Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver

The Denver Botanic Gardens, situated in the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver, is a prominent public botanical garden that spans 23 acres. This garden is renowned for its diverse range of theme gardens, a sunken amphitheater hosting summer concerts, and a conservatory. It forms part of three distinct locations under the Denver Botanic Gardens umbrella, with its main site located on York Street in east-central Denver. The other two locations include the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, near Chatfield State Park, which features natural meadows, riparian areas, and a historic farm, and Mount Goliath, which offers an alpine wildflower garden along hiking trails on the route to Mount Blue Sky.

The Denver Botanic Gardens boasts North America's largest collection of plants from cold temperate climates, with seven diverse gardens focusing on flora from Colorado and neighboring states. A key feature is the world’s first Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, established in 1986 and later renamed Dryland Mesa. This garden showcases drought-tolerant plants from the arid West and Mediterranean regions and is based on the "7 Principles" of Xeriscape.

The Japanese Garden, Shofu-en, or the Garden of Wind and Pines, is another highlight, designed by Koichi Kawana in collaboration with Kai Kwahara. The York Street location also pioneered Denver's first publicly accessible green roof.

A notable structure within the gardens is the Boettcher Memorial Tropical Conservatory, the first conservatory in America constructed entirely of concrete and Plexiglas panes. These panes were ingeniously designed to channel condensation away from visitors, and the conservatory was granted landmark status in 1973.