Better late than never!

It took a looong time for us to visit this regionally and nationally renowned Denver destination that opened in its first iteration in 1951, but we finally made it on July 21. We don’t particularly like to drive to and in Denver, Colorado’s capital city, because traffic is atrocious, despite (or because of) eight-lane highways, but as we had to be in the area for a morning appointment, we finally explored this locale so long on our wish list. Denver Botanic Gardens technically applies to three different locations, but this post refers to the main campus on York Street in east-central Denver.

Denver had suffered the first three-digit-temperature-day of the summer the day before (100 degrees F/38 degrees C or higher), but the thermometer “only” climbed to 97 degrees F/36 degrees C on the day of our visit (thus far in 2026, this has happened on six separated days, an unprecedented and unwelcome record). Thank goodness for the shade created by trees—so many beautiful trees! And for a few air-conditioned buildings, where we could while away the hottest hours of the day. This included having lunch at one of two cafés, and appreciating the indoor portion of the art exhibit A New Humanism by Jaume Plensa, an internationally acclaimed (but new-to-us) artist from Spain, whose works are on display between April 18 and September 7.

You might have noticed the signature glass creation in the featured photo above by another renowned artist. It graces the gardens that surround Waring House, which serves as the home for administrative offices. If you thought of Dale Chihuly, your hunch would be correct. Created for this site in 2014, he entitled the sculpture “Colorado,” to represent the dense, spiky shape of yucca flowers as well as the vibrant colors of Colorado sunsets.

We also spent time inside the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory which keeps a steady temperature of 77 degrees F/25 degrees C, but with a much higher humidity than the ambient air of the semidesert climate that prevails at the western edge of the Great Plains. This architecturally interesting concrete and Plexiglas building was created in 1966 and received landmark status in 1973. According to a Wikipedia article, it was designed to channel condensation to the walls so it wouldn’t drip on visitors. We were not aware of this while we were there, but we can attest that no water droplets fell on us while we admired a variety of tropical plants, a cacao (or cocoa) tree among them. The first time I held a cacao pod in Côte d’Ivoire many years ago, I had no idea where chocolate came from, despite having eaten (too much of) it all my life. Informational signs highlighted the incredible biodiversity of tropical rainforests and underlined the need to protect them.

To enlarge a photo, click on it. To read its caption, hover cursor over it.

Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory, also showing the sculpture “Self-Portrait with Music” by Jaime Plensa in the foreground

Interior of Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory

Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)

One of many informative tables

The map of the Botanic Gardens displayed in various locations and available as a brochure uses a color-code for the 52 different kinds of plantings organized under the following headings: Gardens of the West, Internationally Inspired Gardens, Ornamental Gardens, Shady Gardens, and Water Gardens. We generally followed the east-west layout of the gardens which cover nearly 24 acres (about 9.7 hectares), moving from the conservatory to the Japanese garden on the western end of the property which abuts Denver’s famous Cheesman Park. Interestingly, both properties used to be cemeteries and even though most human remains have been reinterred in different graveyards, human bones are still unearthed occasionally.

Click here to open a digital map that can be enlarged.

Orangerie walkway

Shofu-En Japanese Garden, located adjacent to a Japanese Tee Garden (closed on the day of our visit)

One of many bonsai plants in the Bill Hosokawa Bonsai Pavilion

Zuni “waffle beds” demonstration garden

Various insect hotels along the Birds and Bees Walk

Laura Smith Porter Plains Garden with “silent head” sculptures by Jaume Plensa

Pond with Victoria Lilies from Australia with huge leaves

Sun dial garden

Attractive metal-and-glass building

A surprise for us was the existence of the Colorado Springs Waterway Garden, financed by our local El Pomar Foundation, the legacy of Julie and Spencer Penrose, whom I have mentioned on my blog before. They founded the Broadmoor Hotel and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, places I have taken you to via several blog posts.

Colorado Springs Waterway Garden

Water Lilies in the Colorado Springs Waterway Garden

Colorado Springs Waterway Garden

Water Lily in the Colorado Springs Waterway Garden

It’s difficult to pick favorites among so many different garden designs but, apart from the Shofu-En Japanese Garden, which radiated a serene atmosphere also attractive to various birds and bunnies, the magnificent Monet Pool with its bounty of water lilies was a magnet we gravitated to more than once, as did numerous damsel- and dragonflies whose silken wings glittered in the sunlight.

Monet Pool setting, with monumental metal wire sculptures of two human heads by Jaume Plensa

Monet Pool with cloud reflections and “Star of Zanzibar,” a tropical day flowering waterlily

Unidentified water lily

When we left the gardens behind us after nearly 7 short-lived hours, we found out that our entrance fee could be upgraded to an annual membership, and we gladly did. It would be lovely to see the different plants and plantings during different seasons and I hope we (ok, mostly my husband—he gave me permission to blame him 😊) can overcome our (his) aversion to Denver traffic, in order to be rewarded with more memorable moments at this green gem in the middle of a metropolis.