Lauritzen Gardens Omaha’s Botanical Center

I attended a wedding reception at Lauritzen Gardens over Halloween weekend. What a gem of a place. The center atrium was done up in the fashion of a traditional Japanese garden, with koi, chrysanthemums and bamboo. It was the perfect setting for the cocktail hour, with enough space to accommodate several cocktail tables and all the people, but intimate enough to create an atmosphere conducive to conversation and romance.
The dinner and reception space was also lovely, with warm wood throughout. The hall opened onto a private terrace that occupied the entire length of the room. The result was lovely sunlight in the late afternoon, and a nice quiet getaway once the sun set.
The grounds were also quite lovely, even into the late autumn. Lots to wander around and look at, and beautiful for pictures. I only wish that I had been able to visit the greenhouse area as well, since it was so prominent. I’d love the opportunity to visit again during business hours.

It is sad to say that I have lived in Omaha for almost 20 years and never visited Lauritzen Gardens. I finally paid a long overdue visit. All I can say is stunning! I did bring my five-​year-​old, and while her admission was free, I don’t know that you will enjoy the experience as much with children, if you really do want to take your time. It was a beautiful fall day, which only made the overall visit even better. My favorite was probably the rose garden, and yes, you should really stop and «smell the roses». It was so fun enjoying all the different scents and admiring the beautiful colors. My daughter loved the trains and we probably spent 20 to 25 minutes there. I was so impressed with how the tracks were made, especially with twigs and branches from trees. The grounds are exceptionally well maintained and clean. I think this is a great spot to come and read a book for hours or maybe bring a date.

I always enjoy going to the Botanical Gardens! It is a beautiful way to spend an afternoon. There is a lot of walking if you want to see the whole gardens, and be aware that once you start going, there really aren’t any facilities (fountains or bathroom) that are very convenient.

Beautiful Garden and a great place for a walk! There are so many different species of plants; and of course, the shorter ones are «chinese» planets bahaha (I’m asian and yes i have difficulty reaching for my box of cereal on top of the fridge in the morning)
The Garden is not all just plants. They got this amazing toy train running around in this gigantic train track. All the kids were so fascinated by it. So bring your grandma, your kids, and your dogs! This place has a little bit of something for everyone. Go enjoy a walk and soak up some Vitamin D!

When we were in town we decided to check this place out. I am glad we did. It cost $ 10 to enter per person. For an additional $ 3 per person you can ride a tram around the gardens. It give you an overview of the place but not something you can get on and off. You need to stay on the tram for entire ride if you want to return to the main building. We went in mid August so we thought it would be a good way to get an overview in the heat. In hindsight probably not needed. We are both in our 40s. We ended up getting off at the miniature train garden and walked back. The place is spread out. If you have elderly people with you the tram maybe a good option but you don’t get that close to the gardens. My favorite was Victorian Garden. It was lovely. My husband’s favorite was the model railroad garden. There was a nice man at the railroad garden giving out facts. We stood there for almost 45 minutes watching the trains go around. It is very impressive. They also had a series of bear statues in many of the gardens that we enjoyed. Again it was a very warm day when we were there so we probably didn’t get as much out of it. The parts we did see we enjoyed. Once you leave and across the parking lot up some stairs are two full size trains. There is no fee to see them. If you pay for the tram it does take you to the top if you stay on it the whole trip. The trains look out over the highway. I am sure that is a sight at night. Overall a nice way to spend a few hours. I wish it was cooler so we could have been out in the actual gardens more.

