Spring has sprung. Pandemic restrictions are lifting. Get out there and enjoy visiting a botanical garden! You can find quality gardens outside the major cities.
In the Midwest, garden lovers are drawn to the awesome Chicago Botanic Garden. If you’re in the Chicago area and the weather is cooperating, it’s definitely worth a visit.
But quality botanical gardens can be found in much smaller cities. Take Green Bay as an example.
When you say the name Green Bay, many Americans immediately think about the legendary Packers of NFL fame. But few people outside that area know this is home to the ambitious Green Bay Botanical Garden that offers special exhibits each year and a few pleasant surprising travel finds.
For example, would you expect to find an excellent collection of magnolias just a few miles from “the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field?” Green Bay is known for cold, not southern plants.
Indeed, this is the coldest site in the Magnolia Multisite Collection, part of the Plant Collection Network of North American garden collections. These hybrids were bred to bloom late for resisting frost damage and develop a red/pink flower.
In 2021 from May to September, the garden will host Washed Ashore, a traveling exhibit featuring eight sculptures constructed from sea waste — litter found floating at sea or washing onto shorelines. The exhibit has been featured at places like Disney World, Sea World and the Toronto Zoo. Check the website for times and ticket information during your visit.
COVID-19 has had an impact on Green Bay Botanical Gardens. The celebrated Butterfly House has been closed and remains closed at this writing. The entire facility shut down at the start of the outbreak, but now is largely opened. Consult the website for protocols in place during your visit.
Some outdoor displays worth seeing during your visit: Cress Oval Garden, an impressive rose collection; Arendt Conifer Garden, featuring 275 varieties and 3,250 flowering perennials; and King Shade Garden, home to a variety of flowering plants and shrubs alongside a peaceful stream.
Despite the challenging winters, you can visit Green Bay Botanical Gardens all year. Hours of operation do vary widely by season. Tickets can be purchased in advance online, and there are discounts for students and for visitors who are at least 62 years old.
Larger botanical gardens can take several days to fully visit. Here, you can spend a day or less and get an excellent feel for the place.
This is just one example of an excellent garden outside major metropolitan areas. To find more, take a look at the excellent directory at Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Here, you can search more than 1,000 entries in all 50 U.S. states. Find one near you and enjoy!