Photograph by Leslie Wallace
The earth moves closer in its orbit to the sun. The seasons change. Green grass pokes through the mud. Hope springs eternal, those damned optimists keep telling us.
And suddenly, spring. Where did that come from? At the Missouri Botanical Garden, they can dig it. April showers can’t dampen an extensive lineup of spring events, including the mad dragons of Chinese Culture Days, the reopening of the hugely interactive Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden, behind-the-scenes tours on Earth Day, and preparations for the Garden’s 150th anniversary celebration.
MoBot, as some like to call it, is of course known for its meandering Japanese Garden, with stately ponds and bridges. But the Grigg Nanjing Chinese Friendship Garden offers its own little taste of Asian history and mystery, boasting an ornate Chinese pavilion, a pond with cute little waterfalls, bamboo plants, lotuses, poetry inscribed on a stone gate, and…frogs. The pond is a hit with amphibians, says senior MoBot horticulturist John Sweeney. “There are two big frogs that live in that pond year-round,” he claims.
And as it warms up, many more may be found splashing around, especially during Chinese Culture Days, when the Grigg Nanjing Garden hosts tai chi demonstrations, tea tastings, and tours that focus on the garden’s botanical and architectural elements. New this year, in honor of the Garden’s sesquicentennial, is a display of bronze artifacts from the Song, Ming, Han, and Qing dynasties, while other festival favorites return, including the New Shanghai Circus, fashion shows, cooking and martial-arts demos, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painting, and authentic regional cuisine. And the Grand Parade, with its 70-foot dancing dragon, always captivates kids and adults alike.
Speaking of kids, some children might imagine the garden is all flowers, trees, and grown-up stuff, kinda sleepy and dull.
Well, hold on to your pistils and stamens, ’cause the Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden is a veritable cornucopia of delights. The 2-acre playground seamlessly joins the educational and the fun, with its crisscrossing paths, rope bridges, three-level fort, precipitous treehouse, waterfall, walk-in beehive, limestone cave, kid-sized steamboat, flowing river, long slide, splash zone, mock jail, and general store stocked with plastic veggies, not to mention the chance to play in the dirt and tend the garden.
“We try to make all the activities very hands-on,” says Children’s Garden supervisor Julia Gaussoin. “They might not realize that they’re learning, but they are.”
Kids are discovering the magic of Missouri ecosystems—our caves, wetlands, forests, prairies, and so on, explains Gaussoin. This year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of MoBot, there’s a focus on garden founder Henry Shaw.
While rambunctious juniors are zooming down the slide, the more contemplative might enjoy Gaussoin’s own mellow hideaway. “One of my favorite places is the Secret Garden, which opens with a trick door,” she says. “It’s a shady spot where kids can feel hidden.”
The garden is also a natural for Earth Day. Earth Share of Missouri, an umbrella group for many eco-oriented nonprofits and conservation groups, sponsors a mini-expo at the garden this month. Groups including the EarthWays Center, The Nature Conservancy, the Missouri Parks Association, St. Louis Rainforest Advocates, the Wild Canid Center, the Center for Plant Conservation, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Missouri Environmental Education Association, Missouri Mycological Society, Missouri Stream Team, Open Space Council, Sierra Club Foundation, and the St. Louis Rainforest Advocates set up info booths and offer demos.
Many Earth Day visitors will also enjoy a peek at the plants behind the curtain—a behind-the-scenes tour of greenhouses where the public is not normally allowed. This includes a tour of MoBot’s expansive orchid range, a riot of color and fertility. The garden’s extensive collection of aroids (a family of tropical plants that includes anthuriums and the titan arum, one of the world’s largest flowers) is pretty awesome, too.
As April winds down, the garden winds up a huge 20- by 20-foot working clock made almost entirely of living plants to celebrate its 150th anniversary. A cuckoo pops out every quarter-hour to make sure we’re all still here. Later, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, the garden stays open late every Thursday for Garden Party Nights, which include family entertainment plus wine tastings (5 to 9 p.m., with the Children’s Garden open until 8 p.m.). The garden takes on a moody aspect at night, with its labyrinth of paths and trees.
T.S. Eliot, decrier of this “cruelest month… stirring dull roots with spring rain,” surely was untouched by Chinese dragons, rope bridges, treehouses, and cuckoos made of flowers that count the hours. We’ll write poetry later, after everything’s gone green. Now we want to run through it.
Schedule of Events
April 1
Children’s Garden reopens. Through April 5, kids can visit “Germination Stations,” assemble seed packets to take home, or have their photo made into a button. For more information, go to mobot.org/finn. Tours of the Tower Grove House and narrated tram rides also resume April 1.
April 18
Earth Share of Missouri hosts an Earth Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., including bluegrass from the Barn Burners from 1 to 3 p.m. on Spoehrer Plaza and greenhouse tours at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m.
April 25 and 26
Chinese Culture Days, May 25 & 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $12, $10 seniors, $5 kids and garden members. Tickets available at the door or at mobot.org.
May 1 through October
Meander over to the Climatron to see MoBot’s working floral clock during garden hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw. Admission is $4 for St. Louis city and county residents; some additional charges may apply for special events. For a full April calendar or for more information, call 314-577-9400 or visit mobot.org.
