Stirrings of spring at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
Spring is a marvelous awakening at Meijer Gardens. As the days grow longer, our gardens come alive and begin their early spring flowering, setting the stage for a beautiful pattern of growth.
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This is the season that piques our wonder as plants that sleep all winter begin to awaken with color and life. Each spring sets the stage for all seasons as flowers and plants once more follow an age-old regimen of storing food, creating new growth, setting buds, ripening fruit, and dispersing seeds for next season.
As the soil warms, buds begin to swell on trees and woody shrubs. Many plants produce flowers before any leaves emerge. The growth of spring ephemerals (early, herbaceous plants such as the spring beauty or Virginia bluebell) is prompted by warming and thawing soil. These wild flowers get an early start from energy stored within their underground bulbs, corms, or rhizomes.
The earliest spring flowers bloom when not much else is flowering — some may occasionally be seen when there is still snow on the ground. Their bright colors and fragrance attract a select few pollinators that rely on these early flowers for nectar and pollen. Buds enlarge, and flowering can often happen very quickly. The window for pollination can be very short for these early bloomers, often taking advantage of an insect’s short active life cycle in late winter or early spring.
Our diverse gardens showcase several examples of these early blooms. One of the earliest woody plants to bloom is witch hazel, a large shrub that may be found in the Gwen Frostic Woodland Shade Garden, The Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden, and throughout the Sculpture Park. Vernal, or spring- blooming, witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) and the hybrid witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) can both be found in the outdoor gardens. In mid to late February, shaggy, spidery winter blooms with long, crinkly petals may be found clustered up and down the length of their branches. These unique flowers are intensely fragrant and are often apparent by smell before they are seen.
Early spring ephemerals can be discovered throughout our outdoor grounds. A walk through the Woodland Shade Garden and out to Michigan’s Farm Garden will reveal a rich assortment of early blooms, including common snow-drop (Galanthus nivalis), Eastern trout lily (Erythronium americanum), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis).
The Leslie E. Tassell English Perennial & Bulb Garden proudly displays blooming bulbs all spring long. Bulbs have been bred and hybridized to enhance the color, bloom size, and shape of these early flowers. Some varieties date back hundreds of years. In the northern corner of this garden, with the soil sheltered and warmed by the brick building, Grand Rapids’ earliest daffodils will bloom. These narcissus ‘Peeping Tom’ can be seen through the glass of the Scenic Corridor and are an annual reminder that warmer days are ahead.
The emergence of spring is a quiet wonder at Meijer Gardens. Visit often to experience the joy of seeing the delicate seasonal changes firsthand.
Essay by Steve LaWarre, Director of Horticulture
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