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You are here: Home / Garden Tours / Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Updated on December 18, 2019

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

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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.

Tropical Conservatory
Tropical Conservatory

 

Roof of the conservatory
Roof of the conservatory

 

The tropical conservatory
The tropical conservatory

 

Beautiful bromeliads
Beautiful bromeliads

 

Bromeliad
Bromeliad

 

Clivia are from South Africa and Swaziland
Clivia are from South Africa and Swaziland

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.

American and Australian plants in the arid garden
American and Australian plants in the arid garden

Barrel cacti are just beautiful, but prickly. These were huge!

Barrel cacti
Barrel cacti

 

Barrel cacti with a view of the arid plants room
Barrel cacti with a view of the arid plants room

This crazy cactus does look exactly like a pine cone!

Pine cone cactus
Pine cone cactus

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.

Man-made waterfall and pond
Man-made waterfall and pond

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.

Aspen trees
Aspen trees

 

The viburnum was in bloom while we were there
The viburnum was in bloom while we were there

 

Viburnum
Viburnum

 

Me and my friend posing in front of the waterfall
Me and my friend posing in front of the waterfall

The Children’s Garden had interactive displays for the kids. It also had this amazing pool shaped like the lakes of Michigan.

Purple allium in the children's garden
Purple allium in the children’s garden

 

The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes

The Sculptures

There were a lot of sculptures. This one is by far my favorite. It resembles a neuron.

neuron

Here is a small gallery of some of the other sculptures. There were too many to post here.

 

the spider

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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.

Viburnum

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

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Welcome! My name is Kathy and I live in Mississippi Zone 7B. Gardening has always relaxed and rooted me (literally!). It's my happy place. With over 25 years of gardening, I am far from an expert, but I learn from all my experiments. This blog talks about the plants, backyard critters, and more that have made my garden special. Read More

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