Kathy X.
Yelp
What a breathtakingly beautiful place with all types of colorful blooming flowers, green grassy areas, blue bodies of water and more! My favorite gardens were Chinese Garden, Rose Garden, and Flowery Brook. Upon entering, you are privy to Reception Gardens which are tall trees, flowers and a walkway leading to a fountain and the stately, impressive library on the grounds.
My friends and I then started off going through the greenhouse exhibition grounds, which was my least favorite portion because I'm not really a fan of greenhouses. Most of it was warm, tropical with cactuses and green plants. I did like the orchids, bridge, and pond though.
We continued on to the Rose Garden and Aquatic Garden. Roses are my favorite flowers, so I enjoyed this garden immensely. There were pinkish-yellow, red, orange, pale pink, purple, yellow-colored roses, as well as a pretty arch and statue of a joyful young girl. The Aquatic Garden were different pools of water with little fountains. It was very calming and refreshing to walk through it.
Next was the Chinese Garden which was incredibly impressive! The entrance was through a foresty bunch of trees with red and gold lanterns hanging up above. There was also a red and black pagoda and inside the pavilion, crystal blue clear water with lantern art of fishermen and boats, orange and blue fishes, a huge bird, etc. All of this is surrounded by lush green grass, lilacs, pandas and bamboo lantern art display, rocks, Chinese style buildings, and a natural-looking waterfall on a rocky cliff.
After that, we checked out the Japanese Garden which was not all that compared to what I just experienced in the Chinese Garden. There was a bonsai display, lantern art of cranes in the grass and a small cultural center.
Then there was the Shrub Garden and Alpine Garden. The Shrub one was a little boring for me, but the Alpine Garden had this wild, unbridled beauty with all the rocks, bodies of water and different types of trees.
We also saw the Lilacs and Flowery Brook, which boasted all kinds of flowers of red, pink, purple, white, orange, along with leaves of purple, yellow, green and more. It was truly a sight to behold and there was a large body of water with lily pads and marsh-like atmosphere.
There were arboretum trails that we did not get a chance to check out, but I was very happy with what we experienced.