From what little we saw, it looks beautiful. Staff however was rather rude and aggressive.
We first came to look at the old locomotives in Kenefick Park across the parking lot. WOW! Very impressive machines and great location/​view. Lots of history on the early years of railroading in this country and surrounding Omaha. After we finished up here, we walked over to the gardens.
We were planning to pay the admission fee ($ 20), which did seem a bit ridiculous, and take our time to walk around as we are suckers for nice botanical gardens. However, before we paid, we made a quick and urgent dash for the restroom, basically right next to the admission booth. While waiting for my partner, I looked at some of the art work and koi pond in the lobby. My partner joined me at the koi pond just off the lobby, still in the common area and we were going to head over to the admission booth. Before doing so, I snapped a quick photo of the huge koi with my small handheld digital camera. Instantly, the gray haired women at the booth came running over demanding that we leave or pay the admission fee and that if we were going to take pictures, we HAD to pay extra for a professional photography permit. She was very clear and adamant that we could NOT look at ANYTHING, including the fish or artwork in the hall to the bathroom before paying. I guess this included the things in the lobby. By the way, there were no signs in the koi pond area, just off the lobby which was a general sitting area/​congregation area that this was an admission only area and since it was one giant room with the gift shop, art work, admission booth, etc, everything flowed together and there was no clear line as to where the «paid admission» began. The camera I was using had no tripod and is smaller than my iPhone and trust me, I’m FAR from anything «professional» when it comes to photography. You’ve GOT to me kidding me. She said, in a huff, that she would be willing to let us look in the gift shop only for free.
We kindly explained we were planning to pay and walk the grounds but opted that based on her rudeness and the rather uncomfortable nature of the place in general, we left. We did take a peak into the greenhouse and saw the plants and water gardens in the parking lot but I felt rather nervous that the old lady from the admission booth was going to come after us again.
Not sure if this is a city run place or not but regardless, you lost out on some gift shop sales as well as admissions after this visit. We were not avoiding the charge — never would. Just looking around while waiting for someone to come out of the restroom before paying and proceeding through the gardens. I suggest you teach your staff to not only work with the public a bit better but also to be a bit more understanding if you see someone wandering around a lobby waiting for someone to come out of the restroom.
We were VERY turned off the this experience and would not really be willing to return. Again, I’m more than happy to pay the fee but don’t act the way this woman did.

Beautiful garden, perfectly groomed. The new conservatory building has some beautiful plants inside. It also has an area for events that looks spectacular. They occasionally have expositions of lego’s or woodwork or metals intertwined with the plants. The roe garden and the Japanese Doors as well as the train station are my favorites. They have a herb garden that could be a little better in my opinion. Very easy to walk thru. Great afternoon stroll. Don’t forget to cross to Kenefick Park when you are done!

I first visited Lauritzen Gardens back when they just started it and hadn’t begun charging admission yet. Wow, it has really grown since then and I haven’t even visited it since the addition of the Conservatory yet! I used to have a membership for a while but found I only went about once per year so it wasn’t worth it for me. The first time I brought my husband I nearly had to drag him kicking and screaming but he loved it and described it as «a zoo for plants». It’s a really beautiful place to bring out-​of-​town visitors and the tram option is nice for older people. Best to go early in the day or times of year when it’s cooler since it’s not pleasant when it’s too hot or as someone mentioned, when the sprinklers are on.
They have a lot of activities for kids. I participated in a wreath-​making class with a friend one year and that was fun. I took my mom to Mother’s Day brunch a couple of times and the buffet and atmosphere were wonderful. I tried their Tempo of Twilight concert series once when I was a member but all the foliage blocked the view of the band and these days there are a lot of free concerts in area parks to choose from. They once had a free wine tasting years ago but it was really hot, humid, crowded (as you can imagine), and after waiting in line forever all you got was a thimbleful of wine and a cracker. Still, I love this place! Sadly, I missed the recent Lego exhibit but I’m hoping to attend 1 of 4 of the scheduled «Leashes at Lauritzen» events this summer with my dog.

Lovely experience, gardens are beautiful. Café was nice for lunch & reasonably priced. Highly recommend taking the $ 3 tram narrated tour so that you get a better understanding of some of the things your looking at. Then go for a stroll, relax & enjoy. Can’t wait to go in the fall.

The first thing I thought about when I walked around was «Well, this a great place to bring your grandma.»

My day continued from the zoo to the gardens need to see and enjoy, their new conservatory is lovely, maybe not a guy thing. Nice to see!

