Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is a 158-acre botanical garden that opened in April 1995. The grounds include Michigan’s largest tropical conservatory. It is also one of the most comprehensive art collections. This started with the donation that Fred and Lena Meijer gave. They donated their entire sculpture collection to the project when they donated their land. The park also has an amphitheatre that hosts concerts during the summer.

The Tropical Conservatory is five-stories and contains the largest tropical butterfly exhibition in the nation between March and April. Included are the highlights of the conservatory. In the center, is where the cacao trees grow.  Another area of interest is The Leonard and Dora Rosenzweig Orchid Wall. There are approximately 3,500 pieces of this wall of beautiful orchids. The Pandan, a large pine-like tree that bears a fruit that is used as a spice, usually from Madagascar, is also grown in the conservatory. There are tropical birds that fly throughout the conservatory that was raised in captivity such as the Chinese Painted Quail and Red-legged Honeycreeper. There are so many more to come and identify. The Breadfruit tree of the tropics is grown in the far northwest corner and is eaten in the tropics. The Crown Gum tree is native to Mexico and Guatemala and is used for the production of gum, with its white, gummy sap.