The Des Moines Botanical Center (14 acres / 5.7 hectares) is a botanical garden in central Iowa, located at 909 Robert D. Ray Drive, Des Moines, Iowa, USA, on the east bank of the Des Moines River.
Interest in a Des Moines botanical center began in 1929. A city greenhouse was acquired on the west side of the river in 1939, which served the city as a production and display greenhouse until the current Botanical Center was completed in 1979. The Botanical Center is managed and operated at present by the Des Moines Water Works.
Today's Botanical Center includes tropical and sub-tropical plants, cacti, succulents, orchids from high rainfall and arid regions, all collected within a 150' geodesic dome. Large koi, white catfish, turtles, and free-flying birds are also housed within the Dome. Outdoor gardens include water gardens and cascade, with many beds of native plants, herbs, miniature roses, and dwarf conifers.
Famous quotes containing the words des moines, des, moines, botanical and/or center:
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“Evolution was all over my chldhood, walks abroad with an evolutionist and the world was full of evolution, biological and botanical evolution.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“It is written in the Book of Usable Minutes
That all things have their center in their dying....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)