Grand Opening: See Photos of the Gorgeous Flowers at the Rocky Mountain Gardens

As an amateur gardener, I was delighted to visit the Rocky Mountain Gardens for their Grand Opening this past weekend.

This will be a wonderful resource for the community and it's already a beautiful space. The gardens are located on the back side of the Gerald W. Marks Exploration Center/Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, adjacent to the Missoula County Fairgrounds.

I have peeked through the metal fence a few times over the summer, but I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it is on the inside.

The garden is organized into different areas. You'll see in the gallery below I tried to capture as many as I could, but I'm not sure I got all of them. If you're curious about the areas that I missed, you can see the 19 areas on this Rocky Mountain Gardens Map

During the grand opening, gardeners and representatives from sponsoring organizations were available to talk about their area of the garden and their plans for the future. At the shade shelter, for example, one representative mentioned that eventually a bench would be added so that people could have a shady place to sit, contemplate, read, or even write a poem.

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In the exploration courtyard, I talked to someone who had worked on the living room or "green roof" on top of the Gerald W. Marks Exploration Center. They weren't giving tours during the grand opening, but tours will be available in the future. He described the roof as being covered with some sedum and succulents and constructed in a way that wouldn't add too much weight to the roof structure.

Many of the plants were in full bloom but some of them were just getting started. By next summer it will be gorgeous. If you'd like to visit the gardens are open 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday through Friday and on Saturdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will also be classes and events for the public to participate in.

For now, if you'd like a first look at the Rocky Mountain Gardens, keep scrolling.