Michigan Gardens

Aman Park: M-45 (12 miles west of Grand Rapids and 2 miles east of Grand River), Grand  Rapids, MI. (616)456-3696.

• This 331 acre Grand Rapids city park offers an arboretum and old growth forest of native woody plants bordering Sand Creek.  

Andersen Enrichment Center and Lucille E. Andersen Memorial Garden: 120 Ezra Rust Dr., Saginaw, MI (517)759-1362.

• This formal garden with hundreds of roses and perennials includes Marshall M. Fredericks' sculpture "Flying Geese" and a fountain.

 Andrews University: Berrien Springs, MI 49104 (616)140-3344 or Main Number: (800)253-2874.

• The campus of this university has been designated an official arboretum.
  

Arjay Miller Arboretum: Ford Motor Company, World Headquarters Building, The American Road, P.O. Box 1899, Dearborn, MI 48121 (313)322-3920.

• This arboretum displays Michigan native trees.
   

Bennett Arboretum: Hines Park, Middle Rouge Parkway, Northville, MI (734)261-1990.

• The first public arboretum in the state is part of the Wayne County Parks system.
  

Branstrom Arboretum: Branstrom Park, Darling Street, Fremont, MI (231)924-2101.

• A city owned arboretum of native woody plants. Also, while in Fremont (the baby food capital!, see Arboretum Park at the corner of Arboretum and Iroquois.

Brook Lodge, 6535 N 42nd Street, Augusta, MI 49012 (269)731-2200.

• Formerly the home of Dr. W. E. Upjohn, founder of the Upjohn Company, now a hotel and conference center belonging to Michigan State University Division of Housing and Food Services, the 637 acre grounds were extensively landscaped by Dr. Upjohn with trees and flowers, especially irises and peonies.

Cooley Gardens: 213 West Main Street at Capitol Avenue (Behind the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame), P.O. Box 14164, Lansing, MI 48901 (517)483-4332 or 483-4277.

• This lovely garden features 800 perennials, ground cover and bulbs, 75 varieties of roses, a peony garden, an iris collection and 250 woodland plants.

Cranbrook House and Gardens: 380 Lone Pines Road, P.O. Box 801, Bloomfield Hills, MI  48303. (248)645-3149.

• Site of an art museum, a science museum and schools, Cranbrook also offers 42 landscaped acres featuring a Herb Garden, a Rock Garden, a Sunken Garden, a Greenhouse, an Oriental garden, a wildflower garden, a meadow, a bog, and many perennial gardens.  

Curwood Castle Park: 224 Curwood Castle Drive, Owosso, MI 48867-2807 (517)723-8844 x 554.

• The fanciful home of a prolific adventure novelist, the Castle is now home to the ShiawasseeArts Center.

Dahlia Hill: 2809 Orchard Drive, Midland, MI, 48640 (989)631-0100.

• Over 3000 dahlia plants (250 varieties) in a rainbow of colors are displayed on eight stone terraces in this remarkable garden begun by an artist, Charles Breed, for whom a Mother's Day present began a lifelong love of dahlias. The garden, now owned by the Dahlia Hill Society of Midland includes sculptures by Charles Breed, resting areas and planters, all with handsome stonework and gravel paths.  At the top is a studio and museum.  Peak season is August through October, when plants up to 6 feet tall bloom with flowers up to 11 inches in diameter - a spectacular sight.

Detroit Zoological Institute: 8450 West Ten Mile Road, P.O. Box 39, Royal Oak, MI 48068-0039 (248)398-0903.

• This 125 acre zoo provides a natural habitat for more than 1,300 animals and 700 varieties of trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Major exhibits include the Wildlife Interpretive Gallery, Great Apes of Harambee, Penguinarium, Matilda Wilson Free Flight Aviary, Holden Museum of Living Reptiles and Amphibians, polar bears, giraffes, Siberian tigers, African lions, sea lions, Asian elephants, Grevy´s zebras, Bactrian camels, snow monkeys and scimitar-horned oryxes. A fully enclosed 3,800 square foot Butterfly/Hummingbird Garden is home to hundreds of colorful butterflies and many hummingbirds.

Dow Gardens: Corner of Eastman Avenue and West St. Andrews, Midland, MI 48640  (800)362-4874.

