Site 3: Missouri Botanical Garden
on the
St. Louis Sundial Trail

The Missouri Botanical Garden, located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. is a St. Louis landmark for the display of many types of plants and trees. It is a 76 acre educational center both for scholars wanting to learn about diverse aspects of plants and for homeowners wanting to learn about home gardening. Henry Shaw, a singularly private man, set the standard for philanthropy in the St. Louis region. He founded not only the Garden but contributed to and influenced hundreds of other St. Louis institutions. He was born in Sheffield, England, in 1800, came to St. Louis in 1819, became a United States citizen in 1843, and died at Tower Grove House in 1889, thirty years after he created the Garden, where he now lies at rest.  The 150 year anniversary of the Garden will be celebrated in 2009.

There are five sundials to be seen in the Garden. Located in the Herb Garden section of the Botanical Garden is the beautiful little Child Sundial shown at the left.  It was installed in 1965 as a gift from Mrs. Herman Husch, made by an anonymous English artist. Quoting from information provided by the Garden, "The daydreaming child figure with sundial is at ground level in a bed of creeping thyme, perhaps a gentle Herb Garden pun. The sundial is adjusted to show standard time in St. Louis." The height of the gnomon is about 5.5 inches, and its inclination to the horizontal, measured using an inclinometer, is about 38o.  The base of the sundial is a circle about 21.5 inches in diameter; the area of the base with hour marks is about 10 inches square; and, the height of the child above the base is 12 inches. The gnomon is slightly bent, and the dial surface is slightly cupped.  The photograph was taken at about 2:45 p.m. CDT on June 4, 2000.

A second sundial, pictured at the right, is located in the Home Gardening section of the Botanical Garden.  The diameter of the plate of the horizontal sundial is about 10.5 inches.  It is sculpted as a sunflower and inscribed with    the motto: How could such sweet and wholesome hours be reckoned but with herbs and flowers.  The height of dial is about 30 inches.  

    Another sundial in the Botanical Garden is located at the West end of the Linnean House.  It is the Schmoyer Sunquest seen in the picture at the lower right.  A rough casting of this sundial was donated to the Garden by D. Snyder, and it was completed by Bill Gottesman of Precision Sundials LLC, located in Burlington, VT.  An interesting aspect of this sundial is that it displays civil (clock) time because its gnomon is formed into the shape of an analemma.

 

   Pictured at the left is a sundial that is located in the Ottoman Garden, which is at the East end of Linnean House within the Missouri Botanical Garden.  It is modeled after an historic sundial located in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.  Roger Bailey, of Walking Shadow Designs, designed the dial’s time-markings, and St. Louis sculptor Abraham Mohler made the marble pedestal and engravings.  The dial was installed in the Ottoman Garden in May 2008.  This sundial is unusual because it shows times in a variety of time-measurement systems.  Not only does it display hours in our usual system of 24 hours per day starting at midnight, but it also shows Italian hours (24 hours per day starting at sunset) and Babylonian hours (24 hours per day starting at sunrise).  It also displays Islamic prayer times, which are defined by the position of the sun and the lengths of shadows, and the direction to Mecca.

   A fifth sundial in the Garden is pictured at the left.  It is located on the North side of Linnean House.  As seen at the right, this is a bifilar dial that displays civil (clock) time, accommodating both standard and daylight-savings time, as well as the date.  Both time and date are indicated by the point on the dial plate where the shadows of the crossed rods intersect.  The dial plate is shown below.  It contains logos for both the Missouri Botanical Garden and the North American Sundial Society.  The inscription at the bottom of the plate reads: This sundial was designed, constructed and donated to the Missouri Botanical Garden by Dr. Ronald Rinehart to commemorate the Garden’s 150th anniversary.  The dial was presented as part of the 2008 Annual Conference of the North American Sundial Society.  More can be learned about Ronald Rinehart from his website at Scientific Sundials. 

More can be learned about the Missouri Botanical Garden by navigating to the Garden's website at http://www.mobot.org/.

To go to the next site on the St. Louis Sundial Trail, which is about 3 miles from the Missouri Botanical Garden, click on Site 4, St. Louis Children's Hospital, or to go to other sites on the trail, return to the trail map.