This is a review of the meeting facility service, not of the Gardens.
The Gardens are beautiful and stand on their own. This was probably one of the reasons my client selected this venue. As the facilitator for the meeting, I thought it would be a lovely place for the participants to create and plan for the future of their organization. I began to have my doubts with the first phone call to the meeting event coordinator several days before the event.
My process for brainstorming and strategic planning is requires certain tools, one of which is a sticky sheet that is about 15 feet long and 5 feet tall. NOTE: They have a rule that NOTHING can be attached to the walls! When I called Craig the coordinator, he was dismissive and kept telling me about the wall policy. He interrupted me and prematurely tried to end the conversation. A couple times, I had to say: «Wait a minute — I still have questions!» I asked how we might find a solution and he said he had poster boards that he could provide. I told him that was not enough room for the brainstorming. Poster board? I asked if he was just buying that for this group. He responded (rather impatiently) that he had two and he could put those together that should meet the needs. Poster board. 15 feet long? I continued to question him on that. Finally, exasperated, he said: «Well, they’re on WHEELS and we can just roll them together». POSTER BOARD?! They were WHITE BOARDS on wheels. Note one: Guy doesn’t even know what he is selling/​providing.
When my client’s executive assistant and I arrived early to set up the room, Craig was there to meet us, showed us the room and asked if we needed help — which was just to help put up the sheet. When my client asked if they could bring in some coffee while we were setting up, his response was; «That’s not on the order!» We finally got some coffee and were informed to come get him if we needed anything. The hundreds of meetings I have either coordinated or participated in setting up with clients, I have NEVER had an event coordinator say that. Rather, they are extremely attentive, before, during and after the event — stopping in periodically to check (during breaks, etc.) Usually, they ask for an agenda so they know when to check catering and drinks. NONE of that happened here. Note two: Guy is either new at this, incompetent, or doesn’t care.
We didn’t see him until the afternoon when snacks were brought in. At that time, he also informed my client we were to be out of the room at 5 because they had another meeting coming in. She reminded him that we had rented the room from 9 – 5 and we would be vacate as quickly after the meeting concluded. Note 3: Guy isn’t organized.
At ten minutes until 5, they actually started BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS! In the middle of my debriefing the meeting and summarizing the day! They also started to pack up all the snacks and take them out of the room. My client managed to stop them and pack up the snacks to take back to the office (they paid for them after all…) Craig was unapologetic for the disruption to our meeting and lack of attentiveness to our event — even after my client went to meet with him face to face. Seriously, what competent event coordinator schedules one meeting start time on top of another event’s end time — in the same room?! Note 4: Refer to note 2, select options three and four as conclusions.
It was my observation that the group coming in received very different treatment than we did. Craig hovered over them, conversing and frequently checking to see what they needed. I won’t put my opinion of why I think that happened, but let me leave it that some diversity training at this facility or at least for him would be in order. Note 5: Guy treats people differently based on how he judges them.
Bottom line, I know my client won’t be utilizing this venue for future meetings, and if I have other clients considering it, I will urge them to find an alternative. Lauritzen Gardens management, if you read this — you must know that your event coordinator is the key to retaining customers based on service received. In my opinion, you can do better — if we were an example of treatment and service, it wouldn’t surprise me that you won’t have repeat customers. I’m sure that wouldn’t sit well with Bruce Lauritzen.

This place is just ok. I do not recommend paying the extra $ 3 per person for the lamest tram tour ever. The driver wasn’t even narrating; it was a pre-​recorded tour. I really thought it would be more interesting but I don’t think it was worth it just to avoid having to walk out the the farthest point of the garden since you have to walk back. Unfortunately the entire place is designed where there’s only one way in and out of each section. Even if you stayed on the tram for the full «loop» you’d just have to walk all the way out there and back again to get up close to the plants/​flowers. Theoretically you can get off at a few of the scheduled stops and hop on a different tram at a later point, but that’s only if it isn’t full which all of them were during our visit. So other than the small amount of history provided by the recording, I found it useless and boring.
There weren’t even that many flowers to enjoy and overall I think it was overpriced for what they had to offer. Sure, the model railroad garden was pretty neat, but I still wouldn’t necessarily recommend the place. Maybe once the ginormous greenhouse they’re currently building is complete it might be worth a repeat visit.
Across the parking lot from the gardens is Kenefick Park which features two of the original trains from the Union Pacific line. That was pretty cool to see and you wouldn’t need to pay admission to do so either.

This place was amazing. Beautiful gardens and many great trails as well as a very nice welcome center with art exhibits. The best part was the model train garden. Do not miss this! There’s also a cool exhibit with two old trains from Union Pacific.
This is a great place to relax and enjoy a peaceful day. It costs $ 7 for adults, and I recommend the tour (only $ 3 extra), which only takes an hour and will reach you a lot about the gardens, it’s history and it’s mission.

