Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
/If I lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks would be one of my favorite places. Our membership at the Springfield Botanical Gardens got us in as reciprocal members.
Even before we went into the gardens, I saw several swallowtails on the plantings at the edge of the parking lot.
There was also a water feature near the entrance with water lilies.
I spotted a grasshopper that stayed still long enough for a portrait.
We heard the garden’s rooster crowing as we walked into the first garden area - a vegetable garden with a corn shaped fountain and red okra. I had never seen any okra that color previously. It is evidently edible like regular okra but also a colorful plant for the garden. The gardener that was working that morning told me it was her backup plant for things that did not fare as well in the high heat over this summer…and it looked great.
There was a children’s garden with one adult sized entrance and several child size ones with tile mosaic arches.
Just outside the children’s garden here was a train of couches for reading.
And then we came to the screened in butterfly house! Lots of opportunities for butterfly photography!
Continuing through the garden…I noticed some structures. My favorite was a pair of porch swings that were mostly in the shade; we sat for a bit, enjoying the swing, appreciating the little break before we made our way back to the entrance of the garden.
