I’ve known for a long time that Denver has a botanical
garden . For a several years in the mid-1990s I lived and worked in downtown
probably within a mile of the gardens but never went. Even when I lived in the
Denver area again a few years later, had a house, and got very into gardening,
I still never went. I’m not sure why. Well, I suppose when I had a house and a
garden I was too busy taking care of my possessions to get out and observe the
bigger world.

Well, part of it might have been that back then the Denver
Botanic Gardens didn’t have the greatest reputation. That’s apparently all
changed now with some funding from a regional arts and cultural facilities
sales tax that supports Denver area institutions like museums and theaters, and
new Executive Director who supposedly has been very creative and successful in
developing the gardens and increasing visitation.

I went to the gardens for the first time in September 2009
with my friend Jerad and was very impressed with what I saw. The gardens
frequently have changing exhibits and activities, and at that time it was “Dinosaurs
in the Gardens” . In terms of flowers and foliage, though, autumn isn’t the best
time for botanical gardens, and I vowed to come back again in spring or summer
when more would be in bloom.

Well, the next big show at the gardens took place in 2010,
and in late May I met my friend Ken for lunch and “Henry Moore at the Gardens”.
Late May is somewhat between spring and summer flowers in Denver, so the bulb
flowers were gone and the roses not yet in bloom, but many other flowers like
irises, peonies, and poppies were out in full force. I was even more impressed
than the year before by what I saw, and also discovered the indoor conservatory
which was closed previously for some renovation work.

The Henry Moore exhibition involved about twenty of his
sculptures placed artfully around the gardens. Moore was a twentieth century
British artist known for his monumental semi-abstract works in bronze and
occasionally some other materials that often depicted the human form. My
appreciation for modern art has grown significantly in recent years (from a
quite low base), and very much started noticing Moore’s bronzes in outdoor
sculpture gardens when I’ve been traveling around the U.S. Usually there’s only
one or maybe two on display, so it was nice to see such a large number of them
in one place at the Botanic Gardens.