I've returned with more stuff to tell you about! Tomorrow we're going to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, so I'm supposed to blog about the history. The gardens were created by Henry Shaw, a native to England who came to Missouri in 1819. He was such a good businessman that he retired at the age of 40. On a trip back to England, the Chatsworth grounds, the most private residence in Europe, inspired him to make a garden, and that's exactly what he did when he came back to Missouri. He opened his garden to the public in 1859.
The Garden opened its Ridgeway Center (that includes 2 theaters, an exhibition area, a floral center, an education wing, a restaurant and a gift shop) in 1982. Then in 1990, the Climatron opened after a 22-month renovation that gave it a new landscape of cliffs, waterfalls, valleys, winding streams and new vegetation.
Since 1990 is fairly recent, that's all that I found for the history. I'll let you know how the trip goes very soon!
Ciao for Now,
-Jess