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The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum features 1,047 acres of beautiful public gardens designed to inspire ideas for visitors' own backyards. With 32 display and specialty gardens, 48 plant collections and more than 5,000 plant species and varieties, the Arboretum has become one of the premier horticultural field laboratories and public display areas in the country. From its interactive displays of Minnesota's natural environment to the scores of plant labels designed to allow visitors to replicate favorite gardens at home, the Arboretum is a kinetic wellspring of education, research and inspiration. The Kitchen Herb Garden The Kitchen Herb Garden is situated just outside the Slade Perennial Garden and has a large collection of 23 genera and 34 species of perennial herbs. There are also approximately 700 annual herb plants put in the ground each year. This garden is probably the most popular of the 6 herb gardens at the Arboretum as visitors are always interested in new seasonings for their food. The Minnesota Herb Society works with Arboretum gardeners and contributes time, money and plants to make this garden a real treat. The Knot Garden The Knot Garden was given by the Lake Minnetonka Garden Club and represents a period of European history when wealthy barons had the time to make their herb plantings intriguing. We would venture to guess that like the royalty they competed for the most interesting, beautiful, unusual! This pattern garden, best viewed from the Kitchen Herb Garden or the Wedding Tower, is comprised of Korean boxwood, Japanese barberry, lavendar cotton and germander. The Cloistered Gardens, Fragrant Herb Garden This unusual set of three herb gardens spills down over the hillside from the Slade Perennial Garden to the walkway leading to the Ordway Shelter. The garden starts with the Cloister Garden, reminiscent of a medieval monastic garden containing herbs used as medicinal cures and salves. The arbor has American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) and hops (Humulus lupulus) growing over it. There are 59 different genera and 69 species of plants in this garden. The next garden down the hill, the Fragrant Herb Garden, is filled with fragrant herbs and flowers and it's a delightful experience to walk slowly through the garden. There are 72 genera and 95 species in this garden ranging from moss roses (Rosa rugosa) to Gold Band Lily (Lilium auratum). The lowest level of this series of herb gardens, the Dyers Garden, is along the walkway to the Ordway Shelter. It contains shrubs, perennials and annuals representing a small selection of plants used for dyes for clothes, making utensils, and personal adornment items. Plants range from Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) to Yucca (Yucca filimentosa) with 34 species and 30 genera represented in the garden. The sixth herb garden is in the de Vos Home Demonstration Gardens. Its description is found there. The Francis de Vos Home Demonstration Gardens This wonderful collection of demonstration gardens was the brain child of the Arboretum's second director, Dr. Francis de Vos. They are clustered together for ease of viewing and comparison and encompass backyards, herb, patio, vegetable, cutting, rock, and seasonal gardens as well as a weed exhibit. Starting at the far end we have the Ludwick Naturalistic Garden, which displays an informal backyard garden with small stone patio and bench, a wide variety of native and a few non-native perennials, shrubs and trees. At the upper end is a mother and child sculpture by Michael Price. The garden is framed by white fir (Abies concolor) and white pine (Pinus strobus) and includes some unusual plants such as sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) and bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia). This garden contains some 40 genera with 9 species of trees, 9 species of shrubs and 45 species of perennials. The Fruit and Vegetable Garden displays many common and often many unusual vegetables easily grown in the Minnesota garden. A water trough feature, espalier apples, a small sculpture Looking for Rain by Miriam Bennett and The Stephen F. Keating Home Greenhouse (a backyard greenhouse) are all part of this garden. Fruit trees, shrubs and perennials, strawberries (Fragaria) are located outside the fence near the compost bins. In all we have 32 varieties of fruit trees and shrubs and 23 perennials. Each year a new thematic vegetable design is on display. The Edmundson Garden for Outdoor Living is a wonderful small backyard garden with patio, table and chairs, lawn, a perennial/annual garden and flowering shrubs and trees. It is amazing what can be accomplished in a small space in a semi formal garden. There are 7 species of trees, 19 types of shrubs, 57 different perennials and numerous annuals in the garden. The Gronseth Herb Garden contains a knot in the center with four different plant species surrounded by a walk and plantings of all types of herbs around the gardens edge. A centerpiece of this garden is a fan-shaped Meteor Sour Cherry espalier flanked on either side by two Zestar apple trees also espaliered against the wall in a serpentine pattern. It is a beautiful viewing garden but quite practical given the variety of herbs. The Bachman Garden for Small Spaces represents a small urban space, perhaps a patio area that contains small