Things to Do at the Denver Botanic Gardens

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The first thing many people attribute to Denver is its beautiful mountains. But our vibrant, nature-inspired surroundings of Denver aren’t just limited to our rolling mountains.

Today, we’re delving into the 23-acre park in York Street and at the Plains Conservation Center– the Denver Botanic Garden– where schools, families, and students alike all spend their days discovering, connecting, and learning more about everything in nature.

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For families and learning

Denver Botanic Gardens events offer fun for families large, small, and even for individuals who want to spend a beautiful day in the curated gardens and fields of one of our city’s most beautiful treasures.

Family programs

For a fun and educational excursion with your family, bring your kiddos with you to discover science, art, and nature that’s curated specifically for the littlest of kids and the oldest of adults.

Attend Raptor Day at the Gardens, a 90-minute program brought to the gardens by the Raptor Education Foundation, which brings environmental literacy programs– including real-life raptors held by professional raptor-handlers– to educational and collective gatherings to connect nature-lovers together, showcasing non-releasable wildlife for fun learning for everyone.

For younger children, attend a Family Make and Take, which is a space for smaller children and their caregiver to complete an activity together, like building a fairy garden, creating a “pollination station” an outdoor experience where families can create a pollination feed together and take it home when they’re finished. 🐝

Education and homeschooling programs

If you’re a homeschooling or learning pod family, you can also immerse yourself in the Denver Botanic Gardens’ events and programs as on-the-ground enrichment programs.

York Street offers Start a Garden, an outdoor set-up activity station that shows students how to start a garden with a simple seed packet, or Nature’s Art, to play with dyes and pigments and learn how they’re integrated with the natural plants and flowers around us.

Over at the Plain Conservation Center, find Phenology and Climate Change, a program that has participants find and observe plants through microscopes, learning about them through engaging, hands-on games and activities. Visit their Homeschooling Day calendar for a full list of activities that are happening now!

School and library programs

Schools and libraries can also schedule tours and events through the Denver Botanic Gardens, catered towards targeted age ranges and needs. Sensory Tours are geared towards preschoolers and kindergarteners who are able to touch, see, smell, and even taste what they’re learning, while Journey to the Rainforest is geared towards kids ages 2-12 to compare ecosystems and focus their attention on rainforests over at the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory.

If you want to stay on your learning grounds, you can still bring botany straight into your classroom with a take-home program like the Classroom Grow Kit and Student Planting Kit. Take a look at all of the school programs at York Street to see what’s going on in the coming weeks for your school.

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For art and performance

Music at the Gardens

If you’ve ever heard tunes coming from downtown throughout the summer, it might be from one of Denver Botanic Gardens’ many summer music events at the UMB Bank Amphitheatre featuring large acts, and during Evenings al Fresco, curated summer nights where small Denver-based musicians perform right on York Street.

Purchase food right in the gardens to enjoy a night of the rich sounds of local and national musicians, flavors of delectable meals, and colors of the popping florals and plants in the gardens.

Art Exhibitions

Head over to the Freyer-Newman Center between 9 am and 5 pm for nature-inspired artwork, created and curated by local artists for both indoor and outdoor viewing.

Currently running (as of April 2023):

One Fell Swoop, an outdoor exhibit found in Chatfield Farms created by local artist Patrick Doughtery by weaving together branches and saplings into a life-sized piece of art, harvested from Colorado locations.

Vistas in Color, local artist Justin Favela’s floor-to-ceiling murals honoring the beautiful similarities and juxtapositions of US and Mexican desserts, created from the same crepe paper used for pinatas, and tributing his most favored and honored landscapes.

Peace Walking is artist Melanie Yazzie’s artwork filled with animals, plants, maps, and women and how they all interconnect, showcasing how they all work together in the healing process, all within the context of the Indigenous experience. The artist descends from the Bitter Water Diné– Navajo– clans, and has showcased her art all across the US, and is currently a professor of Arts Practices and Head of Printmaking at the University of Colorado Boulder.

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For education and student-inspired programs

For those who’ve dreamed of matching their love of flowers with their love of artwork to become professional botanical artists, look no further than Denver Botanic Gardens’ very own School of Botanical Art and Illustration, where you could take single courses or a full-on certificate program to become a professional floral illustrator.

Whether you’ve been an artist your whole life and want to target your skills to Botanics, or if this is your first time picking up a pencil, immerse yourself in one or many courses at The School of Botanical Art and Illustration, where you can either attain a Certificate for Botanical Illustration or take any class that interests you. Programs are offered in-person and online, and include everything from Color Layering from Colored Pencils to Matting and Framing Your Art. Plus, you’ll also have access to additional lunch-and-learns, lectures, and creative learning opportunities and workshops through Art Exploration Courses to further your creative engagements linking your love for creativity and your love of the natural world.

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Utilize the beautiful Denver Botanic Gardens’ facilities through the herbaria and library, study at the garden’s coffee shop, and engage in panels, discussions, feedback sessions, and even gain access to opportunities of publishing your own art professionally.

This is a great opportunity for floral-lovers who’ve been interested in presenting at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival or have been toying with the idea of starting your own Etsy business– with all the training you need right in your favorite city of Denver!

‍Bonus: For exercise and meditation lovers

Did you know on top of all these Denver Botanic Gardens events, there are also weekly yoga classes? Imagine taking a relaxing class surrounded by the fragrant essences of blooming buds, the soft textures of supple leaves, and colorful pops of nature everywhere you turn.

Currently, classes are running Wednesday mornings at 9:15 am, but check the yoga calendar for the most up-to-date schedule.

Stroll through the beautiful gardens sipping a drink from the garden cafe, or bring your family for a day of learning and fun!

Or, if you’re looking to move to Denver to enjoy the Denver Botanic Gardens and more, reach out to our team of Denver-local agents, who can not just show you homes, but experiences that will fill your world with the vast beauty, art, and opportunities that Denver has to offer!