Fall Chrysanthemum Show at the Botanic Garden of Smith College

On Monday afternoon, we enjoyed a trip to the Botanic Garden of Smith College in Northampton, MA.  We got together with another homeschool family  and drove to the Smith campus right after lunch.  When we arrived and walked in, the smell was fabulous.  You get used to the scent, but at first it is very delicious and you can not stop thinking about it. 

We made sure to look for the live web camera in the first Chrysanthemum room!  Having watched people walking through the show a few days  previously, we wanted to make sure we were very entertaining in case anyone was watching us.  Mostly, people walking through don't know there is a camera or don't look up at it, at any rate.  We smiled and waved and the children all did some silly poses for the camera.  

After walking through the Mum Show rooms,  we went through the rest of the greenhouses there.  I take my girls to the greenhouses at Smith College at least once a year and usually twice.  There are so many different climates!  There are very moist, steamy rooms filled with all sorts of tropical plants such as bananas and the tree cinnamon bark comes from.  All the areas are fantastic.  We love the orchids and the cacti and all the ferns and ivies! 

The Botanic Garden at Smith is fabulous for a learning adventure.  I would highly recommend going there if you live in the area.  They take donations on an honor system at the information desk as you enter the building and they sell really lovely postcards (and other cards) with photos of the flowers, etc.  The information desk also has great, free, activity booklets for kids; they can use the booklets to go through all the rooms and investigate the plants while learning interesting facts.  On the website, there is also a Kids Corner which looks interesting.  

What a great day we had on Monday.  I hope you enjoyed reading about it.  

Catch you on the flip side!