The Great Lakes Gardens celebrate our region’s natural heritage and re-create many of the special habitats found here such as dune, limestone plain, and prairie. We’ve planted the Gardens with Great Lakes endemics (those found here and nowhere else in the world), native orchids, woodland wildflowers, and many others. A series of accessible pathways, boardwalks, and overlooks connects the different garden spaces and invites up-close views of plants you might never encounter in the wild, while interpretation illuminates the role conservation plays in protecting this unique diversity.
The Great Lakes Gardens is a place to visit in all seasons. Check out this gallery of photos of the gardens’ habitats and plants taken throughout the seasons, and be sure to visit soon to see the gardens in person. (Thanks to photographer Michele Yanga and student intern Ryan Kuesel for their photos of the Great Lakes Gardens.)
Great Lakes Gardens, August 2018. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Great Lakes Gardens, August 2018. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Great Lakes Gardens, August 2018. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Winding paths in the Great Lakes Gardens invite visitors to explore and see what’s around the corner. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Walkways and boardwalks connect the spaces in the Great Lakes Gardens and give visitors the opportunity to see plants up close. Photo by Michele Yanga.
A view of the alvar section of the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Alvar, or limestone plain, is a rare habitat that exists only in a few places around the world, including the Great Lakes. This rugged habitat, with its sparse soil, supports plants such as the lakeside daisy and dwarf
A view of the alvar section of the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Alvar, or limestone plain, is a rare habitat that exists only in a few places around the world, including the Great Lakes. This rugged habitat, with its sparse soil, supports plants such as the lakeside daisy and dwarf
A view of the alvar section of the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Alvar, or limestone plain, is a rare habitat that exists only in a few places around the world, including the Great Lakes. This rugged habitat, with its sparse soil, supports plants such as the lakeside daisy and dwarf
Native aster and goldenrod enliven the Great Lakes Gardens in late summer and early fall. This photo was taken in September 2017.
A path through the alvar section of the Great Lakes Gardens in September 2017 shows sumac turning red.
A path through the alvar section of the Great Lakes Gardens in September 2017.
A photo of the Great Lakes native orchid, the grass pink (Calopogon) taken in the spring of 2017. Photo by Michele Yanga. (Note: The grass pink blooms in the spring is an example of a Great Lakes native plant found in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei.)
A Cypripedium parviflorum (northern yellow lady’s-slipper) orchid blooming on spring 2017 in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Trillium blooming in spring 2018 near the Great Lakes Gardens. Photo by Michele Yanga.
A Cypripedium parviflorum (northern yellow lady’s-slipper) orchid blooming on spring 2017 in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Orange-fringed Orchid (Platanthera ciliaris) blooming spring 2018 in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Geum triflorum (prairie smoke) blooms in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei spring 2018. Photo by Michele Yanga.
Iris lacustris (dwarf lake iris) blooming in the spring in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. (Photo by student intern Ryan Kuesel.)
Tetraneuris herbacea (lakeside daisy) blooming in spring in the Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei. (Photo by student intern Ryan Kuesel.)