trees, flowering shrubs, perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs. It is masterfully planted by landscape gardener Ted Pew and much of it changes each year. There are 41 different kinds of plants in this garden. The Cross Cutting Garden gives the homeowner a great idea of what perennials and annual plantings they might use for flower arranging. There are 29 different perennials and annuals represented in the garden. The Patio and Container Garden moves down the wooden allee with hanging pots, patio containers and ends with massive stone planters. The pots all contain annual plantings which change yearly and the planters have dwarf trees, shrubs and perennials. Around 20 different kinds of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals are displayed in different types of containers. The Rock Garden at the near end of the de Vos Gardens (near the Visitor Center) displays a wide variety of alpine plants that are hardy in Minnesota. The Minnesota Rock Garden Society helps to support this garden through maintenance and donations of plant material. There are 282 different species of rock garden plants represented here. The Downing Seasonal Garden, along the walk at the inner edge of the de Vos Gardens displays the All American Selections of annual plant winners for the previous year. It provides a great display for these new introductions which are chosen based on data from trail gardens all over North America. There are usually 5-7 new varieties chosen each year. Finally The Behrens Weed Exhibit was added in 2005 with the help of Dr. Richard Behrens, a weed specialist at the University of Minnesota's Agronomy Department. It has proven to be one of the most popular demonstration gardens. It is not unusual to hear "oh, so that's what that weed is!" or "so that's Creeping Charlie, I have it everywhere". The "garden" is a series of "pots" (PVC pipes) with a different weed growing in each. There are 36 different weeds represented. (You wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep the weeds looking good!). The Japanese Garden. Off to the west of the de Vos Garden is the Japanese Garden "Seisui Tei" or Garden of Pure Water reflects a style of Japanese Garden from the Edo Period (1603-1869). Designed by landscape architect Koichi Kawana in 1985, it is maintained under the direction of master designer, Dr. David Slawson. The garden contains some traditional design elements from the Edo Period such as granite snow lanterns, a garden house, water basin and entry gates. Seisui Tei contains 20 different kinds of trees, 24 types of shrubs and 3 ground covers. The MacMillan Hosta Glade The MacMillan Hosta Glade is one of the largest public displays of hosta in the upper Midwest. There are over 300 varieties of hosta displayed. It includes sections which have hosta with blue colored leaves, fragrant flowers and miniatures and species, along with beds of classic hosta and a "landscape bed" of hosta mixed with other perennials. In 1980 the American Hosta Society designated the Hosta Glade as its first national display garden. It is also one of the coolest places at the Arboretum on a hot summer day! Woodland Azalea Garden At the west end of the de Vos Home Demonstration gardens is the Woodland Azalea Garden and created waterfall and pond. This lovely site holds examples of many of the University Horticultural Research Center's Northern Lights series of Azaleas. Along with the azaleas are examples of our native winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and perennials, including butterbur (Petasites) which has about the largest leaves of any garden perennial. It is a delightful refuge for those inclined to sit and rest a bit. The Larch Collection The Larch Collection (Larix sp.) contains 5 species and 1 cultivar and a total of 27 specimens. This northern deciduous conifer (cone bearing but loses its leaves) includes the native Tamarack (Larix laricina) common in Northern Minnesota bogs and swamps. It is easily spotted in the spring when its light green needles arrive and in the fall with its striking yellow fall color. In winter it may look like a dead spruce from a distance but en-masse it provides a cypress-like grove and in summer it is easy to distinguish from spruce. Definitely an underused tree as it is adaptable to many conditions and is perfectly hardy. Lily and Dahlia Collection The lilies (Lillium sp.) and the dahlias (Dahlia sp.) are located on the Lindquist Walk above the main waterfall headwaters. The real lilies (Lilium sp.) are distinct from daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.). They generally bloom in June but the season can be extended forward and back depending on the species of some of the hundreds of cultivars. The plant size can range from 4-5 feet tall to under 1 foot and colors range from white to pink, yellow, orange, red and shades in between. There are a total of 102 varieties of lilies in the garden. The Dahlia Collection (Dahlia sp.) just up the hill from the lilies, contains hybrids of a large genera, none of which are hardy in Minnesota. The wild species are generally rangy, large plants with only a few species having significant flowers. The hybrids, which we change yearly, must be dug in the fall and the tubers stored in a cool, dry location over the winter. The Arboretum generally buys new tubers each year to halt any spread of disease and to insure good bloom in August and September. We generally