What a deal!

Today you can purchase a family membership on groupon.com for $25. Take advantage of this great deal and then take advantage of all the benefits of membership year-round!

Illuminations, Botanica's Festival of Lights!

Come see the Gardens glow! Join us for Illuminations, a family-friendly event that showcases Botanica's 9 1/2 acres in a completely different light. More than 4,000 luminaries and tens of thousands of lights combine with nature to create a stunning atmosphere and a "HO, HO, HO" lot of holiday fun! Get into the holiday spirit with a visit from Santa Claus, live music, warm drinks and homemade goodies.

The event runs December 3-4, 10-11 and 17-18 from 5:30-8:30pm each night. Tickets can be purchased in advance at any area QuikTrip. Tickets are $7 for adults ($6 for Botanica members) and $3 for children 2-12. Members must purchase their tickets at Botanica to receive their discount.

Call 264-0448 or log on to www.botanica.org for more information. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Check out the progress on the Downing Children's Garden!

Check out the newest posts on the blog, Peepholes In The Fence, from our friends at Simpson & Associates. It's completely dedicated to following the construction of our newest project, the Downing Children's Garden. See images from their perspective and words from their experiences here:

http://botanicachildrensgarden.blogspot.com/

Live Butterfly Release tomorrow

Join us on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 10am for the opportunity to release a live butterfly into the Butterfly House! It's a great way to interact with nature and its included with garden admission or membership.

Look what has landed at Botanica

Great Blue Heron by Dennis P. Anderson has landed at Botanica. This magnificent, stately bird will now permanently grace the northern bank of the Boeing Pond. Donated by the family and friends of Jim Bean, this sculpture radiates the beauty of flight and looks as if it is taking off to fly between the established trees surrounding the pond. Come take a look at our newest sculpture, as well as the waterlilies and other aquatic plants that are blooming on the pond now!

Peepholes In The Fence

Check out this blog from our friends at Simpson & Associates. It's completely dedicated to following the construction of our newest project, the Downing Children's Garden. See images from their perspective and words from their experiences here:

http://botanicachildrensgarden.blogspot.com/

Happy hour meets horticulture every Tuesday

Tuesdays on the Terrace has started the season off with two great performances by Amanda Lind and The Flatland String Band. Don't miss live music from 5:30-7:30pm, a cash bar with a featured drink each week and, of course, the beautiful gardens of Botanica. Happy hour meets horticulture every Tuesday night from June-September. Your garden admission or membership is your cover.

Upcoming performances include:

• June 15: Begonias and Blue Moon, live music by RKO Blues
• June 22: Moonflowers and Margaritas, live music by Bruce Huss
• June 29: Daisies and Dreamin' Caribbeans, live music by Samba Groove
• July 6: Cosmos and Cosmopolitans, live music by Mead Street Blues Reunion
• July 13: Wildflowers and Whiskey Sours, live music by the Irish Jam Band

Pack a picnic and join the crowd!

Memorial Day Fun

We had a great time on Memorial Day at Botanica. The Gardens were packed with guests, ready to see the Butterfly House, the irises, roses, peonies and more! The Wichita Community Concert Band played a great show, featuring American March music, and Hiland Dairy provided free ice cream! Thanks go to Downing & Lahey and to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, who sponsored the festive event for the community.

Check out our new ride

BIG THANKS go to Foley Equipment Company, who donated a Walker mower to Botanica. As we expand and take on additional acreage, a second mower will come in quite handy! Thanks to Foley for their in-kind contribution and their support of the Gardens.

Two new garden sculptures

Art and nature go hand in hand. At Botanica, the outdoor sculpture and other artistic features nestle in to complement the plant material and enhance the aesthetics of the Gardens and the visitor experience. We have two new sculptures being added to our permanent art collection.

Ceres: Goddess of Agriculture was the keeper of the harvest and was credited with teaching humans how to grow, preserve, and prepare grain and corn. This bronze rendering of Ceres was donated by the Parriott family in honor of Martha Parriott. The sculpture graced the courtyard of their family home for years and now has a home among the foliage in the Parriott Terrace Garden.

