At the Denver Botanic Garden Without Glasses

     With all the wonderful glare coming from the Chihulies, it was somewhat difficult to focus on just the plants and gardens at the Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG), but I forced myself. This trip was my third to DBG, and I've been impressed from the first visit. For a botanic garden, it is not large, basically just a couple of enclosed city blocks. However, because of the way space is utilized and designed, the garden feels large, but you can see everything in one visit. Like most botanic gardens, there are themed gardens throughout, showcasing plants and gardening styles from around the world. Where they can, DBG uses native species, or others that are adapted to similarly dry, cold-winter climates, to support these themes. I think what I like best about the garden is how it has embraced the varied regional climate zones and plant communities that can be seen in the high plains and Rockies. I wish more botanic gardens would tie themselves to the surrounding landscape in such a way.

     In light of what I said above, please don't think the gardens are only full of  yuccas and sagebrush. They are quite colorful.

     If for some reason you have not seen enough, here is a link to my complete photo set on Flickr, including more Chihulies.

Chihuly at the Denver Botanic Gardens

     For our vacation this summer we drove out to Colorado to spend some time with our friends the Sherpa Girls. In planning the trip I knew I would be visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens again whether anyone else would join me or not, but when Sherpa Girl K told me that they were hosting a Dale Chihuly exhibit the deal was sealed. I've seen bits and pieces of Chihuly's glass in museums, at Fairchild in Florida, and even in a former client's home, but the opportunity to see an entire exhibit made even driving through western Kansas worth it. When we got back home I told someone how thrilled I was that I got to see the exhibit, and they replied, in so many words, how overdone Chihuly was, and that he bordered on being passé. However, I loved it, in fact, I went twice, once during the day, and again at dusk to see the pieces illuminated. Judging from the full parking lot, and non-weekend crowds, I was not the only one who appreciated the successful marriage of art and garden.

     If I had one complaint about the exhibit, it would be that the art was so alluring it made seeing the garden an effort. So for the next Colorado post I will focus on just the gardens.