Spring at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

michelle_zone4

17 years ago

Nothing says spring like azaleas. These are the Northern Lights series that were developed at the University.

Since it is 1000 acres, some areas are more natural, such as woods or prairie.

This was from the backyard demonstration area.

Japense Garden:

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Lots of tulips in bloom:

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There's a small but very interesting conservatory.

Rock garden:

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A more formal area:

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Michelle

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Comments (9)

Full_Bloom
17 years ago
Oh Michelle...how lovely! What a treat this a.m. has been, between you and Marie! :-) The more I see of them, the more I'm loving "formal" gardens too. Well, in my next house, I'm going to include some areas for both formal gardens and cottage ones too! :-) Oh, that "green" picture with the lovely water's edge...wouldn't you like to just rest there right now? Lovely! And oh would I *love* to have a natural path of those lady slippers orchids (in the woodland garden in my next home...LOL)...Wouldn't that be a blessing? Ah, perchance to dream! Thanks again Michelle...I really do love seeing all this inspiration! Well, I really have to go now or I'll miss the parade. Have a great day! Ei
Lara Noles
17 years ago
Wow Michelle, I'm usually not much of a fan of azaleas but those are beautiful. My mom and dad have the yellow lady slippers all around their place up in northern MI. I love them too. The formal gardens are neat too, but I'd never have the discipline to create one for myself. Thanks for taking us on the tour.

Eden
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Looks great... you have to love that Picea glauca 'Pendula'! I don't think much is wrong with that rock... it isn't a rock garden which is why you don't see a lot of rocks beside each other. Myself I don't have the resources or the money to build a rock garden... but I am able to purchase just enough rocks to put a few in each bed in between some of the larger conifers. Now they should have found the right side up. If it didn't have a right side up, they should have dug it into the ground a little to give it a flat bottom. I have a few that was pointed at all angles and didn't really look good so half the rock needed to be in the ground.
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Matt, thanks for showing us these very nice pics! The Picea pungens 'Globe' looks pretty simular to Picea pungenens 'Blue Pearl'. The Pinus sylvestris 'Valley Cushion' is in reality a Pinus mugo 'Valley Cushion'. Pinus nigra 'Breppo' Must be written as Pinus nigra 'BrÃÂ©po' Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Saavanii' Must be written as Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Slaviniii' May be you can pass this info to this Arboretum. Thanks!
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Welcome! Here's a starting place for you: in about two weeks, look out for the Friends School Plant Sale catalog in your local libraries, or if you can't find one where you live, it will be online at www.FriendsSchoolPlantSale.com (last year's catalog is there now, as well as many descriptions and photos of plants.) This huge plant sale lasts for 3 days on Mother's Day weekend at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul and offers more than 2,500 varieties of plants, many of them unusual and difficult to find locally. All the perennials are hardy in zone 4, so you'll be able to see what we can grow here in Minnesota: the catalog is a good resource even if you can't come to the sale! I am so passionate about this sale that I've been volunteering hundreds of hours a year for them for a few years. As far as we know, there is no other plant sale in the U.S. with more plants for sale, not even the big botanical gardens' sales. We are right now busy getting this year's free 60 page catalog to the printers. I hope you like it! Here is a link that might be useful: Friends School Plant Sale
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Comments (5)
The University of Minnesota is a "Land Grant" college - so they own property all around the state. When I was a kid, the U operated an experimental farm, tended by the Hanson family, on the NW corner of Highways 41 and 5. On the land around that area they perfected fruit and vegetable crops... especially apples, like the Regent and Fireside and Honeycrisp... I lived in Waconia, about 9 miles from there. So when I was a kid, the news came out that "they" were buying a farm (or maybe the farm was donated and they bought additional property) near the experimental famr and were going to start a "tree museum." Man did the local folks get a good laugh out of that. "They're planting a bunch of trees and putting tags on them!" was good for a laugh - combined with a "dxxx government always finds ways to waste money!" We never paid to get in - there was a back road into the farm that we all knew about... Past the farm down by the stream where they had the "swinging rope." Got my forestry merit badge for boy scouts calculating the value of board feet of lumber in some of those groves... and made leaf books for Dick Mingo (may Allah turn his head at the name) for high school biology. I got an A based on individual art work my mom and I did on each page... Sheila got a B on hers, but got the last laugh when she turned the same book in for her college botany course and got an A! It is so strange to see what it has become! My nephew was married in that "no place for hostas" garden!
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gardenbug
17 years ago
What a terrific selection of photos showing all different aspects of the place!!!

A thousand acres. Hmmm. Can't do that all by myself.... That backyard demo is a smart garden for people who entertain alot. NO MOWING! But for me, I always love the shady wild areas. Beautiful.
Sue W (CT zone 6a)
17 years ago
Another place to put on the list of gardens to visit. A thousand acres could keep me busy for quite a while. Thanks for the tour, Michelle!

Sue
gardeningmary
17 years ago
Michelle

Just beautiful - each area has a different feel and would be wonderful to browse. Your pictures do a great job of showing us the range of their garden areas. The ladies slipper orchids are lovely. I bought one of the orange Northern Lights Azealeas last fall. They sure do light up a dark area. The only problem is mine clashes horribly where I have it near our red door - perhaps it would be better viewed from a distance.

Thank you for sharing the pictures with us - I'm sure I'll be back to view them again.

Mary
chloehoover
17 years ago
Gorgeous, Michelle - 1,000 acres? wow..... I love that demonstration garden -- you gave us a wonderful cross-section of the place & it's now on my places to see before I leave the planet!

Thanks for taking the time to post -- and the great photos!

Cindy
Monique z6a CT
17 years ago
Michelle,
Wowza-what hot azalea colors! I love the natural settings the arboretum has. Do they have a tram or allow you to drive around the 1000 acres?

Monique
taryn
17 years ago
Stunning pics Michelle! Thanks for sharing....

Taryn
deanneart
17 years ago
Michelle, what a beautiful spot! I really like the rock garden area and the back yard demonstration area. I imagine I could have turned my hill into something like that rock garden and it would have been a heck of a lot easier to maintain than the things I have in there now. My hill drains water away like a screen so xeriscaping would have been a better choice than ligularia and cimicifuga. LOL

Thanks for taking the time to share your visit to the arboretum with us.

Deanne

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Spring at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Comments (9)

Full_Bloom

Lara Noles

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Sue W (CT zone 6a)

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