Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden

We went today, it was –4 degrees outside so when we walked In it was like a tropical paradise. It is small but pleasant and they have a scavenger hunt for my daughter to keep her involved! We really enjoyed the model yard and dreamt that’s how ours looked

What a lousy trip. I expected a lot more for my admission based on everywhere else I had been. The gardens in Omaha are 100x better. This place looked just good enough and big enough to host weddings, which is going to bring in far more revenue than normal admissions. In fact, if this was twice the size, it would still be far too small. Not everything was labeled or labeled well. What vegetation was there was often repeated. I hated my visit and I’ll never come back.

Went on a Wednesday afternoon and there weren’t many people there, which was pleasant.
They’ve dropped their admission prices. Now it’s $ 6 per adult.
The glass dome area was my favorite. It’s definitely a good place to come during cold winter days.

Best botanical garden in Des Moines. Best glass dome in Des Moines. Best banana and papaya trees in Des Moines.

A big glass ball in the middle of downtown Des Moines… That’s how I was first told about the Botanical Center. Years ago I started going to the Botanical Gardens, for Punk Rock Shows! Yes they have class rooms here that were the epicenter of the Des Moines Music Scene in the early 2000’s! I played and saw some great bands here… Everyone from the Mountain Goats, to John Vanderslice, to Moony Suzuki, Dressy Bessy, Elf Power, as well as countless local bands.
When the music scene moved to clubs around town the Botanical Center become known in my mind for it’s beautiful flowers, butterflies, and rain forrest like temperatures! I recommend going here in the winter to get some heat on your Iowa bones!
For under 10 bucks you can visit another world right here in Des Moines. Now it’s not that easy to get here. So follow precise directions. It’s north of I-​235 but you actually have to enter from south of I-​235, it’s weird but worth the adventure trying to get there!
The staff is super nice, and no one really bothers you while you walk around!
If you are in the need of a little nature, even in the death cold of Iowa winter this is a beautiful museum of the wonders of the world.

I recently attended a dinner honoring people that were at Taylor House Hospice for their last days. I have been a donor for ten years, the number of years since my husband died at Taylor House Hospice. My daughter, my son-​in-​law and I flew from Portland, Oregon and my other daughter and her son came from Dallas, Texas to be at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Center for this dinner. The evening was very special and the dinner that featured food from the restaurant at the Botanical Center was exceptionally delicious. It was great to see all of the improvements at the Center. I have missed visits there since moving two years ago. This is a beautiful example of what Des Moines, Iowa has to offer visitors traveling to Iowa.

NICE… relaxing…beautiful change of pace. Our visit was in winter, albeit on a 70+ day, but the outside gardens were closed. Still, along the river there’s a beautiful opportunity to walk and see the city and the various art pieces installed along the way. BEAUTIFUL!

We enjoyed our afternoon visit to the Des Moines Botanical Garden. The staff and volunteers were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. There are a ton of species of plants on display and I found them to be well organized and labeled. As with all bio domes it’s hot and humid on the inside so shorts and teeshirts are recommended most of the year. The gift shop actually had some cute stuff too. I picked up a couple of nice greeting cards. It felt good to support a good cause in the process.

OUR BOTANICAL GARDEN HAS THREE DOMES. Signed, Milwaukee
I grew up in Iowa and can remember the Botanical Garden when it was called Botanical Center and no out-​of-​towners knew what the fuk it was or how to get down to it from the freeway. On a recent Sunday morning I had engagement photos taken here. The new signage guided me down to the dome. I see they have big plans for renovation. It was rainy on this day and the dome LEAKED a lot. If there’s money for expansion, there’s money to buy some FLEX SEAL and seal this leaky thing up.

I came here on their opening after their renovation when it was free for the public. I was not very impressed with what I saw. It was beautiful and it was nice to see garden. My main concern was it was a bit of a small display, we looked at everything and it took less than a half hour.
We noticed they were still working on some areas, so I believe there will be more to see once they are complete with the renovations.

In comparison with Rieman Garden, I have to downgrade this by 1 star. It is still a decent botanical garden, but you finish this in less than 30 minutes. Rieman Garden easily takes 1 to 1.5 hours for you to see everything.

What a lovely, warm place to spend some time! And they have all these ideas for your ome gatden in the back. Impressive collection of bonsai. A highlight of any trip to des moines

While not the most impressive collection of flora in the world, the Botanical Center is quaint and definitely worth a visit. It’s cheap and a cute old woman rang us up. I imagine this would be a good place for a first date as it was pretty empty when I went.

I once bought two zebra finch at the Botanical Center bird show. Those two birds turned into 20 birds. Do you know how hard it is to get rid of 20 twittering zebra finch???
Seriously though, the Botanical Center is a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I have always loved coming here to smell the earthy, green aroma of dirt and exotic plants. Watching the birds that fly freely in the dome is a lot of fun but don’t wear your Sunday finest because you may be «blessed» by the little beauties as they fly overheard.

yay for buckminster fuller — without him the botanical center wouldn’t have it spectacular geodesic dome! the structure is amazing, built by supporting transparent interlocking triangles, capturing the sunlight to allow the carb production for the jungle below.
although the center is not especially large, the species of exotic and domestic plants are amazing, and also helpfully labeled. since its opening in 1929 a few of the trees have reached very impressive heights, leaves and branches caressing the ceiling of the dome. the air is a bit moist and warm, comfortable for roaming and dipping under the lianas.
the center also has a few banquet rooms attached to the center dome which are great for parties or business functions. make it a sunday play date and head over for $ 4, that is if you happen to be in iowa!