beautiful yellow tree peony bloom

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Matthaei Botanical Gardens

1800 N. Dixboro Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105 – Map
Tue-Sun 10am-4:30pm, Wed 10am-8:00pm | Closed Mondays

Matthaei Botanical Gardens has something for everyone: Outdoor garden spaces featuring bonsai, native plants, and perennials, a garden created just for kids, nearly 3 miles of trails, and an indoor conservatory filled with plants from around the world.

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Nichols Arboretum

1610 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor – Map
Daily 8am-8pm

As you explore Nichols Arboretum you’ll find one of the richest landscapes in the region, including vast panoramas, broad valleys, and intimate dales and glens.

Pink rhododendron
Shakespeare in the Arb scene with people laughing
Shakespeare in the Arb

Shakespeare in the Arb returns for its 21st season with the beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. Visit the event page for details and ticket sales.

Photo of garden filled with blooming peonies and with text overlay: Experience Peonies.
Visit the W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden

The W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden at Nichols Arboretum is one of the world’s premiere collections. The garden holds nearly 800 peonies and over 10,000 flowers at peak bloom.  Plan a visit today!

Nature Play Pop ups at Gaffield Children's Gardem
Nature Play 

The Gaffield Children’s Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens is hosting weekly hands-on Nature Play Pop-ups for summer 2023. Young children will have hands-on fun while taking a closer look at nature, and parents will leave with easy ideas to encourage creative nature play at home.

Group of six children approximately aged 10 to 13 years.  The children are looking at the camera holding out hillicopter seeds from a nearby tree.
Field Trips

We offer amazing opportunities for classroom groups to visit Matthaei in person or virtually. Both kinds of field trips are easy to schedule, interactive, and fun. Click here or on the image above to learn more.

Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum is a transformative force for social and ecological resilience through the waters and lands we steward. We turn this commitment into action by:
  • Positioning humans as active participants within the natural world and compelling the university community and our publics to negotiate the full complexity that entails
  • Advancing partnerships, programs, user experience, and all that we steward to catalyze equity and justice in a radically changing world
  • Emerging as University of Michigan’s premier partner for research, teaching, and public impact in sustainability, climate-forward practices, and biocultural diversity
  • Promoting healthier communities, cultures, and ecosystems through active care and cultivation of the gardens, fields, natural habitats, and dynamic systems that sustain our world.

Learn more about our Strategic Plan at this link.

MBGNA News

What’s in Bloom: June 1, 2023

The start of June has brought a wave of blooming flowers.  Our Great Lakes Garden, Perennial Garden, and W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden are especially colorful right now. In our Bonsai Garden, we have the first Satsuki Azalea azalea bloom of the season!Balsam RagwortSatsuki...

Behind the Bonsai: Get to Know Carmen Leskoviansky

“Bonsai is more than creating or maintaining and displaying a tree. There is a story to tell. The various pieces of the display from the tree itself to the pot to the stand to the scroll to the accent and how everything relates to each other help to tell this story. Each of these elements of display is art in its own right, often created by someone who has dedicated their life to that discipline. From conception to display, there are multiple people and arts involved.” Get to know MBGNA bonsai expert, Carmen Leskoviansky

Tiny Tree Tournament

We are kicking off the Little Trees, Big Impact bonsai celebration with a Tiny Tree Tournament!  Join us June 5th-12th and vote daily for your favorite trees! Voting begins at 10:00 AM June 5, 2023. For now, get to know the trees competing! Want more bonsai?  Check...