Visiting Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s Botanic Garden

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On a very hot, muggy June day we made our way to Omaha’s botanic garden, Lauritzen Gardens.  We had few expectations and driving through an urban area and down narrow side streets it was hard to imagine what would be awaiting us at the end.

Even upon pulling into the parking lot I knew we were in for a great morning!  The beautifully landscaped parking area was worth stopping in and taking a few photos by itself and also gave a sneak peak of the conservatory structure as it sat in the background.

To be fair, it was really hot outside. With a six month old baby in tow, we knew our time here would be limited to about an hour or so. It would have been very easy to spend several hours here, but as such we only made a few of the highlights.

The Hitchcock-Kountz Victorian Garden was one of my favorite spots at Lauritzen Gardens. The color scheme here was such a beautiful mix of shades of pink and purple with wonderful plants to complement this plan.

There are really nice landscapes planted with mixed perennials and conifers for interest throughout the year. We had to keep moving to get through everything, but I could have easily spent a lot of time here plant-geeking at so many of the well maintained and labeled plants. 

Clematis ‘Rooguchi’

The large, shady bank showed just how colorful different shades of greens can be when used en masse.

Now I am not much of a train person (but I know so many people who are!), but I really appreciated this model railroad garden. It climbs up, around and through the trees and hillside in a really large area. 

The rose garden was looking glorious on this summer day. This was the turn-around point for our exploring, but there was much beyond this point that we didn’t see. 

Again, as the temperature outside was nearing 95 degrees we made a very quick pass through the conservatories. These were really well maintained and had a nice variety of plant material. The series of different glass houses was each very different in plant palette and overall feel.

I do have to admit that it pulls at my heartstrings to see so many of the plants from our previous home landscape. When I turned down the path to this large Bismark Palm I reminded my dad that this was the palm that we removed from our yard not too long ago!  (Check out this post for a reminder of this project!)

Throughout Lauritzen Gardens there are large blocks of limestone. It was nice to see this being used in the conservatories too and helps tie together the outdoor gardens to the indoor spaces. 

The soaring ceilings of these conservatories are really impressive. It is nice to see that these plant collections will have plenty of room to grow and will become massive specimens. 

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