Memphis Botanical Garden

Lest you think last week was all about Graceland, let me also emphasize that I visited gardens in both Phoenix and Memphis.

One of the gardens I visited was the Memphis Botanical Garden. I have posted new photos in the gallery, so take a look when you get the chance.

The Memphis Botanical Garden is a sprawling piece of property with good bones and a nice infrastructure–lovely water features, wide paths and beautiful old trees to provide much-needed shade in the Memphis heat. It is a popular venue for concerts, fairs and such. I would imagine that the locals also make good use of the paths for their walking exercise.

But, sadly, the place doesn’t really excel at the whole garden concept. The designers suffer from myopia and a distinct lack of imagination. The result is that they devote inordinate swaths of space to single plant types. There’s a rose garden. A hosta garden. A lily garden. A daylily garden. You get the picture.

Because there is such a single focus here, single focus there, the garden suffers from ugly patches of plants not at their glory. One of the big reasons that you mix plants in borders and such is to have constant interest–so everything doesn’t just up and die at once, leaving you with a dead looking garden.

The place that the Memphis Botanical Garden really shines, however, is in its Japanese Garden. There is a lovely half-moon bridge and a nice use of bamboo, sedges and other plants native to the region.

Nevertheless, it’s worth a visit and a stroll, particularly if you’re going to visit the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, which is located right across the road. (More on that next.)

By the way, if I play my cards right, I may also be visiting the Chicago Botanical Garden next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I”ll have time.