Credit to Hannah Martin

The Botanical Gardens, open from Nov. 16 to Jan. 4, showcases Christmas lights displays.

This annual St. Louis tradition put on by the Botanical Gardens allows those in attendance to make winter memories while showcasing the many plants they’re known for. The Garden Glow, open Nov. 16, 2024 through Jan. 4, 2025, is an event that can be celebrated with friends or family.  

“This event is a holiday event,” public information officer at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Jessica Eidson said. “You know, whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, whether you just kind of celebrate the holidays in general, it’s open to everyone. It’s not specifically geared towards a specific group, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy it.”

This beloved tradition made its start in 2013, making this year its twelfth anniversary. Featuring over 2 million lights, this walk-through light show covers approximately one mile, taking an average time of 45 minutes to complete. Wheelchairs, motorized scooters and strollers are available in order to let all members of the community embrace the lit-up environment that leaves no part of the area untouched by the lights. 

“Expect to take pictures,” freshman Kira Pierce said. “A lot of photos.”

Although the whole light show never stays the exact same every year, there are a few favorites that remain staples. Big Blue, a large Gum tree that is wrapped in blue lights, is visible from the street because of its size and brightness and will be returning this year, as well as the Climatron which is covered in lights along with the area decorated around it. Light tunnels, wishing trees and snow globes are only a few of the picture-taking opportunities perfect for this year’s Christmas card. The Kaeser Memorial Maze and “Glowmen Glen” are some kid-friendly activities located throughout the gardens. 

“I really enjoy the snow globe thing they have because you can go into the snow globe and take pictures,” Spanish teacher Brian Santos said. “But more than that, it’s a really fun, social thing my friends and I do and it’s kind of a tradition.”

Opening in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Gardens are considered by many to be one of the oldest, but nonetheless best botanical gardens in the world. Henry Shaw, an Englishman that saw beauty in this piece of Missouri land, set out on his journey to make it special. With the help of Dr. George Engelmann, a German physician-botanist, they both worked to create a public botanical garden that furthered scientific research, inspired by the gardens back in Europe. Today, the MoBot continues to further botanical research and education, whilst being a place open for special events from corporate meetings to wedding receptions. Holding events such as the Garden Glow became tradition not just for the gardens, but for the community as well.  

“Around the holidays, people really value traditions,” Eidson said. “They like going places, and, you know, knowing that there’s always going to be those familiar favorites. I think [the] Garden Glow has established itself as being a tradition for a lot of people. We’re really happy to have a place around the holidays where people want to go and share and make some memories with us here. So I think that’s really important, that we just keep this tradition going.”

The weather may be cold, but there are many warming areas with community fire pits, hot chocolate stations and heated buildings that pop up frequently throughout the gardens. The Blizzard Bar, Central Axis concessions tent, Candy Cane Bar and Café Flora offer a variety of food and drink options, but for those looking for something more informal, smores are also available during the evening. When throwing away trash throughout the night, the gardens have provided many compost and recycle bins in order to stay environmentally friendly.     

“One of the things that we really try to implement for all of our major events [to be environmentally friendly] is making sure there’s a place where people can compost and can recycle things as they’re getting food and drinks and things like that,” Eidson said. 

Along with the activities out in the gardens, the Emerson Conservatory hosts a Holiday Flower and train show that is included with Garden Glow admission and is open until 9 pm. This show consists of model trains weaving through miniature landscapes surrounded by flowers. The holiday flowers are decorated to be incorporated in the design of the landscapes by a seasoned horticulturist, who creates new displays each year.   

“They’ve been working on getting that set up in that space for the past few weeks,” Eidson said. “We just want it to be perfect.”

The show has many themed nights included with admission, such as meet the winter sisters on Thursdays, Nov. 21 through Dec. 19 and Jan. 2. Many of these nights ended earlier in December such as meet Santa and family nights which ended on Dec. 10 and 11 respectively. On family nights, children’s admission would be $5. This is a drop from the usual rates which are $10 for children and $24 for general access 13 years and up. However, for members of the garden, children get in for $8 and adults for $19. The Garden Glow is an extremely popular event, so those that want to purchase tickets should do so as soon as possible, as there are only so many spots available for each time slot on all of the dates.

“I think it’s a really great experience to go with friends or family,” senior Lance Salke said. “You get to see lots of lights and it’s just a fun time overall.”