What do avid gardeners do for a vacation? They visit other gardens to get inspiration, see new and different varieties, and just to enjoy a place that they haven’t had to till, hoe and weed.

A Sculpture in the Fredrik Meiger Gardens Sculpture Park

And when the garden in question is125 acres and located in one of Michigan’s most agriculturally-rich areas, you know it will be good.

Located just east of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Meijers’ Gardens is a collection of annuals, perennials, vegetables, bulbs, tropical plants and sculpture. That’s right – the botanical collections surround an equally impressive collection of modern and abstract sculpture.

Grocery chain founder Fred Meijer, who had a passion for art, established the gardens. His original intent was to create an outdoor art museum. His wife was equally passionate about flowers and historic preservation.  Combining their respective interests, they founded a place of botanical splendor.

Visitors are greeted by the sight of a stunning greenhouse surrounded by semi-formal beds of annuals and perennials. Summer bloomers include shasta daisies, beebalm in many shades, rudbeckia and echinacea, cleome, salvia, sunflowers and large-leaved coleus. Inside the greenhouse, visitors can visit rooms devoted to different themes - rain forest (complete with orchids interspersed between bananas, palms and forty-foot bamboo), carnivorous plants, the Victorian parlor, and a collection of desert dwellers.

The greenhouse exits to the outdoor venues that are also divided into several segments. The nature walk takes visitors through a wetland area, complete with wood ducks, turtles lounging in the sun, muskrats and other wildlife. Beyond the wetland lies the 1800s farm. Here, a restored farmhouse and barn provide the centerpiece for a garden filled with heirloom vegetable plants and a cottage garden along the white picket fence.

A path then meanders through a woodland garden, where native trees are underplanted with hostas, astilbe and wildflowers such as Canadian ginger, trilliums and meadowsweet. A fork in the road offers visitors a choice between the children’s garden and the sculpture garden.

Children and adults alike enjoy the children’s garden. This area encourages folks to touch and smell the flowers. Familiar plants such as lambs ears, spearmint and honeysuckle vines delight the senses. There is a rebus wheel, on which a combination of pictures, letters and numbers creatively ask questions about the plants

found in the garden. “Can an eggplant hatch a chicken?” An interactive water feature structured like a large, convoluted river offers kids of all ages the opportunity to splash and watch plastic boats sail downstream, over “waterfalls” and into the large pond at the end. There are also educational events and a story-teller on hand, complete with magic hut.

The sculpture garden offers abstract, primitive and modern creations by renown artists such as Alexander Calder. The one traditional sculpture is an enormous bronze stallion, which serves as the keystone of the premises.

It’s easy to spend hours at Meijers’ Gardens, so plan on a trip to the restaurant that is on site. The food is reasonably priced, portions are good, and soft drinks are unlimited. There is a childrens’ menu available, and seating is available inside or on a small patio that overlooks one of the landscaped areas. The outdoor seating area also has a water feature, which serves both as decor and also as air conditioning.

Meijers’ Gardens is open daily (except Christmas), and offers many special events throughout the year. It’s an easy drive from South Bend, Chicago or Detroit, and well worth making a trip to southwestern Michigan.