The Botanical Gardens will be featuring a new exhibit in the Gardens After Dark series called Creatures After Dark. The Botanical Gardens’ conservatory will be filled with several cool, colorful creatures made out of live plants including dinosaur succulent topiaries, a coleus peacock, moss-made dinosaurs, a giant buffalo, a dragonfly, a shark, and more. These larger-than-life plant creatures will be illuminated at night along with some prehistoric friends and fossils from Past and Present.
Creatures After Dark will highlight the Coleus and Creatures Exhibit and the Mum Exhibit under spectacular lights just in time for the spooky fall season for a magical, Jurassic-like adventure. Visitors will delight in the vibrant colors, lights, and friendly “creatures” of this brand-new exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. These larger-than-life creatures are made out of live plants and will be on display for the first time at night under twinkling lights. These creatures are part of the Coleus and Creatures exhibit, which began on August 20 and goes until October 31. Some creatures include dinosaur succulent topiaries, a coleus peacock, moss-made dinosaurs, a giant buffalo, a dragonfly, a shark, and much more.
Each of these planty friends has a fun name and an “All About Me” card to tell more about their character in a way that gives “plant-life” a whole new meaning. Not only will the live plant creatures be on display, but visitors will also see and learn about dozens of dinosaurs and fossils from Past & Present throughout the entire conservatory. Past & Present is a science and nature store and museum located on South Park Ave that is a one-stop shop for fossils, minerals, crystals, rocks, artifacts, and more. Visitors will see dinosaurs and other prehistoric figures such as a Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, Wooly Mammoth, a giant raptor skull, and so much more. Each figure is accompanied with educational information to learn more about these pre-historic creatures. To add to the vibrance of this exhibit, hundreds of bright, colorful coleus and chrysanthemums will surround the creatures throughout the entire conservatory for some pops of color that the conservatory has never seen before.
These exhibits will be coinciding with the historic Chrysanthemum (Mum) Exhibit. The Mum Exhibit is the Botanical Gardens’ oldest exhibit that brings many Western New Yorkers back each year to see the beautiful colors in the fall. The Mum Exhibit and Coleus and Creatures exhibit can be seen daily with regular admission from 10:00am to 4:00pm now through October 31 or after dark on select nights through October 30.
Creatures After Dark will be on display October 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, and 30 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. E-tickets are required for this special event. Ticket prices are $15.00 for adults, $13.50 for seniors (62+), $13.50 for students (13+), $7.50 for kids 3-12. Tickets for Garden Members are $13.00 for adults, $11.50 for seniors (62+), $11.00 for students (13+), $7.50 for kids 3-12. Organizers encourage purchasing tickets as soon as possible as they are expected to sell quickly.
Visitors will also be able to make the most of this new experience with the return of Thurs-Date Nights now with a haunting twist. Thurs-Date Night: The Haunted 20’s will be taking place on Thursday, October 27 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. The Ghosts of the Gilded Age will return to the Botanical Gardens for one night only. This spookactular cocktail party encourages attendees to dress in their best 1920’s attire, and get ready for a roaring good time with the jazzy musical stylings of Kidd Kyle & The Big Deal, wine and beer and small bites to eat from Salvatore’s Hospitality, a sweet treat from Dark Forest Chocolate, and of course the Creatures After Dark Exhibit and the Mum Exhibit. Tickets are $45 per person and guests must be 21 years old or older to participate.
Use #CreaturesAfterDark and #ThursDateNight and tag @BuffaloBotanicalGardens when posting on social media. Proceeds benefit the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to inspire curiosity and connect people to the natural world through its historic living museum.