On a recent trip to Michigan, some friends introduced me to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. We spent a few hours walking through the gardens and enjoying the lovely cool weather. There are so many indoor and outdoor gardens and sculpture to see, it was impossible to view everything in just a couple of hours. Plan ahead and decide which gardens are important to you so that you can make it to those.
Tropical Conservatory
The Conservatory is the first large structure seen as you enter the gardens. Plants from tropical climates around the globe can be found in this glass structure. The Conservatory is 5 stories tall and includes a stream and small waterfalls. In March and April, the Conservatory houses the temporary butterfly exhibit.
The Arid Garden
I love cacti and succulents. They grow in such amazing patterns and can survive in such unwelcome conditions. We toured the Earl and Donnalee Holton Arid Garden as soon as we entered the Gardens. The arid gardens have plants from America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Barrel cacti are just beautiful, but prickly. These were huge!
This crazy cactus does look exactly like a pine cone!
Outdoor Gardens
There were several outdoor gardens including the Perennial and Bulb Garden, the Shade Garden, the Farm Garden, and the Children’s Garden. Unfortunately, during our visit the Japanese Garden was closed.
This spot was so peaceful and the koi fish were fun to watch. Here’s a video of the waterfall.
We don’t have these lovely aspen trees in Mississippi, so I thought they were especially beautiful.
The Children’s Garden had interactive displays for the kids. It also had this amazing pool shaped like the lakes of Michigan.
The Sculptures
There were a lot of sculptures. This one is by far my favorite. It resembles a neuron.
Here is a small gallery of some of the other sculptures. There were too many to post here.
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You might also enjoy seeing my photos of the Leonard and Dora Rosenzweig Orchid Wall at the gardens, the Japanese Garden, and the beautiful container gardens in the entry way. If you’re interested in butterflies, the tropical conservatory houses hundreds of butterflies each season.
