Experience Joy all Summer Long

This summer, perhaps and with fingers crossed, we can take a deep breath and just relax a bit. The past decade, by which I mean the last 12 months, have been grueling. At all four of our locations, the Gardens is primed to offer more than quiet healing experiences, which have been critical to countless, and let loose true joy. 

Joy is back this summer as spring rain and snow have prepped a parched land for a verdant eruption of life. Joy is back in the form of children cavorting in Mordecai Children’s Garden and rolling down the slopes of the UMB Bank Amphitheater. 

The amount of birdsong is enthralling, as is the return of butterflies and bees.

It is going to take some time for many to feel fully comfortable, and we all get it. The cloud of menace has weighed heavily on us all. That’s why we can all help everyone we encounter by demonstrating simple respect, giving people some space whenever they need it. It is something I see every day as groups wander, some with masks on, others without. We are living in a time of miracles, and few could have predicted during the dark days of shutdowns that we would be emerging into such better days now. Thank goodness for scientists and the medical community for shepherding our rebound.

Thanks too for the donors, volunteers and members who keep Denver Botanic Gardens vital and vibrant. You have seen us through a challenge, and we are all awash in gratitude.

Two words in our mission statement really stand out – delight and enlightenment. With four sites, deep levels of research and dynamic, inspiring programs, the enlightenment part is constant. And now, we aim to delight all people we attract with a reopened Mordecai Children’s Garden, Science Pyramid and Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory. We are thrilled by the response to the new art galleries in the Freyer – Newman Center where visitors can also take in a documentary movie in the Sturm Family Auditorium. Classes are back. The new Helen Fowler Library is finally open.

And events like Evenings al Fresco and Lavender Festival will provide plenty of fun times.

Deep breath. Big smiles. We are ready for a summer of joy.

Onward.