Over the Thanksgiving week I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Illumination event at Lewis Ginter Botanic Gardens and see their holiday season “H2Whoa” light display. Now it seems that I only get to visit this great garden during the last week of November, which is unfortunate because I am quite sure they have beautiful gardens during the summer months!
Either way I am not going to complain about getting to see a fantastic public garden with my best friends. We arrived the night of the Grand Illumination event about an hour before it got dark so we were able to run around and try to see as much of the gardens as possible. For a midwesterner living in Florida, I had a blast seeing all of the fall color and changing leaves.
Before it got dark we made our way to the original house and I loved how the team at Lewis Ginter Botanic Garden took the time to craft this detailed display in their Ginkgo leaves. Ginkgo leaves are a deep shade of butter yellow and amazingly, they all fall from the tree in a single day or two. #RVA? Yes, these folks take a lot of pride in their city of Richmond.
The overall theme for this year’s holiday is “H2Whoa” and the underwater theme is especially strong in the conservatory. Greeted by a large octopus, it is easy to see the plants were chosen to help support this aquatic theme. I loved the airplant “jellyfish” that took flight throughout the conservatory. Combined with shells and other natural materials these were a great way to move the visual interest upward.
The star of the show here is always their Christmas tree and this year is no exception. I love that it wasn’t overly fishy yet it still fit in really well. I feel like I could have easily gone overboard with tons of fish and way too many aquatic ornaments in a hurry.
Once the clock hit 7 p.m. the countdown began and the lights came on throughout the gardens.
As we entered the conservatory while it was light we walked right by these flower beds without taking too much of a notice. When the sky got dark and the lights came on these recycled bottles turned into a sea of glowing flowers. It looked like a moss field filled with wildflowers!
The holiday lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens are great. They maintain a botanical theme but are still filled with ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ from children of all ages. Not sure if it worth the effort? It definitely is!