• The 110 acre garden displaying more than 1,700 varieties of trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and flowers were the creation of Herbert Dow (founder of Dow Chemical) and his descendents. Dow's guiding principle was to never reveal the gardens’ whole beauty at first glance. In addition to hardy plants including collections of rhododendrons and crabapple trees, the Gardens offer a conservatory that houses exotic flora.

Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate: 1100 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI  (313)884-4222.

• This 87 acre Grosse Pointe Estate features naturalistic grounds designed by Jens Jensen and formal rose and perennial gardens.

Ella Sharp Park: (County Parks web site) 3225 4th Street, Jackson, MI 49203 Museum:  (517)787-2320 County Parks: (517)788-4320.

• This multi-facility public park features a rose garden, annual flower beds, and an arboretum.
  

Fair Lane, the Henry Ford Estate: University of Michigan, 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128-2406 (313)593-5000.

• The former home of automaker Henry Ford and his wife Clara, now on the campus of the University of Michigan, includes grounds transformed from farmland into a natural landscape by Jens Jensen. Five acres of gardens and grounds have been recently renewed and restored.

Fenner Arboretum and Nature Center: 2020 E. Mount Hope Rd., Lansing, (517)483-4224.

• This city park includes a replica of a pioneer log cabin, a system of self-guided nature trails through woods and fields and around ponds, and a nature center and library.  

Fernwood Botanic Garden: 13988 Range Line Road, Niles, MI 49120 (616)695-6491.

• Located on the St. Joseph River, this 105 acre site includes a 55 acre Nature Preserve, a 5 acre reconstructed prairie, 8 acres of gardens, a 40 acre naturalistic Arboretum, and 3 miles of hiking trails. Gardens include a Knot Gardeb, an Herb Garden, a Rock Garden, a Fragrance Garden, a Maze, a Japanese Garden, a Children's Garden, an English Cottage Garden, and a Greenhouse.  

Fisher Mansion and Bhaktivendanta Cultural Center: 383 Lenox Avenue, Detroit, MI 48215 (313)331-6740.

• This spectacular riverfront mansion was purchased by Alfred Brush Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, and Elisabeth Reuther Dickmeyer, daughter of United Auto Worker's President, Walter Reuther, in 1975 to convert it into a temple for fellow worshippers of the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Four acres of formal gardens are adorned with pools, fountains and roving peacocks.  

Five Senses Garden: John F. Kennedy Center (a public school), 1411 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo, MI.

• This award-winning garden of the senses was one of the first such gardens.  
   

For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum: 2142 N. Genesee Road, Burton, MI 48509  (810)789-8567 or (810)736-7100.

• This Arboretum and Nature Preserve includes 380 acres with 7 miles of trails.

Frances Park Memorial Garden: 2600 Moores River Drive (east of Waverly Road), Lansing, MI 48933 (517)483-4277. 

• Formal rose garden and park. Several formal gardens ornament this park, including an All-American Selections Garden (1000 rose bushes of 160 varieties), a woodland garden (with trees, rhododendrons, azaleas and wildflowers) and an annual garden (with 10,000 plants, an arbor and a picture bed).  The wedding rules!  

Frederik Meijer Gardens: 1000 East Beltline NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525 (888)957-1580 or (616)975-3146.

• The wonderful 118 acres of gardens, ornamented with sculpture, include the Leslie E. Tassell English Perennial and Bulb Garden, the Jennifer C. Groot New American Garden, the Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden, the Peter Wege Nature Trail and Frey Boardwalk, The Earl and Donnalee Holton Arid Garden, the Earl and Donalee Holton Victorian Garden Parlor, the Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse, and the 15,000 square foot Lena Meijer Conservatory (with an exhibit of 2,000 orchids).

Grand Hotel: Mackinac Island, MI 49757 (906) 847-3331.

• The 200 acres of the world's largest summer resort includes 50 acres of gardens showcasing annuals (105,000 per year), perennials, bulbs (30,000 per year), wildflowers (5 acres), topiary, container gardens, roses, lilacs, woodland plantings and greenhouse displays. And don't forget the 260 famous front porch boxes displaying 2,000 geraniums.  

Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum: 20900 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn, MI 48124-4088 (313) 271-1620.

• An amazing collection of Americana, including buildings (e.g., Luther Burbank's garden office from California), are displayed on this 12 acre site. Gardens include the "Garden of the Leavened Heart," an herb garden at the Martha Mary Chapel.

Hager Park and Arboretum: Bauer Road and 28th Avenue, Georgetown Township, Hudsonville, MI (616)738-4000 (Ottawa County Administrative Office).

• This 104 acre public park features an arboretum and an Age of Discovery community playground.  The hardwoods are graced by spectacular wildflowers in the spring.

Irving Park: North Avenue and Emmett Street, Battle Creek, MI (616)966-3431.

• A 53 acre public park with a flower garden.
  

Island Park: US Route 23, Alpena, MI

• This watery wildlife sanctuary, a home for waterfowl and other aquatic animals, includes a wildflower meadow.

John Ball Zoo: 1300 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 (616)336-4301.

• This county zoo is home to over 1100 animals representing the wilds of Africa, Asia, South America, Australia and the United States.  

Kalamazoo Nature Center: 7000 North Westnedge Avenue, P.O. Box 127, Kalamazoo, MI 49094-0127 (269)381-1574.

• This 1,000 acre nature preserve displaying live birds of prey and other animals, includes a Tropical Sun-Rain Room, the Martha G. Parfet Butterfly House and Invertebratarium, an 11 acre arboretum featuring trees and shrubs native to Michigan, and a Hummingbird-Butterfly Garden.

Kellogg Experimental Forest: 7060 N. 42nd Street, Augusta, MI 49012 (269)731-4597.

• This 716 acre forest, managed by Michigan State University and replanted over the last 60 years, displays 150 tree species.

Leila Arboretum: County Parks website. 928 W. Michigan Avenue, Battle Creek, MI 49017 (269)969-0270.

• This 72-acre public park exhibits gardens and more than 3,000 species of trees.
   

Lillian Anderson Arboretum: Kalamazoo College, two miles west of the intersection of M-43 and Highway 131, Kalamazoo, MI (269)337-7012.

• This one hundred acre arboretum covers marsh, meadow, planted red and white pines, and second-growth deciduous forest. Established in 1998, its trails include the Meadow Run Trail, the Magnificent Pines Trail, the Powerline Trail, the Gathje Hill Trail, the Marsh Woods Trail, the Bobayundel Trail, Bernie's Landing Trail, Chestnut Pointe Trail, the Not-So-Magnificent Pines Trail, and the Fern Oak Trail.

Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary: Felch Avenue (off 5 Mile Road), White Cloud, MI.  

• Created by the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan and the U.S. Forest Service, this sanctuary displays more than 150 species of native Michigan wildflowers, shrubs and trees in lake, marsh and wooded habitats. A 1.5 mile trail and boardwalk offers numbered posts corresponding with a trail guide.

Mann House Museum Gardens: 205 Hanover Street, Concord, MI 49237 (517)524-8943

• A lovely Victorian home with restored flower and herb gardens.

Marquette Park: (scroll down), Mackinac Island, MI 49781 (231)436-4100.

• This public park, with a statue of Father Marquette, has a 10 acre lilac display garden and hosts a Lilac Festival each year.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens: University of Michigan, 1800 N. Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (734)647-7600.

• This elegant 350 acre botanical garden features a Conservatory (1,200 exotic plants in an Arid House, Tropical House and Warm Termperate House), a Gateway Garden of New World Plants, the Marie Azary Rock Garden, the Alexandra Hicks Herb Knot Garden (cooking, medicinal, fragrance, and everlasting herbs), the Perennial and Rose Garden (a formal English style garden with 120 varieties), a Shade Garden, the Helen V. Smith Woodland Wildflower Garden (100 varieties), plus nature trails (the Dix Pond Trail, the Ethnobotanical Trail, the Fleming Creek Trail, the Musclewood Trail, and the Parker Brook Trail), mature woodlands, a Constructed Wetland, several ponds, and a tall grass prairie.  

McDuffee Gardens: Stuart Avenue Inn, 229 Stuart Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49007  (269)342-0230 or (800)461-0621.

• This restored Victorian bed and breakfast has a lovely 1 acre restored Victorian Shakespearean garden.  

