Moody
Gardens
Galveston, Texas
March 2008
It’s
difficult to evaluate Moody Gardens as a garden, in the same way
it’s difficult to judge most zoos as gardens. They have beautiful
plants but the plants are just an amenity to enhance the rest of
the collection. Plants are certainly a wonderful amenity and most
of these attractions provide excellent care, but generally do not
give them the interpretation or curation that really makes a public
garden special. There are exceptions of course, but Moody Gardens
was not an exception.
Despite the criticism, I have to say that everything is nicely
done, designed to provide a great visitor experience.
The entrance into the Visitor Center is beautiful.
Even the parking lot plantings are
beautiful.
Moody Gardens is a visually spectacular visitor attraction with an
aquarium, lots of animals, an IMAX theater, a science museum and
more. We visited in March so the outside garden areas were not at
their best but there were lots of interesting and beautiful
plantings, including an herb garden, a representative backyard
planting and a butterfly garden. There are spectacular plantings of
palms everywhere.
But
except for the few small gardens already mentioned, most of the
plantings were a hodge-podge of tropical and subtropical plants
with no signage or interpretation. Lots of beautiful plants but if
you wanted to know what they are or why they are planted, you're
out of luck.
The Palm Pyramid is a spectacular looking conservatory, filled with
beautiful tropical plants. The conservatory is divided into
geographic regions and there is signage talking about each region.
There are also interpretive signs about some of the important
economic plants, and others illustrating important
concepts,
but there are too few of them. There are no signs to identify
plants, which is sad because there are lots of beautiful and
unusual plants. Walking through the rainforest is a great
experience. The pathways are well-laid out and there are
interesting plants and animals around every corner.
Lizards, birds and other animals roam free among the plants.
It's great fun, but garden-wise, a
bit disappointing.
Outside the story is much the same. There are lots of beautiful
plants but no interpretation and no identification signage.
As a garden it was disappointing, but
I can't say we didn't have a great time. For a family vacation, I'd
recommend it as a great alternative to Disney or LegoLand.
Click here to see more photos of Moody Gardens.
To visit the official website of Moody Gardens, click
here.