Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is pleased to present its
annual fall horticulture exhibition, Chrysanthemums & More! opening to the public September 17. The largest of its kind in Michigan, the exhibition features expansive displays of chrysanthemums, fall foliage and family-friendly activities. Chrysanthemums & More! will be on display through October 31.
The exhibition spans thousands of blossoms across 158 sprawling acres. Peruse pathways aglow with vibrant fall plantings, paying attention to how their look and mood change as you move from the intensity of sun-filled spaces to the understated low light of autumn
afternoons. Watch textures soften and shadows elongate as the light of day takes hues from warm to cool. Each display is a visual spectacle of flowers and foliage, appearing to glow from within.
Plentiful plantings in the Grand Entry, Welcome Center, and Gunberg and BISSELL Corridors showcase the chrysanthemum through the artistry of many designers, among them Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park horticulture staff. In the BISSELL Corridor, a different local floral designer each week will create a singular arrangement highlighting the chrysanthemum as its primary element. Local florists include Ball Park Floral & Gifts, Fleurology Designs, Gumina’s Flowers, Horrocks Market, and Kennedy’s Flowers and Gifts.
Of equal note are stunning displays in the Grace Jarecki Seasonal Display Greenhouse, Earl and Donnalee Holton Victorian Garden Parlor, and Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory, each lush and lovely.
Outdoors, treat your senses with a trek into the crisp fall air. Venture onto the Stuart and Barbara Padnos Rooftop Sculpture Garden, with its seasonal wetland views, then make your way to the Lena Meijer Children’s Garden and its cornucopia of chrysanthemums, intermingled with nontraditional autumn plantings to form a quilt-like
tapestry. Continue to Michigan’s Farm Garden, where the abundant autumn harvest boasts heirloom vegetables, herbs, gourds, and larger-than-life pumpkins. This example of a working family farm occasionally provides some of its more than 40 varieties of produce for our James & Shirley Balk Café.
Activities throughout the exhibition, including the Fall Bonsai Show, Autumn Glow Garden, and Hallowee-Ones, are full of family fun. Visit www.MeijerGardens.org for a full listing of events.