You never know what you’ll see when you go to a botanical garden. I take that back; you can be fairly certain you’ll see some plants, but other than that you won’t know what might be around the corner, especially if you visit during the time of a special exhibit.
My family often makes a point to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during December. Over ten years ago we were drawn in by a postcard in the mail that promised blue poinsettia. If you aren’t well-versed in poinsettias, blue is an unheard of color. There are variations of red, white or pink, but we were amazed to hear of a new blue poinsettia. This was akin to saying there was a guaranteed Bigfoot sighting if you showed up at a certain location and time.
As we got on our coats and winter boots, my family was anticipating the big reveal of the blue poinsettia. We drove to the botanical garden and made a beeline to the greenhouse.
What a letdown! It was painted blue. This has turned into an epic family memory, “Remember that time we drove out to see the blue poinsettias!?” The good news is, we were impressed by many of the other cool, creative arrangements and exhibits on display. This experience means we look forward to visiting each year to see what the botanical garden will dream up next.
This year the big reveal was the botanical garden’s poinsettia kokedama. By big reveal, I mean it was a hanging cluster of kokedama from the greenhouse ceiling that many people probably didn’t look up and see, let alone realize how special it was.
Kokedama is the name for a Japanese hanging moss ball that has a plant growing from it. A recently popular gardening practice in the US, it’s a type of bonsai grown without a pot.
Frederik Meijer Botanical Gardens & Sculpture Park has other annual holiday displays including holiday displays from different countries and cultures around the word, plus a stunning railway garden. The railway garden has trains that run on tracks through a couple greenhouses and elaborate miniatures of landmarks from Grand Rapids. Each miniature is painstakingly built from natural materials, such as twigs, walnuts, pressed flowers, pinecone, leaves and seedpods. Children and adults marvel at the trains and finely tended miniature garden scenery.
Visiting gardens during wintertime is great escape. Sometimes you just have to get out and see the blue poinsettia with your own eyes to believe it…or not.
Is there a botanical garden near you that holds special events in winter? If so, go! Tell us what you love about your local botanical garden below.
