Michigan (Day 2)

The top four photos are a teaser for what I'll have more time to see tomorrow morning. There was a reception this evening for event attendees and it was held in the conservatory near all the horticulture action at Michigan State University (MSU). A bunch of us walked from the hotel to the reception (1.2 miles away...) and I met some interesting people and ran in to some friends as well. We were welcomed by Dr. Art Cameron, horticulture professor at MSU and met many of the people involved with AAS, NGB and AGA (all the attendees have some link with some or all of these non-profits/programs). Our setting was surrounded by the trial gardens which I haven't seen in many years. Two of the photos above were from the 4H Children's Garden which we'll see in depth tomorrow. However, the lighting was so good tonight that I snuck away from the shindig for some photography. I'll blog more about the MSU gardens tomorrow.

Below are a collection of shots that I took this morning at Dow Gardens in Midland, MI. I woke up early and drove north and then east for about an hour and 15 minutes. It was well worth the trip and this was my first visit to the gardens. Originally 8 acres, this garden was founded in 1899 by Herbert Dow, founder of the Dow Chemical Company. The gardens are currently 110 acres. Check out www.dowgardens.org/ for more information on this neat garden. I met their Curator of Woody Plants, Chuck, years ago and have always meant to get up to see the gardens. I walked the entire garden and enjoyed the visit immensely. Their children's garden was amazing. The bottom photo is of the Dow Art Studio (private). I think I took another 1,000 photos just this morning! They seemed to have a good-sized grounds staff and the gardens looked very well maintained.