by Mona Gallagher

Created on: April 20, 2009   Last Updated: June 02, 2009

Myriad Botanical Gardens began as a vision in 1964 and was meant to revitalize downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Highlighting the attractions in Myriad Botanical Gardens are a great number of rare and exotic plants with some dating back to prehistoric periods, but the architecture of Crystal Bridge Conservatory is also one of Myriads most significant highlights.

While the vision began in 1964, Myriad didn't open until 1988. It took a few years of planning and hard work before the dreams and vision to come to fruition, but the success of the stunning botanical oasis in the middle of downtown Oklahoma City (or OKC) went beyond Dean McGee's vision and most fervent expectations.Today it stands tall among botanical gardens of the world.

Myriad Botanical Gardens is set on 17 acres in Southern downtown OKC with Bucktown and the Convention Center as close neighbors. It's a nationally recognized garden that boasts exotic plants from all over the globe and its massive collection of botanicals rival botanical gardens the world over. Wildlfe are impressed with the gardens and for them, it truly is an oasis in the middle of OKC.

Approaching the botanical gardens, you'll see your favorite flowers growing at various times of the year. The early bloomers such as pansies begin in mid-February and Chrysanthemums take center stage in September. Meinders Garden is located in the Northeast corner of Myriad. Pansies, tulips, daffodils, Black-eyed Susans and fragrant lilacs are found here in a splendid array of texture and color.

The beauty of Myriad with it's backdrop of brilliant display that only nature can produce, makes it a natural setting for weddings, and many weddings are performed on the outside grounds or in the exotic tropical setting of the Crystal Bridge Conservatory. A photo gallery showing the breathtaking beauty of the outside gardens and the architecture of the Crystal Bridge can be found on this page.

When you step into the Crystal Bridge you'll find it's an architectural wonder on its own merit. It's a 224 feet long circular facility that houses a jungle encased in a tropical wonderland that is second to none. Orchids bloom throughout the year inside the conservatory, plus you'll find over 100 species of palm trees native to tropic and sub-tropic areas in the Southern US and South America as well as prehistoric plants (cyads) dating back to the Jurassic period.

Most spectacular of plants is the strikingly beautiful and rare Amorphophallus titanium also known as the

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