Yesterday, the St. Lynn’s Press crew closed shop early and took a trip to Oakdale, PA (a forty minute drive from our South Side office) for a little nature outing.

It was our first time at the newly opened Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, along Pinkerton Run Road, and we loved it!

The garden first opened to the public in April (year-round, seven days a week), but it was “founded in 1988 by horticulturists who envisioned a world-class outdoor garden for the Pittsburgh area,” according to their website. While the garden is now opened for business, it is still in the beginning stages of its master plan. 460 acres of it are on abandoned mining land, and they will utilize as much acreage as possible. Eventually, the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden will consist of 18 distinct gardens, and five different types of woodlands. The project will take years (it’s already taken years to get to this point!), but what they have created so far is a beautiful space for natural serenity and fun.

We explored the Woodland Gardens and Dogwood Meadow. Both areas were bursting with exciting plant (many plants that I recognized from SLP books :D) and animal life. We spotted chipmunks, birds, bees, dragonflies, butterflies and even a wild turkey!

The gardens are not close to a busy road, so we enjoyed the pleasant hum of wildlife and the thunderous rustle of trees. The occasional airplane flew overhead (the gardens are close to the Pittsburgh Int. Airport), but we didn’t notice it too much as we snapped pictures and chit-chatted.

We were looking forward to checking out Lotus Pond, but got lost and never found our way there. Fingers crossed more easy-to-follow signage is a part of their master plan!

The best part of planting seeds is watching them grow and change and transform, and we’re certainly excited to watch the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden as it continues to grow and blossom.

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