This fabulous garden was founded in 1859 and is the nation's oldest botanical garden in continuous operation. It is a National Historic Landmark. It is located in St. Louis but has a global influence with field projects in over 35 countries. We needed much more than the day we had to fully cover it. We decided to walk through the major entry areas and then take the tram to the Japanese Garden (to be covered in a separate blog post). Once again we had the pleasure of having Diane with us.
Chihuly's art is prominent in several locations of the Garden.
Diane gives us a great perspective of the size of this art piece.
As one leaves the entry area they walk out onto the Spoehrer Plaza. This is a focal point, a gathering area for many events. The Latzer Fountain was completed in 1982 by Geoffrey Rausch, an American. The fountain varies in height between 15 and 18 feet which is dependent on an automatic wind contral sensor. This lowers the fountain during strong winds in order to protect people and nearby plants. Like the curve of the three walls surrounding the plaza, the fountain's spray was engineered to reflect both the arch of Ridgeway Visitor Center's barrel vault and the curves of the windows in the century-old Linnean House.
This is the huge Climatron, the first geodesic dome to be used as a conservatory. The dome incorporates the principles of R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic system. The Climatron is home to the world's tropical plants and ecosystems, housing some of the world's rarest plants.
There are two large pools in front of the Climatron. Each is different but shares some elements such as the Chihuly glass, the sculptures and abundant water plants.
I believe most of the sculptures around the pools were created by Carl Milles (1875-1955).
This sculpture by Paul T. Granlund is titled, 'Zerogee'.
I loved this piece! Ito is titled 'Sole Provider' by Joe Mutasa. It was presented to the Garden by the artists of Zimbaswe and the Chapungu Sculpture Park in memory of those who perished on September 11, 2001.
Diane and I were whopped, hot and ready for a rest. Tom, on the other hand, was still ready to go! He took off for the Climatron. The images below were all taken inside that huge geodesic dome.
