Shaw's Botanical Garden
St. Louis, MO
Hi all,
Last weekend I saw my Mother and Auntie and one of the things we did while eating and chatting was to go over to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The benefactor of the original 179 acres that opened in 1859 was Henry Shaw. An English purveyor of cutlery and hardware who made his fortune in America and retired at the age of 39 was an avid traveler.
After visiting the Exhibition grounds in Chatsworth, England, he returned to America and working with the premier English botanists of the day, started building the grounds of the botanical gardens at his summer home.
Increasing his wealth in commodities and furs as well as mining and the original hardware business, Shaw was able to retire at the age of 39, devoting the rest of his life and fortune to the development of the gardens.
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Today, outside the reconstructed summer home, is a pottage garden; everything required to go into a soup pot. The Climatron, pictured above, was designed for special botanical specimens from around the world. There 79 acres devoted to a Japanese garden where many of the azaleas and rhododendrons were in bloom.
Just past a morning class of rapellers dangling with harness and roping from the stately Shumard Oak, the iris garden was just coming to fullness.
Patrons and artists enjoyed the wonderful colors, each more beautiful than the last, bursting into full flavor for the eyes.
I love being with these octogenarians. The wit of both my aunt, 86 and mother, 88, are just delightful. We were waiting for the tram to arrive and my Mom offered to pay for our tickets. Auntie quipped "Well, that would make your wallet lighter and easier to carry".
Thank goodness for benefactors like Shaw, whose foundation is benefiting generations of people, not only in this development but also in a butterfly house and walking preserve in other locations.
Who will carry it forward? I hope that those tycoons in my generations and yours will carry on these traditions of the industrialists of the mid 19th century, bringing beauty and education to many.
I am in North Carolina for a few days. Today, enjoying a farmer's market and art show near Kure Beach.
Until next time, know that you are loved and that you are one of a kind when in the body of Christ. No one can do what you do and there is a special function just for you. This changes over time with age and with our responsibilities but there is always, just one you. May you be bursting with the fullness and beauty of God so that wherever you are, you are that bloom that stands out in the garden of life.