have a total of around 50 varieties of dahlias in the garden. The MacMillan Terrace Garden The Sarah Stevens MacMillan Terrace Garden is the entry garden to the Arboretum's many gardens just off the Morgan Terrace outside the Snyder Building. This garden tries to create the best perennial garden that one could accomplish in Minnesota. A limited color palette of white, pink, blue, purple, and some yellow presents a challenge in late summer and early fall but as one will see, there are still flowers at this time of year. The garden is set off by a circle of green grass which is interplanted with crocus and Siberian squill for early spring bloom. Roses and other flowers are planted in the stepped wall surrounding the garden. There are 115 different kinds of perennials and shrubs in the garden. The Magnolia Collection The magnolia (Magnolia sp.) is a wonderful genera with many species and cultivars. Of 125 species only a few are hardy in Minnesota. Several of these are cultivars of Magnolia x loebneri, a hybrid of the star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) and Kobus magnolia (Magnolia kobus). The magnolia flowers are fragrant and beautiful and it is no wonder that gardeners wish to have them in their gardens. This collection is near the end of Three-Mile Drive just as one emerges from the woods but there are some in the Shade Tree Exhibit, the Home Demonstration Gardens and elsewhere. We have 17 species and cultivars and a total of 19 specimens in our collection. Ornamental Grass Collection The ornamental grasses are a collection of 8 beds of grasses for Minnesota gardens. The collection emanated from the doctoral work of Prof. Mary Meyer and renamed to become the Arboretum's ornamental grass collection. The main genera are Miscanthus, Molinia and Panicum. They are best viewed in late summer and early fall when most of the grasses bloom. They range in size from 5-6 inches (Festuca glauca) to 15 feet (Miscanthus x giganteus), and colors of blue, yellow, striped and green with a wide variety of textures. The Poplar Collection The poplars (Populus sp.) include the giant cottonwood, our tallest native tree in Minnesota, and the lovely aspens of northern Minnesota. They are all fast growing, but all are relatively short lived, weak wooded and tend to lose a lot of branches during storms. However, there is nothing quite like a clump of aspen with their brilliant yellow fall color to portray the essence of fall. We have 24 species in this collection. The Prunus Collection The Prunus Collection (cherries, apricots, plums, etc.) will be rejuvinated with some newer plantings in 2008. The better known Prunus are generally the Japanese plums and cherries which are not hardy in Minnesota. The apricots Moongold and Sungold are two introductions from the Horticultural Research Center are both necessary for fruit but they bear sporadically at best. The flowers are a beautiful shade of pink. Another introduction, Prunus ‘Princess Kay' is a spectacular double flowering selection of Canada plum and certainly worth being in the garden but it is short lived. The Rhododendron Garden The Rhododendron Garden contains the Arboretum's evergreen rhododendron collection (Rhododendron sp.). It is also the scientific study area for our evaluation and breeding for hardiness and good bloom of the evergreens. The collection has 66 cultivars and hybrids, including cultivars from Scandinavia. The collection is located at the bottom of the hill along Three-Mile Drive just past the nut collection. The Miscellaneous Shrub Collection There are many shrubs which are hardy in Minnesota but few have enough species or cultivars to merit a full collection. These assorted groups contain many spirea, potentilla, weigela, barberry, tamarisk, mockorange and more. Many of the new and untested shrubs are first trialed in this collection. Spending some time perusing these beds is well worth it when searching for the right shrub for your yard. This collections contains 34 genera, 111 species and cultivars. The Spruce Collection The Spruce Collection adjacent to the small trees and across Three-Mile Drive from the crabapples contain 124 specimens and 21 species of spruce. Spruce (Picea sp.) are distinguished from fir (Abies sp.) by their short, stiff needles. Spruce are evergreen, have conical form and for the most part are large trees. Along with arborvitae they are probably the most common evergreen planted in Minnesota. Some can be easily pruned into hedges. They are not easy to handle due to their spiky needles but make excellent barriers. They are also quite stunning in the winter landscape. The Serviceberry Collection The Serviceberry Collection is hidden at the bottom of the hill below the Maple Collection and the Shrub Walk. Serviceberry are found extensively throughout the Arboretum but probably less so in the average landscape. The most common species grown are small trees which are understory trees in their native habitat. This collections has 8 species and 15 cultivars. The Maze Garden One of the Arboretum's newest gardens is the Maze. This collection of over 1600 shrub specimens, contains 11 genera and 14 species and cultivars and is nestled into the pine collection across from the lindens. It is a gardenesque planting arranged to create a fun place in which one gets lost and tries to find ones way out. Kids of all ages enjoy this fun experience.
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