What are the hours and how long is typically spent here?

Open 9AM-5PM daily. 1-2 hours are typical. It is a very large botanical garden.

The normal hours are 9 to 5, but sometimes they have special events in the evenings..... time varies sometimes we'll go for 2 or 3 hours at a time if you have a membership it's really nice just to pop in and out multiple times per week

You can also get in for walking between 7:00 am and 9:00 am most days. On Special Event weekends, the Garden is not open for walking. Always free for St. Louis County residents on Wednesday and Saturday mornings until noon. (Again, special event weekends excluded.) Photo of required for StL County residents free admission.