Text by Cindy Cooper
Visitors and residents alike are enlightened year-round by the one-of-a-kind gardens located in metro Denver, Colorado. Season to season, exhibitions and special events at Denver Botanic Gardens take place to delight and educate the public. Guests can experience the new Freyer-Newman Center, which celebrates the relationship between science and art and offers everything from art galleries and herbaria to a library and classrooms. Rare specimens are showcased as pressed and preserved botanicals, giving evidence of how ecosystems change over time. Observing how science and art work together, both staff and visitors enjoy learning in creative, hands-on ways.
With a 40-year history, the School of Botanical Art & Illustration at the gardens offers courses in the study of historic botanicals, with more than 160 illustration courses each year. From pastel to batik, art forms inspired by the natural world are explored for educational purposes as well as scientific journaling.
Spring in Colorado brings a variety of climate changes, and observations of its diverse ecosystem at the Mordecai Children’s Garden provide fascination for all as the days warm and color begins to appear among floral plantings. Currently, the gardens also provide many virtual programs for children, including “experience” ideas from botany boxes to homeschool programs for backyard study. Along with the Helen Fowler Library’s significant collection of rare horticultural materials, the art of conservation and botanical study is alive and well both inside and outside at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
From December 2021 to April 2022, guests can view The Indelible Garden: Prints by Taiko Chandler. For more information about this and other events, visit botanicgardens.org.
