2 new gardens opening in Des Moines this May
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The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden's "Dome after Dark" event last year. Photo: Brian Powers/The Des Moines Register via Imagn Content Services
The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden is undergoing a 7-acre expansion, and some of the first of its projects are slated to open in the coming weeks.
What's happening: Visitors will soon be able to check out two new gardens, following a grand opening planned for late May.
- Founders Garden: A drought-tolerant Iowa prairie with native grasses and sandy berms to resemble the quick-draining hydrology of the Loess Hills.
- Hiller Rain Garden: A lower-lying area where deep-rooted plants help educate about water management.
Plus: Founders Garden includes "Threshold," a 16-foot steel leaf sculpture that was commissioned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation and installed late last year.
Catch up fast: The gardens are the first pieces of "Plan Refresh," an effort to better landscape and incorporate the attraction's riverfront property into the visitor experience.
- The plan, which is expected to cost between $17 million and $23 million, also includes a children's play area, an amphitheater, building renovations and connections with the I-235 pedestrian overpass.
What's ahead: Additional community input and a formal capital campaign kickoff for the next phases of development are expected in coming months, Maggie Conner, the botanical garden's marketing director, tells Axios.
- A timeline will be connected with fundraising, she said.
Visit: 900 Robert D. Ray Drive in DSM.
- Open: Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm.
