Missouri Botanical Garden

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located in Saint Louis, Missouri. It is also known as "Shaw's Garden" for founder, Henry Shaw. Mr. Shaw began the garden in 1859. This makes the Missouri Botanical Garden one of oldest botanical institutions in the United States. Its 79 acres contain Henry Shaw's original 1850 Estate House, a Japanese garden, the second-largest herbarium in the country, containing 6.6 million specimens (New York's Botanical Gardens is first), and the world's first geodesic dome greenhouse, built in 1960.

The garden is open from 9 AM to 4 PM daily. Cost of admission is $12.00 for adults and free for children 12 and under.

Michigan 4-H Children's Garden

 The Michigan 4-H Children's Garden is located on the campus of Michigan State University.  It opened in 1993, as one of five gardens that are part of the Michigan State University Horticulture Demonstration Gardens.

 

The children's garden covers about half an acre, and it features 30 different play areas.  These include a dinosaur garden, a pizza garden, a Peter Rabbit garden, an ABC Kindergarten garden, a Teddy Bear and Animal garden, a Storybook garden, and an Alice in Wonderland Maze which leads to a secret garden.

  Some of the fun things kids can do are find lambs ear and feel the leaves, smell chocolate mint, dance on dance chimes, and cross over the Monet bridge.
 The garden is open Monday through Friday from dawn to dusk.  Admission is free, but parking is $3.00 for 1 1/2 hours or $5.00 for 3 hours.

Before I go, I would like to share my SCBWI Book Stop page. There's a contest to see who can get the most likes and comments. If you feel inspired, please stop by to like the page and comment. Thanks!  Click on this link.