Botanical Gardens

Gardens are a form of autobiography.
~Sydney Eddison

Winter has its own charms, but (if you live in my part of the world) I thought you might like a change of pace. So we have an international trip to botanical gardens today! Botanical gardens have greenhouses which are great to visit year-round -- if you have one near you, consider making the trip.

What makes a garden botanical? The New York Botanical Garden explains that classical botanical gardens "study, exhibit, and teach about plants." The merit of learning about plants seems self-evident. For more info, see H. Bruce Rinker's The Weight of a Petal: The Value of Botanical Gardens. Additional links below.

Adelaide Botanic Garden, South Australia
photo by Les Haines

National Garden of Belgium- Balat Greenhouse (1854).
photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont

Phalaenopsis philippinensis in Singapore Botanic Gardens

Botanical Garden of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Jardin des Plantes, Paris
Architect: Charles Rohault de Fleury
photo by Jebulon

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, California
photo by Cliff Hutson

Botanischer Garten Berlin (Dahlem)

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
photo by Alan Craigie

Botanical Gardens in Ooty
photo by Swaminathan

Auburn Botanical Gardens, Australia
photo by Louise Docker

A model version of the Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, and Lincoln Memorial
United States Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C.
photo by Fletcher6

Links:
* Botanical Buzz Podcasts from the San Francisco Botanical Garden
* Interesting (and strange) science news for kids about plants
* Meet the Plants videos from the National Tropical Botanical Garden. They also share articles from their magazine.
* Chihuahuan Nature Center "Nature Notes" about desert plants
* Botanical Garden shops: NYBG, Chicago BG, Kew Royal BG, Missouri BG Press notecards and rare book prints