Holiday Gardens
Callaway Gardens
Pine Mountain, Georgia
Offering southern charm and hospitality, Callaway Gardens has become a Christmas tradition for more than 300,000 visitors each holiday season. Started in 1952 by Case and Virginia Callaway, the gardens are a year-round retreat. As soon as September rolls around, though, 10 men work for three months, adding lights to decorations that have been made especially to blend with the woodland setting. Visitors can catch the trolley and take the seven-mile tour through Santa's Village, the March of the Toy Soldiers and Christmas Tree Lane while listening to music that has been selected to match each theme. There is also a lighted depiction of each of the 12 days of Christmas. Don't miss Snowflake Valley, a section of lights almost a half a mile long strung to look like stars and snowflakes. Indoors, the Christmas Village offers music and activities for kids. A trip to Callaway Gardens will enhance any Christmas celebration. Huntsville Botanical Gardens
Huntsville, Alabama
Every night between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, the Galaxy of Lights works to establish a visit to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens as a family tradition. More than 400 volunteers work 20,000 hours to hang more than 300,000 lights. What makes these gardens even more unusual is its core group of design engineers: all nine are retired NASA or Department of Defense employees. The 135 displays are largely original, as the retirees find it fun to design displays from the ground up. Each year 15,000 carloads of visitors take the one-hour tour, turning off the parking lights, tuning in to holiday music on the radio and enjoying the holiday lights. One of the favorite displays is the dogwood flower, representing the 100-year-old dogwood tree the gardens rescued from another site. Volunteers say the Galaxy of Lights is a symbol of looking above, to the stars, as well as a reminder to keep looking forward. Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver, Colorado
The purpose of the Blossoms of Light celebration at the Denver Botanic Gardens is not only to look good; in addition, the staff tries to educate people to enjoy all kinds of plants, nontraditional and traditional, during the holiday season. The sparseness of the vegetation is celebrated, not camouflaged. Some 200,000 people visit the gardens during the holidays, and they are treated to frozen ponds in the water garden, displays of high desert grasses and bare willow branches decorated to look as if they are dripping icicles. What makes these gardens even more special is the setting: this is an "oasis in an urban setting," sitting smack in the middle of downtown Denver. There are more than 850,000 lights, but visitors often comment that they can see past the lights to the beauty of the plants. After walking under the lighted canopies and marveling at the 20-foot Christmas tree, visitors can enjoy the lush tropical plants indoors, such as the weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) decorated with bromeliad ornaments. Longwood Gardens
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Nearly 1,000 acres of gardens, woodlands and meadows containing 11,000 plant varieties and 40 themed gardens make up Longwood Gardens. Pierre DuPont created these gardens 92 years ago after travelling through Europe and falling in love with the gardens he saw there. For almost a century, Longwood embraces the season with a holiday celebration. More than 200,000 people visit each year to see the after-dark water display and the 20 indoor gardens decorated with three million lights. Workers begin planning two years in advance, but themes are chosen five years ahead of time. Their elegant, traditional approach uses 40,000 lights and showcases poinsettias. The indoor gardens include a garden for children, where a maze of greenery challenges young and old. In the main conservatory, the large sweeps of poinsettias, begonias and paper whites are the focal point. A 22-foot fir decorated with 350 live poinsettias is the centerpiece in the exhibition hall. The poinsettias are kept fresh by watering tubes hidden in the tree. Chicago Botanic Gardens
Chicago, Illinois