Great Blue Heron is a magnificent, stately bird that will permanently grace the northern bank of the Boeing Pond. Donated by the family and friends of Jim Bean, this sculpture radiates the beauty of flight.

Take the time on your next visit to look at these great new additions, as well as our complete outdoor sculpture collection and take in the beauty that occurs when art gracefully combines with nature.

Downing Children's Garden Groundbreaking

April 29 was an exciting day for Botanica, as well as for the Wichita area. With the help of our donors, volunteers, architects, contractors, community advocates, City representatives, staff and other friends, we officially broke ground on the Downing Children's Garden. You could see the excitement and anticipation on the faces of the sixty students from TOPS and The Independent School, who took great delight in moving soil with their small trowels (and on the faces of the big kids too!). Watch the area frequently for progress, as the face of the acreage will change quickly, creating a beautiful and flourishing garden that will provide opportunities for young minds to learn and explore nature.

Plant-A-Palooza

What a great time we had at our first Plant-A-Palooza preview party and rare plant auction on April 22. Despite rainy weather, our friends and garden enthusiasts had a blast in the Gardens- dining on our gourmet picnic fare, enjoying refreshing cocktails, shopping our plant sale and bidding/outbidding each other on a plethora of silent auction items. Thanks go to McCurdy Auction Services for an outstanding and humorous live auction, with some unique plants going to wonderful homes. This event was sponsored by Kaw Valley Greenhouses, The LDF Companies, McCurdy Auction, Justus Fugate, Law Offices of Henry & Mathewson, P.A. and Elton Parsons.

FREE Admission on Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day, celebrate or remember your mother with flowers at Botanica. On Sunday, May 9, Botanica will be open from 1-5pm for your viewing pleasure. Stroll through the Gardens to see spring perennials in action, including irises, peonies, poppies and roses and get a first look at some of the new annuals that we will showcase this growing season.

It's a great family outing, perfect for all ages. The best part is that admission is FREE for everyone!

Sponsored for the community by: AngelWorks Foundation, Don Hattan Chevrolet, Galichia Medical Group and Healing Waters Med Spa & Cosmetic Clinic.

$3 Thursdays are back!

Due to its popularity, we have continued our $3 Thursdays promotion. Every Thursday, admission to Botanica is only $3 per person. As always, children under 3 and members are free. Hours of operation on Thursdays are 9am-8pm, offering all day access to the Gardens! This is not combinable with any other discounts or promotions.

Now open for extended hours

Now that spring is here, the Gardens are open for extended hours for your viewing pleasure. Current hours of operation are Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm and Sunday 1-5pm. We are also open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings until 8pm. Make plans to enjoy the Gardens soon!

Tulips are in bloom!

It's amazing what a weekend can do. With just a few tulips blooming at the end of last week, today almost 1/3 of our tulips in bloom! Most of the early varieties are blooming in a wide variety of colors. They are quite simply the harbinger of spring and can't help but make you smile. Come see our beautiful spring show!

Tulip sighting!

On a garden walk this morning I had my first tulip sighting, just west of the Button Fountain on the south edge of the Peony Collection. Although there is color everywhere, the bright red tulip with its yellow center just jumped out at me. With the build-up of spring, it is exciting to see the tulips start to bloom...I can't wait to see what the next two weeks bring.

It's getting to look a lot like spring!

The riding lawnmower is running full speed ahead, waterlilies have been divided and repotted and perennials have been cut back - all signs that the growing season is officially here! The Gardens are chock full of blooms from daffodils, hyacinth, pansies, lungwort, winter jasmine, winter honeysuckle, redbud trees, forsythia and lenten rose- and many other trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs are filling up with buds. After the dormancy of winter, everything is getting ready to put on a colorful show. This time of year, things change every day in the Gardens, so make plans to visit early and often. Remember that we still have Lunchtime Lectures and catered lunches on Wednesday afternoons and that admission is still just $3 every Thursday.

See you in the Gardens and happy spring!