Garden Glow

Glow with the Flow

We finally made it to one of my favorite events of the year…Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden!

Usually, we go on the member preview night, which is held sometime before Thanksgiving in November. But we wanted to wait until Bunny was home from college, so we went last week. I was worried that going almost a month later than usual would mean poor weather, but that wasn’t an issue at all…we’ve had much colder visits than we experienced this year!

We started by looking at the wreaths on display…I am always amazed by the beauty and creativity of the decor!

Then we stopped by the holiday flower and train show. I love all of the miniature buildings!

I had heard that Garden Glow was better than ever this year, and I wasn’t disappointed. The Central Axis was especially lovely!

Many of the displays were familiar, but there were some new things as well, and some improved routing of the pathway.

Here’s another look around the Central Axis:

These whimsical flowers were especially interesting to me!

Would it even be Garden Glow if I didn’t get a picture of the Fab Five?

This was definitely an evening worth waiting for!

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee has a fun time at the Missouri History Museum learning about Christmas nostalgia…I was not so thrilled that part of what they considered nostalgia was a neon photo wall that represented the malls of the 80s!

She also had fun being Santa Lucia yesterday!

Not to mention Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden last night!

The 10th Anniversary of Garden Glow

Can you believe that this year marks the 10 year anniversary of Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden?!? We attended the Member Preview night on Friday, and it was, as always, a great time!

I think it’s especially fitting that such a significant anniversary is taking place the same year the new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center was opened to the public…it’s a beautiful space!

While there were some familiar displays, there was a lot that was new this year, and I thought it was really well done:

There was also a new photo spot, and I really liked it as a backdrop for a picture of the Fab Five!

It was a cold but beautiful night!

This is always one of my favorite Christmas activities, and now I’m really in the holiday spirit!

Garden Glow in the Time of Construction

So many things in the last…almost two years?!?…have been different, and Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden is no exception, but not for the reason you might think…their big construction project has put a spin on how the event is taking place this year!

The biggest difference is at the start of the event. The entrance is through the temporary Visitors’ Center and Linnean House (the latter is the location of the Blizzard Bar which is usually at the tram shelter), and the big Christmas tree is in the Gladney Rose Garden, which is actually kind of a great location for it. The tree is a different style this year, too, which we really liked, and the topper is awesome!

A lot of stuff was the same, although the routing of the path for the first part of the displays was pretty different. The lights around the Central Axis and Climatron are always my favorites, and we got to see them first thing after the big tree!

There were some new things (like a new flower garden), and one notable admission (The 12 Days of Christmas), and many familiar favorites:

For some reason, I especially liked the hedge maze this year:

Another notable change comes right at the end, as the exit is routed through the Ottoman Garden. I don’t think that particular location has been open during Garden Glow before, and it was pretty cool to see some of the trees covered in lights as we said goodbye!

So, Garden Glow was a little weird this year. It was nice to have a different experience due to something other than COVID-19, though, and we liked the new additions…maybe they’ll keep them around!

The Top Five–Photos of 2020

For my final “Top Five” list of 2020, I’m looking at photos that were taken the few times we actually went somewhere, starting with this wolf we saw at Brookfield Zoo back in January:

One of the last places Bunny and I went was to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see Riverdance in February:

We took a lovely walk around Creve Coeur Lake in November:

Later that month, we attended Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Because the event started earlier than usual, we had the added bonus of not just seeing beautiful lights, but also a carpet of bright yellow gingko leaves!

When we visited Cahokia Mounds in November, I thought this tree stump was really cool:

It wasn’t hard to choose these pictures, because I just didn’t have many pictures taken away from home from which to choose. But in a way, that made these moments more special, and helped me appreciate the beauty around me in a way I might not have otherwise!

Garden Glow in the Time of COVID-19

On Sunday night, we went to the festival member preview of Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Things were (of course) different this year:

But some things were reassuringly familiar:

I tried to see some things in a new way:

My favorite part might have been the gingko leaves on the ground around much of the Garden. Garden Glow started far earlier this year than it has in the past, so we’re not used to the golden carpet they provided. It was a beautiful, if not strange, sight, and added an extra pop of color to the lights:

The exit was routed through the new visitor center (which is a fantastic building!), and this guy was right outside:

I only took one video this year, but I think it was a good one:

It was strange attending Garden Glow so far in advance of Thanksgiving. It’s also strange to know that this might be the only Christmas event we attend this year. But I’m really glad the Missouri Botanical Garden found a way to host it safely, and I’m especially glad we got to do something that felt almost normal in this very strange year!

Garden Glow 2019

Last night was the member preview night for the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Christmas event, Garden Glow. This is one of my favorite holiday events of the year, and even though we’ve had our family Christmas tree up for a few weeks, this always marks the true beginning of the celebratory Christmas season for me.

As always, I loved that there were familiar elements, and a few new surprises, as well. And, as always, today I’m sad at the thought that I have to wait an entire year (more or less) before I get to go back to Garden Glow again!