Albuquerque Botanical Garden

,My birthday was last week and I told my dear husband all I wanted was to spend the day at the botanical garden in Albuquerque. He obliged me and we set off Saturday morning for our day at the Garden.

It was cloudy and spitting rain and snow (in the middle of April!) when we left home, about an hour from Albuquerque. We crossed our fingers and headed out and by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped. It was cloudy and cool but only misted a little a couple of times, so it turned out to be a nice day.

It was half price weekend so parking was awful. We ended up around behind the aquarium in the overflow parking. The aquarium and gardens are side by side, so it wasn't much of a walk to get around the aquarium to the front. The front courtyard has a bike rack, gift shop, restrooms, snack bar, stroller rental and a place for pets to hang out because they are not allowed inside. We got there at 10 a.m. and the bathrooms were already a pit. That was a little disgusting. But it was a really busy day and the place was packed, so maybe that was not the norm.

The front entrance had a yellow Lady Banks rose on each side and it was in full bloom. Just glorious! The gardens certainly didn't disappoint and we will definitely return to see it again. Once inside, we stopped in the High Desert Rose Garden to get a snack and sit a spell. Restrooms there were much cleaner and far less busy. We walked 3+ miles and I'm sure missed a few trails, but we saw most of it. We saw everything from bromeliads and fuchsia in the tropical conservatory to and old fashioned farm complete with livestock and an area that was completely natural with walking trails all through it. I think most of it could be accessed with a stroller or wheel chair. There is also a small train you can ride and see a good bit of it, but we chose to walk. There is even a section for children, with a Bugarium and a butterfly garden. The butterfly garden was not open--still a little too early for the high desert-- but the Bugarium and the Children's Fantasy Garden were great fun.

I took over a hundred photos and shot a couple of short videos. I've divided them up according to what area of the garden they were in to make it a little easier to view. Enjoy!

The Children's Garden

The Conservatories-Tropical and Desert

The Japanese Garden

The Rest of the Garden