Blog Post

Michigan Gardens Wow Visitors

by Sally Kirby Hartman, '20 • Jun 24, 2023

On road trips, I Google “gardens near me” to see what pops up. During a recent 12-day drive around Michigan, the main itinerary for my husband, Ron, and me focused on museums devoted to antique cars, art, history, Motown music, and vintage airplanes. Craft breweries also made the initial agenda as we plotted our route around the Michigan mitten.


But, thanks to Google’s “near me” feature, we found public gardens flourishing in Zones 5a to 6b where winters can dip to -15 degrees. Even my history-beer-and-antique-vehicle-loving travel companion was impressed with the Wolverine State’s glorious flora. And, we got to experience spring blooms long after ours finished.


In early June, we discovered:

  • In Ann Arbor, North America’s largest heirloom peony garden where 10,000 flowers were in full bloom.
  • In Grand Rapids, one of the world’s top horticulture and sculpture gardens where art and nature intertwine.
  • In Traverse City, a 26-acre healing garden on the farm at a former mental hospital that once treated 3,000 patients at a time.
  • On Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, a secret garden on the grounds of the Grand Hotel built in 1887. In addition, 400 lilac varieties were in their full pink and purple glory everywhere on the island during the 75th annual Lilac Festival, which ran from June 9-18.


I hope these details and photos entice you to put a Michigan trip on your wish list. This state proved as interesting and beautiful as former colleagues who grew up there boasted. I highly recommend an early June visit when spring blooms are at their peak. Here are my favorite gardens:


The W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden in Nichols Arboretum is on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. This 101-year-old garden boasts 27 peony beds with 800 plants – the largest heirloom peony collection in North America. The founder of the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company donated the original collection of peonies to his alma mater in 1922.

10,000 peony blossoms captivate visitors

The 350 peony varieties were cultivated in the 19th and early 20th centuries and typically bloom from mid-May through mid-June. The 10,000 blossoms range from white and delicate yellows and pinks to vivid magenta. Many varieties are no longer commercially available.

There is no charge to visit the garden at 1610 Washington Height. It is a scenic place for photos, a picnic or a hike on adjacent wooded trails. With limited street parking, the paid parking garage around the corner by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital is a handy option.


Learn more: https://mbgna.umich.edu/nichols-arboretum/nichols-arboretum-gardens-collections/peony-garden/


The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park has 158 acres in Grand Rapids. It opened in 1995 after 13 years of planning by the West Michigan Horticultural Society and is ranked 45th in the world among the most visited art museums. It is named for the late founder of a grocery chain based in Grand Rapids.

More than 200 thought-provoking sculptures dot the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

The gardens feature 200 sculptures that complement and contrast with surrounding plants. Artists include Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Alexander Calder. Sculptures are both inside a conservatory and throughout the grounds.

Taking a tram tour orients you before walking shady garden paths. Specialty gardens include a 1930s Michigan farm garden and a Japanese garden. Located at 1000 E. Beltline Avenue, the gardens are open daily and have ample free parking. Admission costs $20.

Bonus: Admission is free to card-carrying Norfolk Botanical Garden members thanks to a reciprocal membership. The tram costs $6 and runs every half hour.


Learn more: https://www.meijergardens.org/


The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City opened in 2009 as a healing garden showcasing plants native to Northwest Michigan. It is on the site of the large farm that supplied food for the huge Traverse City State Hospital from 1885 to 1989.

The garden echoes the belief of the mental hospital’s founding director that “beauty is therapy.” It includes a labyrinth bordered by young ginkgo trees; a Native American medicine wheel planted with cedar, sage, sweetgrass and tobacco; a serene Asian garden; a pollinator garden; a fire-resistant plant garden, and a wooded fairy trail dotted with tiny habitats.

The garden is open every day but Sunday. Admission is free, and garden docents offer complimentary golf cart tours.

Bonus: In addition to a well-stocked gift shop, the garden has a Little Free Library stocked with gardening and nature books.


Learn more: https://thebotanicgarden.org/


All of Mackinac Island was a garden in early June thanks to the thousands of lilac bushes in peak bloom everywhere I looked. Cars are banned so the sweet fragrance masked that of the 600 horses working to haul people and supplies around the island.

The 400 varieties of Mackinac lilacs are not native to the island but thrive there. They date to at least 1861 when writer Henry David Thoreau extolled their wonders in his journal.

Looking beyond the lilacs, the Grand Hotel’s Secret Garden debuted in 2018 and is tucked in a cedar grove below the venerable hotel. Thanks to social media postings, the Secret Garden is getting well known. Its June display included 2,000 tulips, 42,000 grape hyacinths, 7,000 daffodils and 300 alliums.

Above the Secret Garden, the Grand Hotel has 2,500 red geraniums nestled in 660 planter boxes along what is considered the world’s largest porch. There are other delightful gardens to explore on the hotel grounds and at other historic island hotels.



Admission to all gardens is free after you pay for a ferry ride to the island from either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace. You also may want to pay for bike rentals and carriage rides to help you maneuver around the island.

Try to spend one or two nights to enjoy the island after the thousands of day-trippers leave. Lovely bed and breakfasts and independent hotels with their gorgeous gardens await you.


Learn more:    https://www.mackinacisland.org/mackinac-island-lilac-festival/


https://www.veranda.com/outdoor-garden/a43030247/grand-hotel-gardens-mackinac-island/


https://www.mackinacisland.org/blog/where-to-see-gardens-flowers-on-mackinac-island/


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