Exploring the Children's Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 5

Exploring the Children’s Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 5

June 30, 2021 After being closed for a year due to the pandemic, the Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden had recently reopened when I visited Missouri Botanical Garden earlier this month, and the kids were clearly loving it. The splash pad was the hot spot, with water jets popping up ...
Home gardening inspiration, plus a boxwood garden and Chinese garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 4

Home gardening inspiration, plus a boxwood garden and Chinese garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 4

June 27, 2021 Visiting Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT) earlier this month for the first time, I expected to breeze through the Center for Home Gardening and get on to more interesting parts of the garden. Instead I found myself poking around this space for close to an hour. I was ...
Seiwa-en, a serene Japanese strolling garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 3

Seiwa-en, a serene Japanese strolling garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 3

June 25, 2021 A week ago I road-tripped to St. Louis to visit Missouri Botanical Garden. At its far end I found the acclaimed Japanese Garden Seiwa-en, a 14-acre strolling garden built around a curving lake, with naturalistic but carefully composed views. Quite the contrast with the colorful, geometric, and ...
Victorian Garden, Stumpery, and origami sculpture: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 2

Victorian Garden, Stumpery, and origami sculpture: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 2

June 24, 2021 It’s Pollinator Week, so I’ll kick off Part 2 of my visit to Missouri Botanical Garden (MOBOT) with this bee-attracting patch of coneflowers behind one of the administrative buildings. What a pretty little garden of echinacea, allium, and amsonia in a hidden-away spot. Victorian Garden In contrast, ...
Climatron tropical house, origami sculpture, and more: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 1

Climatron tropical house, origami sculpture, and more: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 1

June 22, 2021 A week ago today I road-tripped with my mom through Arkansas up to St. Louis to visit Missouri Botanical Garden, which I’d long wanted to see. I’d always thought of St. Louis as being not that far away from Austin. After all, Missouri is part of the ...
Remembering Dred Scott on Juneteenth at Gateway Arch in St. Louis

Remembering Dred Scott on Juneteenth at Gateway Arch in St. Louis

June 19, 2021 Today is Juneteenth, our newest national holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery. Short for June 19th, Juneteenth has long been celebrated by African American communities in Texas. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were finally told, two months after the Civil War had ended, ...