Missouri Botanical Garden

The Missouri Botanical Garden is a great place for roses right in St. Louis. I got a chance to get over there recently. During the summer, on Wednesdays they are open late, have free admission, and a free concert.  If you’re a St. Louis area resident, it seems like a great way to spend a weekday night in the summer.

That's a view of one of the rose gardens after entering the main garden. This is the Gladney Rose Garden.

So, a little history, the garden grounds used to be owned by a man named Shaw, so you’ll also hear it called the Shaw Gardens, especially in St. Louis.  It’s a little bit south and west of downtown but an easy drive from the highway or a quick shuttle if you are staying in a hotel downtown like I was.

The day I went, it was hot.  Not just a little hot, but about 97 degrees and humid. Jungle hot!  But I still got a chance to check out the grounds, and obviously, the rose gardens.

Since it was the middle of July and in the middle of a nasty heat wave, the roses were a little spotty in terms of blooms.  I tried to capture as much as I could.  They actually have two nice rose gardens on the premises, as well as some nice Japanese, herb, fruit and tree gardens.  Again, its highly recommended and would probably be even better in June when the weather is a little bit cooler.

Now that's some landscaping!

I didn’t have my good camera this trip as this was kind of a spur of the moment thing.  I tried to pick out some of the favorites I saw though.  I would love to hear back from any St. Louis folks on their favorites too!

This is the other rose garden, a little farther back into the grounds, called the Lehmann Rose Garden.