We had a delightful time visiting the botanical garden and especially the Thai Pavilion. I felt like I was back in Thailand and it was great to escape into quiet nature into the garden for a few hours away from a conference.

This is a great place to go and get away from the city. You can spend a few hours walking around the place.

I didn't expect much from a botanical garden in Madison. I mean, we live in the midwest. How good could it be? At best, I thought I might get a few ideas for my own garden. Boy, was I wrong! This garden is very well done, and I found myself taking pictures every few steps. There are woodland gardens, prairie gardens, rose gardens, scuptures, water gardens, bog gardens, and even vegetable gardens, and if you're there at the right time, you can see butterflies emerging from their crysalis inside the conservatory. It's a nice way to spend an hour or two.

Let's start out with the fact that the outdoor portion of these gardens were free. Yes, free. The indoor conservatory portion cost us $2.00 per person, which I gladly paid, not because the indoor part was spectacular, but because we wanted to support the whole place.

We had just dropped off someone at the airport and wanted something to do for a couple of hours until their plane left. (make sure they took off ok). About 10 minutes away was the Olbrich gardens.

As a visitor, the grounds were scrupulously maintained. The conservatory was nice, with tropical plants, a waterfall and a few butterflies left. There were 15 outdoor gardens, with easy walking paths. We spent a couple of hours wandering through and no one was bored.

If you like theme gardens and are in the area, go.