Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

We had our friends Rosie and Betty come visit us for a few days.  One of the places we took them was the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.  We had heard of it since we got to Charlotte, but never got the opportunity to visit it.  So, it was a good outing for the 4 of us.
The Gardens are about 17 miles NW of where we are in Charlotte and about a mile and a half from South Carolina.  It is a recent botanical garden.  It is about 400 acres and created by Daniel Stowe (a retired textile executive) in 1991. As you will see by the photos, they have done a lot in just 20 years and there is much more coming in the future.

The visitor center. The 2 tall trees in the left & right foreground are cypress trees.

Caroline, Betty & Rosie walking through the east pergola.

They have several nice areas for picnics

A sculpture called 'Laura.' The arched trellis looks 3 dimensional, but is actually flat.

The White Garden.  All the flowering plants are white !!

A White Iris.

I didn't see a name card for this.  The flowers are about 2" in diameter.

The Willow Maze.  It is made up of 600 dappled willows.  That's Rosie, Betty & Caroline finding their way through the maze.

Gladious Communis.  Maybe about 2' tall.

Slender Deutzia.  About  3' - 4' wide.

There were 2 sculptures in the Crepe Myrtle Grove entitled 'Child of Peace.'

The 2nd one.

Looking towards the Canal Garden. 

This is the start of the Canal Garden; it is 300' long. There are 10 fish sculptures within the 300.'  See the next photo.

Looking from the other end.

The fountain at the other end. That's Betty, Caroline & Rosie enjoying the views.

Siberian Iris.This was gorgeous in person.  The photo does not even come close to show its deep purple flowers.  They were about 2' tall.

Sculpture entitled 'Hot Pink Silver Shadow.'

The 'Take a Chance' Fountain. At any time, the streams of water will stop, soaking anyone underneath. It was a favorite with the kids.

Part of the Serpentine Gardens.

A Big Leaf Magnolia.  It was about 25' tall.

An evergreen 'forest.'  The 2 tall trees just left of center are Golden American Arborvitae.

Chinese Fringetree.

Betty & Caroline along a road of Encore Azaleas.

'Total Recall' Reblooming Tall Bearded Iris. About 18" tall with very large flowers for an iris.

Orchid Conservatory. Carolina's only glass house: it is 8,000 square feet with the middle section being 5 stories tall.

A wall of orchids.

Another cousin of the GEICO gecko ? It was about 8" long and in the conservatory.

A small pond along the road.

Nor sure what kind of bird this is.  I thought it might be an anhinga, but it is too small.