Enjoying Lauritzen Gardens during the holidays is so easy to do. Our trip to Lauritzen Gardens was like visiting paradise, especially in the midst of a very chilly day. Located on the edge of Omaha, a nature reserve in the midst of a city is unexpected. And quite beautiful, inside and out!
Right now the Garden has their annual poinsettia display – over 29 varieties. (And yes, those are pictures that I took while there – aren’t the flowers simply breathtaking!)
Nestled among the flowers are natural wood sculptures representing many of Omaha’s buildings. (I think my son counted 34 of them!) These are also quite the sight to see! During the nicer months, these intricate buildings are in the outdoor railroad garden. During the colder months, these structures are brought indoors.
My youngest definitely loved seeing the trains that ran throughout the flowers. Actually, I think we all really liked that part!
Their displays made you want to wander about, finding secret places of beauty! The large display room is filled to the brim with holiday plants and floors. Did I mention before the enjoying Lauritzen Gardens during the holidays is definitely easy to do?
This is the hallway the connects the main gallery with the education wing. A work of art in itself, plus they rotate displays of artwork. (The shadows made it challenging to capture the artist’s painting well, but they were lovely!) Actually I think the shadows created their own artwork. This area is considered its own gallery. With sunshine streaming through the windows, you definitely want to stop and view all of the paintings or photographs.
Despite the chilling weather, the kids and I took a short hike. This would be a great area to explore in warmer weather, although we enjoyed looking around even in the cold. My son and I also saw a hawk perched on a tree out front.
Besides enjoying Lauritzen Gardens during the holidays, they are doing their best to help you enjoy the Gardens all year long. They are in the middle of expanding their facility to include a tropical gardens area. This will add a wonderful element to all that they already have to offer.
We almost missed what ended up being our favorite way of enjoying Lauritzen Garden during the holidays. The day that we visited, they were having a family crafting event. This was very delightful for my children. Our favorite part was making natural ornaments for the birds. My kids loved stringing fruit loops, cranberries and peanut shells onto wire. Evidently these ornaments are quite popular with the wildlife – they only last a day or two! The fact that my Mom was there with us for the day made our experience even more enjoyable.
In the summer, they have a children’s garden. They also have backpacks that you can check out to enrich your experience. Lauritzen Gardens has a done a wonderful job of making the place friendly, warm and welcoming for the whole family. We are excited to go back again in the future!
One picture that I left out up above – the giant poinsettia tree. That alone is worth the trip up because that might be the pinnacle point of enjoying Lauritzen Gardens during the holidays. Poinsettia Day is annual celebration there. You can read about that event in one of my later blog posts. Yes, I did update this post a few years after our visit. 🙂
With appreciation …
A big thank you to the Omaha Convention and Visitor’s Bureau for providing the tickets for us to visit this lovely place!
[…] year. Partially because I am a big fan of Christmas! I loved getting to go to Joslyn Castle and Lauritzen Gardens at Christmastime. (There I go linking more than one post again!) Especially seeing the poinsettia […]