Myriad Botanical Gardens

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Myriad Botanical Gardens (7 ha / 17 acres) are botanical gardens located at 100 West Reno, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The gardens are operated by the Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department, and open daily except for major holidays. The Myriad Gardens are the home of Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park

The Gardens consist of two major collections: the outdoor Gardens and the cyndrilical Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory. An admission fee is charged for the conservatory but the outdoor gardens are free.

The outdoor gardens form a tended landscape suitable for central Oklahoma, with a sunken lake containing Japanese koi and native Oklahoma fish. The Meinders Garden (first planted 1997) features perennials and flowering shrubs. Each quadrant of the square gardens complex is designed to represent flora and fauna found in that section of the state (For example, magnolia trees, found in the southeastern part of Oklahoma, are planted in the southeastern part of the Gardens).

The Crystal Bridge conservatory features more than 1,000 plant species, located in two habitat regions in the conservatory, and representing plants from every continent except Antarctica. The Tropical Rain Forest Zone (Wet Mountain) includes plants from Amazonia, Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific Islands. The Dry Tropical Zone (Dry Mountain) features specimens from South Africa, Madagascar, and Mexico. The conservatory, designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei, also contains a 35-foot waterfall. Key conservatory collections include:

Begonias - over 100 varieties.

Bromeliads - including epiphytes, Tillandsias, and terrestrial species such as Cryptanthus (Earth stars) and pineapple (Ananas comosus).

Cycads - genera including Cycas, Dioon, Zamia, Bowenia, Stangeria, and Encephalartos.

Euphorbias - over 40 species.

Gingers - including Costus malortieanus and various Alpinias.

Orchids - In February 2002, the gardens received more than 1,200 orchids bequeathed by long-time orchid collector Mr. Fred Strothmann, and collected from Kenya, Uganda, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Mexico, and parts of South America. At any time of the year, dozens of varieties of orchids can be seen blooming. The Dendrobium superbum var. alba, named in honor of Crystal Bridge, is covered with over 300 blooms each February.

Palms - over 100 species, including Washingtonia filifera, Foxtail Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata), and Bismarckia nobilis with perhaps the world's largest palm leaves.

A Titan arum or "corpse plant," donated by Baltimore physician Clark T. Riley on July 13, 2000. The plant first bloomed on June 29, 2005.

A pedestrian bridge spanning the central sunken lake offers a spectacularly picturesque view of the downtown Oklahoma City skyline, and is a favorite location for professional and amateur photographers alike.

The Myriad Gardens also consists of the Water Stage, which in 2007 became the home of Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. In 2007 the Water Stage began a 2.5 million dollar renovation project to accommodate Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park.^[1]

The Water Stage now contains 210 chair-backed seats and 100 bleacher backed seats.