About

The Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden is the most recent major garden addition to Meijer Gardens, which opened in June 2015. The eight-acre project, designed by Hoichi Kurisu, features traditional components such as waterfalls, elevation changes, extensive boulder placement, authentic Japanese structures and a functioning teahouse. The Japanese garden, located in the middle of the 158-acre campus, embraces the essence of traditional Japanese gardens—tranquility, contemplation and beauty while incorporating contemporary sculpture by international artists. The design effectively uses space to highlight contrasts between still and rushing water, between quietly intimate spaces and expansive open spaces, and between manicured and natural areas.

The Lena Meijer Children’s Garden is one of the largest interactive children’s gardens in the country. Here children can look through viewing ports to answer questions about sculpture, dig into the sand quarry to uncover information about fossils and sail through the Great Lakes at the Great Lakes Garden water feature. They can explore tree houses, a log cabin, a butterfly labyrinth, a sense garden and a child-sized beaver lodge. Highlighting hundreds of plants as well as whimsical, child-oriented sculptures, it also features natural wetlands running through the middle of it.

The farmhouse, barn, gardens and animal pens located within Michigan’s Farm Garden are reminders of a 1930s family farm where the land supplied the family with groceries and income, a time when every family member helped with chores. The farmhouse is a three–quarters scale model of Lena (Rader) Meijer’s childhood home. Farm animals are represented by bronze sculptures throughout this beloved garden. See the various vegetable gardens and flower beds dedicated to heirloom varieties behind the farmhouse. Some of the produce grown here ends up in the delicious food served in the James & Shirley Balk Café. This delightful setting also includes an orchard, a sugar shack, a produce stand, a windmill and a replica outhouse.

The Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater is a distinguished venue for the Fifth Third Bank Summer Concert Series and other entertainment events each year. The outdoor amphitheater boasts brilliant acoustics and tiered lawn seating for 1,900 people. Artists who have been featured on the Amphitheater stage include Bonnie Raitt, Steve Miller Band, B.B. King, Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson.

The Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming is an annual butterfly exhibition that takes place every March and April, featuring nearly 7,000 tropical butterflies from more than 50 species of South American, Central American, African and Asian origin that fly free in the five-story, 15,000 square foot Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory. This is the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibit in the nation and attracts more than 180,000 visitors during the months of March and April.

Chrysanthemums & More! features expansive chrysanthemum displays, fall foliage and fun activities. Indoors, the Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse features a cascading chrysanthemum-covered wall as the main focal point. Presentations of chrysanthemum spheres, large disbuds and beds of colorful planting complement this display in the nearby Earl and Donnalee Holton Victorian Garden Parlor. Outdoors, expansive beds of lush chrysanthemums are arranged in large sweeps of scarlet, purple, orange and gold. Tuesdays at the Farm, Giant Pumpkins, Hallowee-Ones and other fall-themed activities full of family fun are available during this exhibition.

University of Michigan Health–West: Christmas & Holiday Traditions is a celebration that takes place every November through early January. Featuring 46 different cultures and customs from around the world, trees and displays both indoors and out, more than 300,000 Christmas lights, visits from Santa and educational activities to coincide with the exhibition. The Railway Garden expands through three lush indoor gardens with a model train traveling past glittering lights and over high trestles. Within the garden are buildings modeled after landmarks in Grand Rapids and our Sister Cities around the world, all handmade out of natural materials.