Views of a Farm Boy--Dedicated to promote Iowa agriculture and Iowa values--Robert Vaughn--Urbandale, Iowa  EMAIL:   vaughnrobert@me.com

The Trellis Cafe is the third and final chapter for my GARDEN STORIES. This lunch cafe has been a fave go to place for our kids and grandkids for the past ten years. Of course, that makes it special for me, too. But now, owner Lisa LaValle is retiring so it will be "goodbye Trellis" in just a few days. Our grandchildren live far away so just three of us showed up for a final Trellis lunch yesterday. The special health based menu is changed each month. Darcy and Jeannine had homemade rosemary potato soup and an eggplant sandwich. Maybe not for everybody, but you can be assured of an interesting choice that you can'f find at a fast food place. Yes, Trellis Cafe Is now closed for good, but don't dispair. A new lunch-time cafe will be opened at this location soon. Guess what! The new place, featuring farm to table food, will be called "Flora." Like Trellis, I think Flora will be a perfect fit for the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things have become new. (KJV) 2 Corinthians 5: 17)

Today we are going to visit the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. There are three stories here--inside, outside and the lunch place. Here we are inside the geodesic domed conservatory. I miss the big tree that seemed to be reaching toward the sky, But it was growing through the roof so it had to go. In years past I always came here once a year. Of course I always chose a cold Iowa winter day. We never traveled much, but for just a few bucks I could enjoy a brief tropical vacation right here in Iowa.

Left: The entrance area. Right: A peek at a small portion of beautiful Downtown Des Moines as seen from the deck. Below:  A stroll  through the outdoors garden north of the dome.