Hidden Landscape Gems

by Heather Prince

2055 East U.S. Highway 12 Michigan City, IN www.riendshipbotanicgardens.org/ Hours: May 1 through October 1; Tuesday – Sunday: 9 am to 5 pm; closed Monday

Michigan City, Indiana, the Friendship Botanic Gardens have a long and storied history. The parking lot features thoughtfully pruned flowering crabapple, dogwood, magnolia, and redbud trees that provide a symphony of spring color. Check in at the tiny log cabin and grab a map of the trails and gardens.

This 105-acre site of formal gardens and wooded trails was the creation of three brothers, Virgil, Joe and Clarence Stauffer from Wakarusa, IN. They had developed a small garden dubbed “An Old Mill Garden” for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 to 1934. After the fair closed, the Stauffers had nowhere to house the displays. Dr. and Mrs. Frank Warren from Michigan City were entranced by the garden and decided to gift it as a public park. Initially named the International Friendship Gardens, when it opened in 1935 it featured 14 ethnic gardens, the Symphony Theater, and the Theater of Nations with an island stage and a natural hillside amphitheater. It soon became a popular tourist destination.

To promote the gardens, celebrities and world leaders were asked about their favorite flower, which was often incorporated into the garden designs. For example, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands donated 200,000 tulip bulbs and the King of Persia sent roses for the first Rose Garden. With time, the site became challenging to maintain until in 2014 work began to revitalize the property. Today, the gardens host a broad array of family-focused events, weddings, concerts and more.

To get to the formal gardens, you pass through mature woodlands where specimens are tagged with informational signs. Look for large tulip trees overhead and waves of wildflowers at your feet. The asphalt path takes you to open lawns dotted with small gardens, each representing a different country. Mature spruce and anchor beds and in spring the layered branches of redbud are lit with pink flowers.

Informational panels provide the history of each country represented, a snapshot of their resources, and how each garden originated. Trees, shrubs, and perennials native or representative of each nation are gracefully designed in a series of garden rooms. You’ll also find a labyrinth of clipped shrubs to explore.

As you continue the main path, look for the iron gazebo, a pair of stone lions, a circular water feature favored by turtles, and a bell to ring in a Norwegian-inspired shelter. Once you cross the bridge over the creek, You’ll walk through an allée of towering mature white pine, fragrant to the Education Event Pavilion and the ArcelorMittal Children’s Garden with Lake Lucerne in the distance. The Symphony Garden shelters under mature spruce at the foot of a long formal fountain and is often the site of weddings and events. The path winds uphill through a stand of paw paw trees and delivers you back to the parking area. The Friendship Botanic Garden is a unique spot of garden history set within huge mature trees. The formal gardens can serve as inspiration and it’s a lovely stop if you’re in the area.

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