The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a beautiful place to visit and has a little of something for everyone.
This is not just a garden filled with flowers, but a garden of a wide variety of plants including: bamboo, bonsai, herbs, and so much more. One can also find a rock garden, walking trails, gazebos, a tea house, a pond or two, etc. in addition to the natural beauty of this place.
As I mentioned, it has a little of something for everyone. It is likely that children will also enjoy a visit. I have seen this myself as I have visited the Gardens a few times with my nieces who were at that time ages, 2 and a few months old.
If one is looking carefully in the trees, one can easily spot a squirrel or two or perhaps even some birds. While these are common in any area where trees exist, the variety to be found may not be.Besides the above mentioned animals, I have also been fortunate enough to see a dragonfly, tadpoles, tiny frogs, and fish (which I learned are called Koi). These may not be automatically unusual for a garden, but can prove to add surprise and a sense of both pleasure and delight to children.
If one happens to be taking a break at the gazebo near the Long Life Lake, one should be able to look into the lake and see Koi or, if one chooses to stay near the gazebo, perhaps some tiny tree frogs.
Once across the bridge, one can enter the bamboo garden. I would definitely recommend this, especially where there are children present. Whether any animals are seen here or not, the bamboo garden has a certain "magical" or "enchanted" quality to it. It is really difficult to describe and really would be better enjoyed to see rather than just read or hear about it.
The gardens are wonderful to visit, but can be used for more than just a visit. On one of my visits to the gardens, I was fortunate enough to be there around the same time that a wedding was taking place. I was able to see this, to some extent, from a distant and even managed to capture it in a photo.
The beauties found throughout the gardens make it a natural and perfect place for an outdoor wedding to be held. If not the actual wedding, then perhaps the reception.
As I was not actually part of the wedding festivities, I cannot actually provide details as to how the arrangements are made or, for that matter, if they can in fact be made.
The Botanical Gardens are rich in history. According to the Web site, it dates back to the 1960s. The mayor at that time, James W. Morgan, began the process of the creation of these gardens. At that time, it was to be established on an area of land close to the Birmingham Zoo. In fact, when driving to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, one has the choice of going one way - to the zoo, or the other way - to the gardens.
In 1964, The Birmingham Botanical Society, Inc. was formed and began the process of raising the funds needed to begin this project and to work to continually develop it.
The history can also be found throughout the gardens by seeing the marks made by other cultures. For instance, there is a tree which had been planted in 1990 after a visit by a delegation from Hitachi city. There are markers throughout which serve as reminders to visitors of various people who have made some mark in this place.
For more information about the history of The Birmingham Botanical Gardens or for any additional information pertaining to the gardens, please visit http://www.bbgardens.org/.
Each time I visited The Birmingham Botanical Gardens, I took numerous pictures. To see more of these, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/victoriar1995/BirminghamBotanicalGardens#.