I really liked this place. It’s a wonderful area to just commune with nature. Unfortunately, I was there on a super hot day with sprinklers shooting all over the place. I liked everything I saw here; especially the train area. The one annoying thing is that it’s $ 7 per person. In Chicago, we had botanical gardens that were free (I’ve not been there for a few years so maybe this has changed). My suggestion is to go there on a nice cool day and take enough time to explore the whole thing (over 4 hours). Staff told me that the green house area will be completed in a few months so they can provide services year-​round.

I used to own a membership to Lauritzen Gardens and haven’t renewed it for a few years. Other than their special exhibits, if you go once, you basically have seen it all.
It’s very nice to walk around when its nice outside. My wife and I try to go at least once a year to see their gorgeous flowers.

We got really lucky and visited on a day when it was unusually quiet at this total gem. My favorite favorite favorite part (the kid in me wants to write this Unilocal review!) was the Model Railroad Garden. A bunch of different tracks running through miniature replicas of downtown Omaha.
Well laid out and looks like plenty of plans for expansion. Can’t wait until the expansion is done so I can check it out again!
I have a weakness for botanical gardens that dates to my childhood. I love the quiet and solitude of a special place for nature within the hustle and bustle of the city.
Don’t miss if you’re a local. That’s just dumb.

Visited the garden on 3÷27÷13. Given the season, we did expect most of the garden to be dormant, but the sun was out, the weather was nice, and the garden had a Lego exhibit so we hopped in the car and off we went.
We were hungry, and since other reviews said the food was good, we stopped by the little food shop and found it to be on par with a packed lunch. The lunch meat and bread were fresh and the lettuce and tomato were crisp but overall the sandwich was nothing special. The desserts were satisfactory, but nothing really worth buying. I would advise eating at Panera or something similar before you go. The food will be the same style, but will be much more diverse and better for the same price.
The Lego exhibit was small and all inside the welcome center. It was cute and would take about 15 – 30 minutes to see all of the statues, depending on how many pictures you want to take. There was nothing really spectacular or impressive, but it would be a fun little thing to see if you’re in the area (and this is coming from a Lego fanatic).
As for the gardens themselves, they were a huge disappointment. Nearly half the park was closed off with bright orange construction netting, so even though nothing at all was in bloom, we couldn’t even walk through the whole garden.
I had thought that a botanical garden located in the Midwest would surely have some hot houses or something for wintertime plant viewing, but I was dead wrong. This small garden is definitely designed to be viewed when in bloom, and only when in bloom (though it might be pretty after a fresh winter snow). The welcome center is lush and green, but they have very few winter plants or points of non blooming interest outside.
I am eager to give this garden a second chance once Omaha has come into bloom. I think it will be a very pretty afternoon stroll, but I will never again visit in the off season unless they have an exceptional exhibit. If the admission had been more than $ 6, I would have felt far more cheated.

The Lauritzen Gardens are great! For a while I called it Omaha’s Hidden Gem, but anymore its on everyone’s radar.
Best time to go to get the full experience is April thru September, but there is plenty to do in the winter as will.
The best value is to get a membership. That way when you go see the indoor activities in the winter, you don’t feel like you are not getting your money’s worth.
My favorite garden is the Model Railroad Garden. Trains circle around above you, next to you, and below you. There are also models of many of Omaha’s most famous buildings made from all natural materials throughout the Railroad Garden. The Japanese Gate from Omaha’s Sister city Shizuoka, Japan .
Besides the flowers and plants, there are ponds featuring fish and frogs and the flowers attract many interesting birds and insects.
Currently is a LEGO Display with huge LEGO sculptures including Buffalo, a Butterfly, a fox, and many other items. Around the holidays they always have the Poinsettia display which includes parts from the Model Railroad Garden.
On your way out, don’t forget to check out Kennefick Park. Take the huge staircase on the south end of the parking lot up the hill. At the top you will find the Largest Diesel locomotive ever built, the UP 6900 as well as the largest Steam Locomotive ever built, the Union Pacific Big Boy #4023. There is also a great view of the area south of council bluffs, you can Literally see for miles.
If you haven’t been you should really check this place out.

Wow! I was actually really surprised when I went here yesterday at how pretty this place is! Although not fully impressed by the people who checked us in because of their unfriendliness, I was impressed about the way these gardens are laid out. Someone must have really designed this place with relaxation in mind! Going in early March, there were actually a lot of different types of flowers and plants that were blooming. I was hoping that maybe the rose garden was in bloom, but it wasn’t. Next time :)
Lauritzen gardens also has a little café to eat at if you are hungry and is actually pretty good!