From: Don Burns <burns at mobot.org> on 1998.04.23 at 02:12:42(2032)
Last week I asked for inputs on "plant stuff" in the Grand Rapids,
Michigan area. Neal Foster was kind enough to respond and suggest that I
go to the Frederik Meijer Gardens conservatory. I did so. Did not find too
many aroids there, certainly nothing unusual, a few Alocasias, Colocasias
and Anthuriums. But for a conservatory which is only a few years old
I found a remarkably good collection of subtropical and tropical plants
in excellent condition.
What makes the place even more interesting is that they are breeding many
species of butterflies in the main conservatory room, similar to what is
being done at the Crystal Garden in Victoria, British Columbia. A nice
collection of southwestern desert plants was also in another room of the
conservatory.
There were two or three additional rooms of the conservatory building
that had yet to be opened, and it was not clear what these areas will house.
Of particular interest to me was that this in the only northern
conservatory I have ever visited in the U.S. that is growing Pandanus
utilis (aka Screw Pine) which I have growing here in the yard. Not an
aroid of course.
Anyway, I found the place to be quite interesting, and recommend stopping
there if you happen to be in west central Michigan.
Don
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