Grand Rapids, Michigan
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Gardens equal art at the 132-acre Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
The Meijer Gardens highlights:
- Five-story tropical conservatory where you’ll find a waterfall and tropical plants, including fig trees, banana trees, a variety of orchids and Asiatic bamboo.
- English perennial garden originally planned by legendary garden designer Penelope Hobhouse, featuring a serpentine yew hedge and perennials such as scabiosa, daylilies and eupatorium.
- Kenneth E. Nelson Carnivorous Plant House, only plant exhibit in the U.S. dedicated to carnivorous plants. Includes Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, sundews and butterworts.
- Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden features trillium, hostas, goldenrod, bleeding hearts, baneberry, ferns, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and azaleas and there’s also an English perennial and bulb garden.
- Lena Meijer Children’s Garden gives children a truly interactive experience and plenty to do. Climb into the Treehouse Village via stairs or ramps, learn about plants in the kid-sense garden, explore a log cabin and the butterfly maze, or dig in the sand quarry to learn about fossils. There’s also a natural wetlands.
The 30-acre Sculpture Park hosts exhibitions as well as an astounding permanent collection of more than 180 works from artists such as Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Roy Lichtenstein, George Segal, Mark di Suvero and many others. One of the featured attractions is Nina Akamu’s colossal sculpture The American Horse.
1000 East Beltline Avenue NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525
North of I-96 on East Beltline, between Bradford St. and Leonard St.
Photo: Courtesy Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park