PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

May 22, 2006, HUNTSVILLE, AL. On June 2, 2006, the Huntsville Botanical Garden opens its new Nature Center and 2-acre Children’s Garden. Included in the new facility is the nation’s largest seasonal butterfly house and a ‘Classroom Under the Sky’ amphitheatre with seating for up to 300. Grand Opening festivities and summer activities are being called 'Wings, Warts & Wonder!'. The Garden is open until 8 p.m. every day through Labor Day. Admission is $10 adults, $8 seniors and military and $5 for children. Members are admitted free.

Specific features of the new complex include:

• The Nature Center with its lush plantings, waterfalls, ponds and streams is home to more than 2000 Native American butterflies, frogs, tree frogs, turtles, hummingbirds and quail. The natural stone and steel beam structure soars over 30' and has a 9000 sq. ft. footprint. Interpretive displays explain the lifecycle of frogs and butterflies.
• The Children's Garden is a two-acre area with 8 separate gardens:
  • Space Garden: with a real Space Station node (donated by Marshall Space Flight Center), aquaponic display and Water Rocket Clock (with a real missile - we have plenty of them in Huntsville!) On the top of each hour, large jets of water spray out marking the time, i.e. 2 squirts for 2 p.m.)
  • Dinosaur Garden: Children will be able to walk down a dry creek bed with dinosaur footprints and dig in a dino graveyard where 'bones' and real fossils are buried in the sand. A life-sized reproduction of a brachiosaurus ribcage forms a unique bridge.
  • Rainbow Garden: Learn what it takes to light up the sky in beautiful colors. Gallons of bubble juice and misting poles fill the air with moving rainbows.
  • 1/2 Acre Wood: Featuring a worm world, growing shed for hands-on planting, Burro Bridge, Bee's Eye View - a lens where children can look through and see the world the way a bee does. This area also has a full weather station and a wonderful 'willow village'.
  • Bamboo Garden: Kids will love the bamboo rope bridge and water pipes fashioned from the tubular wood. Bamboo instruments including a xylophone, drum and chimes are there for the playing.
  • Maze Garden: Get lost in the old-fashioned maze, or make one of your own from giant sunflowers with moveable leaves. There is also a labyrinth for fun on a smaller scale. Friends and families can call directions from the fabulous tree-house overlook.
  • Storybook Garden: Featuring toadstool seating, a pergola, a hidden garden gate and a wishing well, this garden is filled with visual references to well-known fairytales.
  • International Garden: Featuring annual exhibits, plantings, a globe and flags.

Huntsville Botanical Garden - There’s always something growing on!

Huntsville Botanical Garden is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, supported by the community. The 110-acre garden is open year-round. Address: 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35805. For further information visit our website at www.hsvbg.org, or call 256.830.4447.