A trip to the Milwaukee Domes

Jim was off work on Friday and it was supposed to be the nicest day of the three day weekend.  We were trying to decide what to do to take advantage of a sunny day.  There is still too much snow to do much of anything outside.  We’ve been hiking several times over the past few weeks but the snow is getting patchy and slushy and in many places there is more mud than snow.  Jim suggested we drive down to Milwaukee to see the botanical gardens in the Domes.  It was the perfect thing to do.

There are three domes and inside each one is a lovely garden.  The three domes are themed.  One is called the Show Garden which has changing exhibits throughout the year.  The theme now is Blue Bayou and there are New Orleans and jazz motifs throughout the display.  It was just beautiful.  It’s been so long since we’ve seen anything blooming it was almost overwhelming to take in the lush blooms.

There is an interesting historical display in the show garden of a few elements that were salvaged when the previous gardens were razed.  This beautiful wrought iron gate remains.

And this lion’s head planter.

And these wonderful brick tiles that look like quilt blocks!

The second dome is the Desert Garden.  It is filled with rocks, cactus and other desert trees and plants.

The third dome is the Tropical Garden which has lush foliage and many spice and medicinal plants.

One of the more interesting trees is the Kapok tree.  The Great Kapok Tree was one of our kids’ favorite books when they were little.  See the spikes growing out of the trunk?

Here is a black pepper plant.  Who would think this simple looking plant would be one of the world’s most valuable plants?

This was a really enjoyable little road trip.  I had my Kindle so I just sat in one of the gardens and read for awhile. The sunshine was glorious!