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Memphis Botanic Gardens
750 Cherry Road
Memphis, TN 38117
(901) 576-4100
Adults: $5, Seniors: $4, Children (ages 3 to 12): $3, Children under age 2 are free and the gardens are free on Tuesdays from noon until closing. Membership is $60 for two adults and their children under age 21.

The Botanic Gardens boasts nearly 25 different gardens and trails to explore. On our recent visit, we only had time to wander through the Japanese Garden of Tranquility and explore the tiny Farmer’s Market that is associated with the Gardens.

Before I had children, I used to think of botanical gardens as places where old women went to talk extensively about plants and have tea. Now that I have children, I see them as teaching playgrounds. My kidlets loved the small area they ran around in on our visit — for a few quarters they fed the Koi and chased after the geese. There were climbing opportunities and flowers for smelling (one of my daughter’s favorite activities).

The Japanese Garden is described as, “having a variety of Japanese plants; bamboo is a primary element of the garden. There are several species including arrow, timber and variegated ground cover bamboo” We also found a persimmons tree (a fruit I did not realize grew on trees) and variations of pine trees.

The Koi, which are a particular species of carp that look like oversized goldfish, were amazing. At least fifty showed up by the concrete bridge when the kidlets started throwing the food pellets in the water. These particular Koi were a gift from EPCOT. We also glimpsed a turtle and plenty of geese.

I’m looking forward to the new children’s garden that is in the planning stages. The garden aims to serve as a big backyard with spaces catering to toddlers children with special needs, and a water feature.

Fall is an excellent time to visit the gardens. The Farmer’s Market is held Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and runs from August 1 to October 31. It is held in the pine groves, which is in the back of the parking lot. There were only a handful of vendors when we visited — and very little produce.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Memphis Botanic Gardens, Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.