Meadow Brook Hall and Gardens: Mansion Drive and Golf View Land, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309 (248)364-6200.

• This 110 room mansion, part English Neo-Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean architecture, now a conference center for Oakland University (part of Michigan State University), includes a rose garden.

Michigan State University Gardens: Division of Campus Park & Planning, 412 Olds Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1047 (517)355-9582. Map of garden locations.  
  Monet Garden: Fifth & Clay, Muskegon, MI 49442

•  A pocket garden fashioned after a portion of Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny, France is landscaped with plants specific to the Monet Garden in France, plus a pond with fish,water plants, bridge and an informational talk board.

Nichols Arboretum: University of Michigan, 1610 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734)647-7600.

• This well-cared-for 123 acre arboretum, created in 1907, displays a diverse collection of trees and shrubs and includes a peony garden (700 plants with 260 "old" varieties), the Appalachian Collection, the Shrub Collection, and the Dow Prairie Collection.

Planterra Conservatory: 7315 Drake Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 (248)661-1515.

• The magnificently renovated 1930s greenhouses offer 11,000 square feet of tropical botanicals and statuary in European style greenhouses.  Unique features include European curved trusses, matching indoor koi ponds, a dramatic stone gabian archway and the largest indoor living wall in Michigan.

Saginaw Art Museum: 1126 N. Michigan Avenue, Saginaw, MI 48602 (989)754-2491.

• This art museum, housed in a Georgian Revival House designs by Charles Adams Platt, features formal gardens also designed by Platt.

Slayton Arboretum of Hillsdale College: Barber Drive, Hillsdale, MI 49242 (517)437-7341 x391.  A Friends of the Arboretum webpage.

• Begun in 1892 and planted and nurtured by students and professors, this 40 acre arboretum on the north end of campus with 1,100 plant species features pools, a cascading waterfall through a rock garden, two new gardens, a water garden, and special collections of lilacs, magnolias and crabapples.  The Barber House and Children's Garden are nearby.

Sunken Garden: Marquette Branch Prison, P.O. Box 779, 1960 U.S. Highway 41, Marquette, MI 49855 (906)226-6531.

• A sunken garden is located at the prison, an imposing and picturesque Victorian structure.
  

Tokushima Saginaw Friendship Garden and Japanese Tea House: 527 Ezra Rust Drive, Saginaw, MI 48601 (989)759-1648.

• This lovely Japanese Garden with an authentic Tea House was constructed as part of Saginaw's sister city relationship with Tokushima, Japan.

Veldheer Tulip Garden: 12755 Quincy Street, Holland, MI 49424 (616)399-1900.

• This colorful commercial nursery farm features 4 million tulips each spring (plus 500,000 daffodils and 10,000 Hyacinths) 7 acres of landscape summer gardens, 1.3 million daylilies, plus a Wooden shoe factory and a delftware factory.

Wayne County Extension Satellite Office: 5454 Venoy Road, Wayne, MI 48184 (734)727-7238.  

• Site of Master Gardener classes.  
  

Westcroft Gardens: 21803 West River Road, Grosse Ile, MI 48138 (734)676-2444.

• Westcroft, the oldest family owned and operated farm in the state, is a plant nursery specializing in azaleas and rhododendrons. A beautiful four acre botanical garden displays the many varieties of azaleas and rhododendrons including hybrids created at Westcroft by former owner Ernest Stanton. An additional 13 acres of woods are decorated for Halloween Hayrides.

Whitcomb Conservatory: Conservatory Drive, Belle Isle, Detroit, MI 48213 (313)822-2548.

• This fabulous greenhouse includes five areas of display: the Palm House, the Tropical Room, the Cacti House, the Greenery, and the Show House (showcasing seasonal flowering plants). The orchid collection was begun by a 1953 gift of 600 orchids which spurred renovations to the glass-domed building. Outside, ten acres of formal plantings include perennial gardens, an Old-World Rose Garden, and a Water Lily Garden.  

Windmill Island: Lincoln Street past 7th Street, Holland, MI 49423 (616)355-1030.

• A 230 year old Dutch windmill highlights 36 acres of manicured gardens (including 100,000 tulips), dikes, canals and picnic areas.