The Climatron, Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, MO.

We took a walk through the Climatron as we were headed out of the Gardens. What’s a Climatron? It’s a huge glass dome with two controled climates.

When you walk in, you enter into a rainforest. It is overwhelmingly lush. Even the light turns green as it filters through the plants. You really don’t know where to look or how to photograph it. There’s just sooo much! The contrast in textures keeps your eyes moving. You see broad leaves on fern fronds next to sharp thin leaves of palms. Theres a huge prehistoric looking pineapple hanging over rocks and then the intense red of pineapple ginger hits you and draws your eye. The thought kept popping into my head that a frilly necked lizard was going to jump out of the ferns and spit at me.

The Temperate Garden is a wonderful respite after the intensity of the Rainforest. Theres formal rooms with seating and fountains, wonderful standards in a pattern and white oleander perfuming the space. There are still palms and tropical plants, but it’s calmer…