Twenty-four kilometres from of the Twin City conurbation – on the outer fringes of western Minneapolis – is a verdant landscape of gardens, parks and woodlands, which offers an ever-changing vista onto the world of plants and trees. The 445 hectares of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum have a little something for everyone – whether they're gardeners, walkers, botanists or sightseers. That's thanks to a wildly diverse collection which (naturally enough) includes plenty of trees, but also 32 specialist gardens, eco-demonstration areas and even an osprey conservation initiative.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum began as a place purely for research, as the Horticultural Research Center, in 1907. It was set up with the aim of developing “cold-hardy plants” able to survive Minnesota's frigid winters. But by 1958, it was also specialising in tree conservation, and soon became an arboretum open to the public. It's now known for having one of the best plant collections in the US – with some 5,000 species – and for its efforts to reach out into the community, with its workshops, training courses and promotion of sustainable gardening practices.
Among the gardens you can explore here are the Dahlia, Peony and Fern Gardens, a Sensory Garden exploding with sights, textures and smells, and a Maze Garden that invites you to wander (and maybe get lost). The Japanese Garden of Pure Water evokes the spiritual aura of an ornamental garden from Japan's Edo era. Its oriental plantings are complemented by elegant granite snow lanterns, a terraced garden house, a quiet pool and a cascading three-metre waterfall.
When you've finished admiring the intricate arrangements of these gardens, the wider arboretum is worth a stroll around. Apart from its carefully organised stands of trees, parts of the wider park have been set aside as examples of Minnesota's wild landscapes – woodlands, prairies and lakeside marshes. With plenty of tracks running throughout, it has become a popular place to hike, cycle and even ski around. For the less energetic, there's a motorised tram tour. And the magic of this place in winter is such that it also opens around Christmas for a rather special “winter wonderland” walk.
