Friday, June 10, 2016

An Urban Oasis Waiting for You

In the heart of this bustling city lies an urban oasis  --  the Denver Botanic Gardens.  
Twenty-four acres of plants from around the world, breathtaking works of art,
a peaceful Japanese garden and tea house, and an amazing conservatory.

One of my favorite things in the gardens is this Victorian steel conservatory.


My friend, Melanie, took this picture of me. 
I feel like I should be on the cover of a romantic English novel!


The main conservatory houses tropical plants, a restaurant, and a research library. 
The iconic cement and glass roof was patterned after the ribs of a water lily.


I love this shot of the water lily pond. It reminds me of an Impressionist painting.


There's even a French potager garden.


Besides acres and acres of beautiful plants, amazing artwork is scattered throughout the gardens.
I think art displayed outside looks completely different than it does in a museum. 



Plants are framed and highlighted in unique ways with wood, cement and water.




And, of course, the gardens look their best under this gorgeous blue Colorado sky. 


I could spend hours in this magical place . . . and I have!
The gardens are open in the summer from 9 am. to 8 p.m. 
and are located at 1007 York Street in Denver.
Every month is a new experience. 

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47 comments:

  1. Oh, I love botanical gardens. Thanks for this tour! There are some around me that I haven't yet visited, and I want to go back to Fontfroide. You have motivated me to get on it.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed the tour. Enjoy your French gardens; they must be spectacular!

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  2. Pat, I've been to Denver many times, but never to the Botanical Gardens. I will put this on my list for our next visit. Thank you much for taking us along. Visiting a beautiful garden is always my cup of tea.

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  3. What a fun post. You've brought back fond memories for me. My sister lived in Denver for awhile. We visited. My parents and I visited the botanical gardens a few times on our visits there! Thank you for the special memory!
    I'm following you and get your emails. To remind me to come over. I hope you'll come over and visit me. I have some book giveaways going on all summer. The first one ends in a few days. Come over and check it out!
    Have a good weekend.

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    1. Thank you Grantham. So glad this post brought back good memories.

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  4. Beautiful, I just love Botanical Gardens! And that Victorian conservatory is amazing! Thanks for sharing all that beauty and have a good weekend,
    GIna

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    1. Thank you Gina. Yes, I believe that vintage conservatory was originally made for Disney but need to research that a bit. So glad you enjoyed it.

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  5. I have just begun a new love affair with botanical gardens and have visited the Phoenix and Chicago gardens in just over a year. The Denver gardens look gorgeous, too. Your photos are beautiful, and I love that conservatory. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank you Julie. How fun to visit botanic gardens in different states. I imagine they would all be quite different. There's a lovely one in Pasadena if you're going that way.

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  6. Totally agree with you on the English garden feel.

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    1. Thanks for visiting my garden Audra. Hope to see you again soon.

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  7. What amazing and beautiful photos! I enjoyed your blog.

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  8. What a beautiful place, Pat! Beautiful flowers and lily pond and with so many interesting structures. I think your picture would make a lovely front cover of an English novel! I would love to visit there. I don't know if my son has been there or not. He just moved to Louisville to be closer to the university but he will be there at least another year so perhaps he will get there. He loves hiking so I believe he spends a lot of his free time doing that. I understand there is a lot to see and do in CO. Thanks for a glimpse of this lovely place and have a delightful day.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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    1. Sandi, love your comments and hope you get to CO someday. Warm hugs,

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  9. Wow! Talk about stunning. I have to scroll back up and look again....lol

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  10. I've enjoyed the photos you've taken. I've only been through the Denver airport and have never spent any time in Colorado. Fortunately, we're members of our botanical gardens and sculpture park in Grand Rapids, so we're about to enjoy something similar.

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    1. Thanks for visiting Carol. Your botanical garden sounds so nice. Enjoy!

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  11. We plan to be in Denver in July. I will definitely add this to my must do list!

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  12. Thanks Ellis. I hope you enjoy your visit to Denver. The gardens will no doubt look different in July but just as pretty.

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  13. Thanks Ellis. I hope you enjoy your visit to Denver. The gardens will no doubt look different in July but just as pretty.

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  14. It is all beautiful, but that Victorian conservatory is fabulous.

    Thanks for sharing with SYC.

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  15. What a gorgeous place Pat, and you have captured it beautifully with your stunning photos. Thank you so much for sharing at SYS and have a great week!
    XO Barbara

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    1. Thanks so much Barbara for your sweet comments. I really appreciate them.

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  16. I was just in Denver and I had no idea they had a botanical gardens this beautiful. i would have stopped had I known. Visiting from Thursday Favorite Things.

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    1. Thanks Amy. Hope you can visit our gardens next time you're in Denver.

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  17. Beautiful! We have a wonderful botanical garden here in Atlanta too. Right now it's hosting a Chihuly Glass Exhibit. I haven't gone yet, but I plan too.

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    1. Thank you Pam. We had that exhibit here too. I imagine the garden in Atlanta must be gorgeous.

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  18. I love visiting botanical gardens!! This one is exceptional! I would love to see it some day. Thanks for sharing the pictures of it. I'm sure there is so much to see, you probably only shared the best parts.
    Blessings, Ann @ Cairn Cottage (http://cairncottage.blogspot.com/)

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    1. Thank you Ann. You're right; there's a whole lot more to see. Hope you can visit sometime.

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  19. Gorgeous photos!! I love botanical gardens, they're always so inspiring and the art work is amazing.

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  20. How beautiful! Botanical gardens are always the best places to visit when traveling. My husband likes them too so we always look for them when we are in a new city. Thank you for sharing this at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. Pinning. :)

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  21. I love botanical gardens and I understand that Denver has one of the best. Beautiful images of this wonderful place. Armchair traveling is fun! Thanks!

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    1. Thank you Snap. I appreciate your compliment and wish you a wonderful summer.

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  22. What a lovely spot, Pat. Reminds me so much of a stately home we loved and visited often in England--Chatsworth. It was used in the Pride & Prejudice movie as Pemberley. So glad you linked it up with us at Vintage Charm :)

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    1. Thanks so much Diana. Quite a compliment. Hope you're having a good week.

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  23. Petty! I so love the French potager gardens style! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!

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    1. Thank you for visiting. I'd love to have a potager but I don't have enough sun for vegetables. Enjoy your summer days!

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