Twenty-three acres of outstanding outdoor and indoor gardens display plants native to the desert, plains, mountain foothills, and alpine zones. There's also a traditional Japanese garden, herb garden, home-demonstration garden, water garden, fragrance garden, and a garden inspired by the art of Monet. "Romantic Gardens" feature a waterway, and the "Gardens of the World" hold plants from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the tropics. Half of the gardens were redesigned and upgraded in 2001, and there are now more plants native to Colorado.

Even in the cold of winter, the dome-shaped, concrete-and-Plexiglas Tropical Conservatory houses thousands of species of tropical and subtropical plants. Huge, colorful orchids and bromeliads share space with a collection of plants used for food, fibers, dyes, building materials, and medicines. The Botanic Gardens also have a gift shop, library, and auditorium. Special events are scheduled throughout the year; offerings range from garden concerts in summer to a spring book-and-plant sale to a cornfield maze southwest of Denver in the fall. Allow 1 to 2 hours.

1005 York St. tel. . www.botanicgardens.org. . . .