The Ottomans Represented..

Back to Missouri Botanical Gardens for a bit.  This Ottoman Garden was pretty neat.  Central water feature, throne area in the back under the pergola/arbor, and lots of great plantings surrounding the walkways.

This is an interestingly simple garden for St. Louis to pull off because our latitude is almost the same with Turkey (40 degrees north).  The garden is modeled after 16th to 19th century Turkish gardens.  This Ottoman Garden is the first of it's kind anywhere in the United States.

Tower Grove Fountain..

The central fountain in the lake at Tower Grove Park.  This lake is surrounded by recycled materials.  Henry Shaw used ruins from a burned hotel to construct "The Ruins" that have become such a popular wedding photo site.  The balusters surrounding the south end of the lake adorned the tops of buildings in downtown.  Shaw had those moved to his park before he died, too.  I don't know if there's a history to the fountain yet, but I'm looking...