjoyment and delight!

    Shyrlene - I agree - kids of All ages could really enjoy this garden. They really thought it out, and had it all.

    GWGT - It was smartly designed. When we were there, there were several children's groups taking field trips, and they were so excited to be there. That's a great garden!

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  7. Holley, I loved seeing your photos from the Albuquerque Botanical Garden, especially after I had visited it a couple of month earlier and did a post on my blog about it, too. You are right besides that it is fantastic botanical garden in general, the areas for children are quite outstanding! I am sure kids will have fun there!
    Christina

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  8. Albuquerque Botanic Gardens has definitely created some magical places to get out of the sun. What a great place for kids of all ages to learn about plants and insects.

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  9. Christina - The kids we saw seemed to be having a great time, and I enjoyed the children's area just as much as any child! The other areas are also beautiful and so well maintained. It would be a great garden to just have a picnic, learn about gardening, have a wedding or other special event, and so many things!

    Tufa Girl - It was quite shady in most of the areas. The butterfly enclosure was the hottest because they kept it humid, misting down areas for the butterflies to have a drink. There was shade always within a few feet.

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  10. That waterfall looks quite refreshing and cooling! Awesome on the bee. Imagine a kids delight with it too!

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  11. I'm soooooo glad you enjoyed this area and wanted to post about it--the children's garden is one of my very favorites. I laughed out loud at the whimsy of it the first time I was there and had a ball going through it with my 9-year-old nephew last year. Just to think that there are people in the world who design these things for a living--isn't that amazing?

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  12. tina - The waterfall was wonderful. Wish we could have gone behind it. It would have been a refreshing treat! I think kids would get a great kick out of this garden. It was so different than anything I've seen before, so imaginative and creative!

    Stacy - What a joy to be able to visit this garden often! I, too, felt incredulous that someone could think up this wonderful area!

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  13. Great post! I loved the pictures, and the children's area looks like a lot of fun. I hope we can get there too one day.

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  14. Masha - I hope you can go sometime. I think you would really enjoy it. There's truly something for everyone there!

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  15. Holley this is the second virtual tour of these gardens I have seen this year and each was different...I love this garden and will be sure to visit it when I make my next visit to NM...wow!!

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  16. Donna - I hope you get to go soon and I would be interested in seeing your post on it. Everyone is impressed by something different, and of course, season too makes a world of difference. Plus, there's just so much there to see!

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  17. Thanks for the tour Holley, a fascinating place and glad to know you had a lovely time!

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  18. Mark and Gaz - Glad you enjoyed it! I suppose it's quite different than where you are! I love seeing how different areas design their plantings.

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  19. It looks like a wonderful garden.
    Thanks for sharing, Holley!
    Julie

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  20. Julie - It truly was a great garden. If I lived there, I would visit regularly!

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  21. wow, how fun - I love the inside of the pumpkin!

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  22. Wendy - I thought it was very creative, too! Something I would have never thought of. Some great minds went into creating this area.

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