Now here's something you don't see every day. This event begins with a horse-drawn carriage tour through nearly a million holiday lights. The Celebrations Festival at the Chicago Botanic Gardens emphasizes the beauty and tranquility of gardens in winter. The goal of the festival is to convince visitors that they can use the garden to decorate for the holidays, and the garden features displays created as suggestions for holiday decorating. Twenty garden club trees, two grand trees over 30 feet tall, nine decorated vintage doors, and five table settings excite the senses. All decorations are inspired by nature and designed to show off the dormant state of the trees and vegetation. Outdoor trees decorated with yarn and birdseed to keep the gardens' smaller visitors happy. The gardens are situated on 380 acres of islands, prairie, woods and river. In fact, 75 acres of the gardens are water. Since 1965, Chicago Botanic Gardens have showcased the hardy plants of the Midwest, but that's not the only attraction, especially during the holidays. Each year a 50-foot Colorado blue spruce is brought in and decorated with 25,000 colored lights. There is also a special tree made by local artists, decorated with mementos and photographs collected from nearby nursing home residents. Music, holiday storytelling and ice-sculpting demonstrations provide the perfect final touches to the Celebrations Festival. Missouri Botanical Garden
St. Louis, Missouri
Henry Shaw began these gardens in the early 1800s, inspired by his 20 years of travel through European gardens. The Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest and largest in the country, hosting nationally recognized flower shows since 1920. Attractions during the holiday season include thousands of seasonal blooms, an interactive garden, and trees decorated with dried fruits and flowers from the garden. Each holiday garden takes five years to plan, and each has a different theme. Special displays such as the wreath collection made by local artists add extra spice to the holiday experience, and the phrase "Look but don't touch" wouldn't apply here. Children and adults are encouraged to play in the many display areas, take pictures and bring new visitors with them when they return each year. The garden's Kemper Center offers ideas and displays for folks who like a more organic feel to their decorations. This peaceful winter garden is designed to connect visitors with the holiday spirit, and the design is a success. Desert Botanical Gardens
Phoenix, AZ
Las Noches de las Luminarias, or Nights of the Soft Lights, is the annual holiday celebration at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona. As the name indicates, the main focus here is on the 7,500 luminarias created by 1,100 volunteers each year. Each luminaria consists of a paper bag, sand and candles. Volunteers light the candles at dusk. The four-day event attracts 13,000 visitors each year, and the 4.5-mile trail of luminaries is most often described as tranquil. During the daylight hours, visitors will notice that the gardens contain over 2,000 cacti species. The 40-acre gardens contain plants that grow in every desert in the world. Part of what makes this celebration so special is the lack of traditional holiday decorations, due in part to the fact that cacti cannot be decorated with lights. Even the smallest bulb will burn a plant's sensitive skin. Another featured desert plant is the Christmas chaya, sporting golden spines and a red fruit that grows through most of the winter. Gardeners at the Desert Botanical Gardens consider Las Noches de las Luminarias their gift to the community. It's a beautiful gift.
Resources Callaway Gardens
Callaway Gardens
Pine Mountain, GA
Phone: 706-663-2281
Toll Free Phone: 800-callaway (225-5292)
Website: www.callawaygardens.com
Missouri Botanical Gardens
An unbelievable array of horticulture, here is a partial list of the diverse gardens. The Linnean House is the oldest continuously operating greenhouse in the country and is home to the camellia collection (members of the tea family). The Tower Grove House is partially surrounded by a 19th-century Victorian garden. The English Woodland Garden, the Japanese Garden, the Blanke Boxwood Garden and the Friendship Chinese Garden all speak for themselves. The educational Kemper Center and Home Demonstration Gardens guide visitors through the process of growing flowers and vegetables both indoors and out. The Climatron houses some 200 species of plants and some animals in a tropical setting. The Shoenberg Temperate House displays plants unique to such regions as Africa, Australia, Japan, Korea, China, South America and more.
Missouri Botanical Gardens
Website: www.mobot.org
Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens
Website: www.longwoodgardens.org
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver Botanic Gardens
Website: www.botanicgardens.org
Desert Botanical Gardens
Desert Botanical Gardens
Website: www.dbg.orgChicago Botanic Gardens
Chicago Botanic Gardens
Website: www.chicagobotanic.org
Huntsville Botanical Gardens
Huntsville Botanical Gardens
4747 Bob Wallace Ave.
Huntsville, AL 35805
Phone: 256-830-4447
Website: www.hsvbg.org | |
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