Michigan (Day 4)

Unfortunately, the combination of a late night (getting sleepy) and the inexplicable problem I'm having downloading today's photos, this blog will be brief. Our bus hit the road early this morning and we went to a Michigan nursery that has the largest geothermal heating (for greenhouses) in the world. Their operation was fairly impressive although we didn't see much for plants. However, that was quickly remedied when we visited Mast Young Plants in Grand Rapids, WI. They had a huge operation and a very nice display garden. I spent about two hours taking photos of their trial/display plants and will share them in the near future. We then headed to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. It was raining by then so our tram tour of the garden was damp (and of course I was the sponge on the outer edge of the tram...). I was so glad I stopped in on Monday to really take time in this garden as I only had about 40 minutes in the rain this time around. There was a nice reception at the end of the evening (at the gardens) and some significant awards were given to some very deserving plant breeders. All in all, it was a great trip and I met some nice folks. I also enjoyed seeing so many plants but am ready to head home tomorrow. I plan on stopping at Fernwood Botanical Gardens & Nature Preserve (Niles, MI) on my way home tomorrow morning. I worked there for two years (1996-1998) prior to coming to RBG.