Exhibits

Interactively inspiring

Current Exhibits

Interactively inspiring guests with thought provoking and relevant exhibits in conservation and exploration. 

Featuring rotating exhibits in the Education Center and outdoor displays throughout Ford Park, each year, these exhibits are centered around a new mission-based theme.

$5 suggested donation

Wild, Wild West!

Illustration of Flowers - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

A juried collection of 36 artworks from the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists. Featuring flora and fauna from the American West, the exhibit will run from November 2022 - April 2023 in the Education Center.

Recent Exhibits

From Platte to Peak

November 2021 – April 30, 2022
Education Center

Prickly Poppy Illustration - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Presenting illustrations of plant species collected 200 years ago by botanist Edwin James during the Stephen H. Long expedition. James collected 700 plant species, 140 which were entirely new to science.

This exhibit, organized by the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists, intends to honor and celebrate the explorers that discovered these species.

Each scientifically accurate piece is created in traditional botanical illustration media: watercolor, graphite, pen and ink, colored pencil or hand pulled prints. The resulting renderings are exquisitely detailed, able to illustrate far more detail than found in photographs.

Celebrate the Alpine & The Disappearing Alpine

2022 Summer Exhibit
Education Center and Ford Park

Celebrate the Alpine, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens’ outdoor exhibit, features photographs of rare and unique plants and animals of the fragile alpine ecosystem. The exhibit is displayed throughout Ford Park.

Families can become alpine conservationists and step into the boots of researchers in the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens Education Center. The Disappearing Alpine exhibit and activities encourage exploration of mountaintops and riparian streams with tiny plants and hardy animals that live in the alpine ecosystem.

Previous Exhibits

Plants Are An Answer

June – October 2021

Plants are an answer to climate change. They are nature’s reservoirs for absorbing carbon dioxide as they grow. Practical plant-based solutions to a warming climate based on today’s technology are highlighted in the Education Center. The exhibit is inspired by Project Drawdown, a plan of eighty solutions developed by a coalition of researchers and scientists to reverse global warming.

Outdoors in Ford Park, a Plants Are an Answer exhibit and family scavenger hunt will demonstrate how a plant-based diet is one of the big ways we, as individuals, can positively impact the climate.

Plants are an Answer - Betty Ford Gardens
Red Russian Kale Microgreens - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Exposed: The Secret Life of Roots

June – October 2019

Betty Ford Alpine Gardens was the FIRST in the country to re-create the US Botanic Garden’s most popular 2015 exhibit, Exposed: The Secret Life of Roots.
A powerful visual display with 20 foot long roots hanging from the floor to the ceiling were grown at the Land Institute in Kansas. The exhibit featured in-depth interpretation exploring the critical dilemma of how we will sustainably feed the growing planet. Guests explored how the development of perennial crops could save the future of America’s farmlands.
“Agriculture is the world’s worst mistake” said Jared Diamond.
Dramatic panels by world-renowned National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson installed in the Education Center and in the gardens highlighted the hidden world of roots.

Stickwork

June – October 2018

Photography exhibit of Stickwork sculptures by renowned environmental artist Patrick Dougherty. “For over 35 years, the public has been mesmerized by Dougherty’s whimsical sculptural creations in botanical gardens, museum grounds, universities and other settings around the world. He has honed his craft at bending and weaving natural materials into over 285 monumental interactive sculptures for an unforgettable experience.”

Dougherty created a Stickwork art installation outside the Gardens in Ford Park that lasted just under two years.

Stickwork: Summer Palace - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens
H2O = Life - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

H20 = Life

June – October 2018

More than 90% of all mountain wildlife species depend on rivers at some time in their lives. What makes rivers like Gore Creek so important? The riparian ecosystem is a web that connects organisms to the river, forest and each other. Visitors will learn about the plants and animals that live amid the water, how these organisms help or hinder the river’s health, and what we can do to improve the health of Colorado’s rivers.

Fly Pollinating - Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

The Year of the Pollinator

Summer 2017

With the addition of the Pollinator Garden built on the Northeast side of the Education Center, 2017 focused on unfathomable processes we have pollinators to thank for and how we can help them continue their inmeasurable work.

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