First, A Sampling of Cheyenne Botanic

Of the many acres in Cheyenne Botanic Gardens in Wyoming, USA, the Children's Garden is probably the gem.  I won't write about it more. Just go there.

It is refreshing, after recently visiting Scotland and returning home to our throw-away society, to be in a place where even the unseen backs of buildings, built to last, are lovely.  

The new building, built to last with hail-proof state-of-the-art glass panels, has one of those fun public pianos out front.  8 of 10 plays on it from passersby is "Heart and Soul".  My fingers are crossed for some boogie woogie or Tool to happen sometime while we work on the crevice garden nearby next week.

But the new tropical conservatory; three stories, each with a walkable, public area, is stunning.  Note the willow-twig elephant sculpture.

It's funny- if the vibe reminds me of any conservatory at all, it's that of the Como Park Conservatory in Minneapolis; which is another American town at a Northern latitude where a greenhouse offers sufferers of long winters a great repose from the elements.  Cheyenne does not try to replicate the jungle here and play on those expectations- it offers a sort of victorian pleasure-glasshouse nouveau with a little educational twist.   I'm impressed for a town of nearly 60 thousand.