Lauritzen Gardens

Botanical Garden (Omaha Botanical Gardens Foundation) · Omaha, Nebraska

Lauritzen Gardens is Omaha's botanical garden, a young, well-kept site of about 100 acres on the bluffs above the Missouri River floodplain, a few minutes from the Henry Doorly Zoo. It grew out of a local botanical garden foundation and opened to visitors in stages from the mid-1990s, so its trees are still maturing, but the planting is careful and the paths are paved. A loop leads through a rose garden, a formal Victorian garden, an herb garden, a Japanese-style garden, woodland and meadow, an arboretum and bird sanctuary on the lower slopes, and a model railroad garden that runs in the warm months. The large glass conservatory, often named as the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory, has temperate and tropical houses that keep the garden worth a visit in winter, with seasonal flower shows such as spring bulbs and a holiday poinsettia display. Next door, Kenefick Park displays two giant Union Pacific locomotives above Interstate 80. It is a paid garden, not a free park, and a visit takes two to three hours.

100 Bancroft Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68108, United States

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the garden and conservatory open daily from around 9 am to 5 pm, with last admission earlier, and close on a few major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day; hours can be extended for summer evenings or the holiday show. The model railroad garden runs only in the warm months, and the cafe keeps its own shorter hours. Kenefick Park is usually open during garden hours. The traps that ruin a visit are arriving in winter expecting outdoor flowers, reaching the gate after last admission, finding the rose garden closed for a wedding, and holiday-show weekend crowds. Confirm current times before relying on them.

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