Lauritzen Gardens

It's a beautiful time of year to see all the vivid colors of the changing leaves on trees. No matter what part of the country you visit, you'll see some gorgeous scenery. The same holds true here in Omaha. Except we have one hidden gem of more than just changing leaves. Lauritzen Gardens offers 100 acres of floral exhibits along with the trees that are the perfect setting for photo opportunities, parties, weddings and the like. We actually saw a young couple having taken, what we guessed were their engagement photos. It's the perfect location. Now I'm excited for the Christmas season to see the Poinsettia Show that they put on!

I've lived in Omaha now for 15 years and not once have I taken the time to visit this awesome attraction. It was discussed as a possible outing back in 2008 when my brothers' family visited but it didn't seem like it would be as exciting to see as the other places we did go to. Wow....we should have gone! I never knew it was so pretty! And I've never known anyone else that's visited there either. You've got to go! This time of year showcases all the different colors of Mums that they have been growing all summer long. My friend Trisa and I had the day off from work and decided it would be a good time to check it out.

Once we got there, we learned of a tram ride that you could pay a little extra for and ride around the majority of the gardens. So we did that first. Then we decided we would walk around later and look a little closer at certain areas that may catch our eyes.

Before driving through the entrance gates, here is what we saw...isn't it pretty?

After parking the vehicle, we walked through some delicately placed trees and shrubs and saw all these flowers. We hadn't even walked through the front door yet! This is called the Arrival Garden. We parked in the (appropriately named) Parking Garden. Nearby was a pond with many lily pads floating around the surface of the water.

Other displays right outside the front door of the Visitor Center.

This is inside the big Visitor Center.

The wind socks are decorated as Carp fish. They are huge!

A tall version of Mums...

Once again, inside the Visitor Center...gorgeous! Trisa is looking at all the details.

(Visitor Center) There is a small pond just beyond all these flowers that has many Koi fish. These fish can live anywhere from 50-100 years.

Once we walked out the back doors, we were in the Festival Garden. Below, is a portion of the fall decor that had been set up for the fall and Halloween holiday.

Trisa posing for me...

We walked further down the hill and came upon the Victorian Garden. It had a regal looking brick wall built up around it. This was my favorite section of the entire site.

Here we thought we would try out the timer on my camera. It worked. We both look lovely on this crisp, cool day.

Another view of the Victorian Gardens.

Victorian Gardens.

Once we were done marveling at all the displays and colors, we continued on our journey on the winding path ways and ended up here, The Garden of Memories. Anyway can make a contribution to the Gardens and have the names of loved ones that have passed on, listed on various plaques that we saw displayed throughout this area. They were listed by year of passing. Nearby all these names was a small reflection pool. It was clear and serene.

Part way down one of the many hills, was a Model Railroad Garden. There were several trains all going around the tracks in different directions on different tracks. It was so neat. They all had the whistles blowing when they passed over the trestles. The whole garden is made "green"; all natural items. There are little buildings mixed in throughout the tracks. They are miniature replicas of buildings that are in down town Omaha.

One of many trains that was in motion....

Here a man is working on one of the tracks and adding a Locomotive.

You can see the different buildings scattered amidst the tracks and bridges.

The next five photos were all taken inside the Rose Garden. Mixed in with the pretty roses of every kind you can imagine, were more Mums. There were so many vivid colors of these as well that no matter where you looked, it made you almost gasp in surprise.

The Rose Garden.

A Clock amongst the Mums in the Rose Garden.

I'm not sure what kind of plant this was but the purple things that hung from the plant almost looked like pea pods.

While riding the tram, we saw so many things in every direction. So I'll just stick a few various pictures in here next.

Along the pathway in the Tree Peony Garden.

A cute waterfall in the Garden in the Glen.

On the way to the Rose Garden. You can see the white fencing which surrounds the Roses.

The Herb Garden; it wasn't hard to notice when we rode by in the tram!

A little sitting area.

Sandhill Cranes sculptures in the foreground.



Sunpu Castle Gate and Mt. Fuji Replica Garden.

We didn't see each and every seperate garden. But we saw the majority. There were also others such as The Children's Garden and a bird sanctuary. The last part of the tram ride took us to the south side of the Visitor Center called Kenefick Park. Here sit two actual train engines. Big Boy No. 4023 and Centennial No. 6900. They are easily seen from the interstate and greet motorists as they enter Omaha. I've always seen them from the road myself and thought it would be neat to get up close and personal. Well I have now! One word....HUGE!!!

The back of the huge display with the American Flag in the center. The two train engines are behind and to the left (your right) of this display.

Centennial No. 6900

The sign at the bottom of the big hill that you have to climb in order to see the train engines.


Big Boy No. 4023
It's a little bit longer than the other train. There were two sections.

The view of the hill to the west of the Visitor Center.

From atop the hill where the train engines rest, looking north toward the Visitor Center and Parking Garden.

The two train engines are situated in that they form two sides of a four sided box. One looks eastward and the other looks southward, nose to nose. Apparently it was quite the chore to get both engines to the top of the hill. Visitors aren't allowed inside them but there is a platform that one could stand on and look into Big Boy.
It only took us a couple of hours but we didn't actually go into every single garden either. The weather was perfect and there wasn't any wind to make it miserable.