One Great Garden
Throughout Minnesota's history, public gardens have been both a source of pride and a font of inspiration for Northern gardeners. Shortly after discovering that growing things both beautiful and bountiful in the North was indeed a reality, gardeners began to seek out sources of inspiration for their new little corners of the world. They began by looking just beyond their own back yards to their city parks and public gardens; however, public garden spaces were a new concept in Minnesota and not always readily embraced by city officials.
Much like the notion of a hardy apple tree just 30 years prior, the need for public garden spaces was a tough concept for some folks to grasp. Luckily, there were strong and vocal proponents on the side of zone 3 and zone 4 residents. In an article in the 1903 issue of The Minnesota Horticulturist (Northern Gardener), F.M.Dolan of St. Paul postulates that "the primal object of a public park is to offer to its patrons not only a place of recreation but of rest for body and mind as well, so that going out for an afternoon or evening to commune with nature amidst the beauties of trees, shrubs, and flowers, it is the desire of all to be hidden, as it were, from the busy cares of office, shop, and street."
Dolan helped set in motion the fundamental importance of public green spaces, perhaps even more for the person who doesn't garden at home. His view on the importance of parks in peoples' lives was personified in his closing remarks on the planting and care of a new park: "Give your people more parks and your children more open play grounds away from dusty streets and alleys, and I assure you that every little town of 12 or 15 inhabitants will cease to be refuge for three or four doctors!" Modern sentiments would go something like this, "If there were more parks, there would be fewer psychiatrists." The power of parks was solidly put in place.
The immense influx of garden clubs into the horticultural society in the 1930s represented a legion of avid gardeners with an active presence. For every club that entered the ranks of MSHS, a public greening space was most likely also created. City parks, nursing homes, and major thoroughfare plantings throughout Minnesota become the calling cards of such clubs. One public planting represents the spirit of so many and helps define a community so well, saying "We care. We are proud of our city-" It's also a great way for the more experienced to share their knowledge with those who are just beginning to get dirt under their nails. A strong sense of community can't help but be born.
Public garden spaces, great and small, need allies. Larger ones usually have dedicated, knowledgeable staff, but without regular doses of TLC, public greening spaces, especially the smaller ones, can quickly fall under the scourge of neglect. Luckily, such small spaces have a hero in Minnesota Green. A program of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, it was born in the late1980s as a direct response to ever-increasing urban blight, vacant lots, lead-contaminated soil, a visible lack of community pride, and an overall degradation of public land. From the beginning and until this day, the goal is to work one-on-one with the community gardener to develop and maintain public greening spaces.
Today, a great deal of the assistance is through the Plant Donation Network, and the educational focus is on environmental, conservation, and sustainability issues. As reported by Vicky Vogels, MSHS community outreach coordinator and administrator of the Minnesota Green program, the projects involved in Minnesota Green are many and varied. " The plants go to parks, schools, food-shelf sites, entryways, roadsides, vacant lots, public housing developments, and to beautify commercial districts. Some of the projects teach about food production." As was the case in 1904 when F.M. Dolan spoke passionately to the MSHS membership, the goal of MSHS and the program is to "create community and to serve members and the public. The plants are just the vehicle.' (For more information about Minnesota Green, visit the Minnesota Green page.
As was the case at the dawning of community green spaces in Minnesota, it's the need of the people who dig in the dirt to learn and share Northern gardening knowledge that keeps the public spaces alive and growing. How comforting to see that the more people tend their own yards, the more they also need to come together, in one great garden.
Many large-scale, professionally managed parks dot the northern regions. Most were born out of one person's passion. All continue to this day to be a source of inspiration and wonder to gardeners who visit. Some popular destinations include:
COMO PARK CONSERVATORY
Park superintendent Frederick Nussbaumer, who believed that St. Paul must have a "recreation ground for all classes of people," instigated the building of the conservatory in 1914. It remains a premiere exhibit of tropical and indigenous plants.
MAYOWOOD MANSION
Built in 1910, this former home of Charles Mayo features a teahouse, sculpture, container gardens, and perennial plantings. Located southwest of Rochester, it is open for tours.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ST. PAUL CAMPUS
Created in 1978 by Dr. Robert Mullin, it includes a prairie garden, teaching garden, and formal beds and plantings.
LAKE HARRIET ROSE.GARDEN
Planted in 1907 by Theodore Wirth, it was only the second public rose garden to be created in the United States.
NOERENBERG GARDENS
A gift to Hennepin County by Laura Noerenberg Hoppe in 1972, it is an exquisite example of both annual and perennial plantings.
MUNSINGER GARDENS
Established in the 1920s and 30s, this St. Cloud garden includes a formal rose garden and a woodland shade garden.
MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM
The post-World War II housing boom revived the Minnesota homeowner's need for resources on hardy ornamentals. In response to this need, land was purchased in 1958 and the arboretum was born. This brainchild of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society and the Men's Garden Club of Minneapolis is home to every possible resource for the Northern gardener.
Eric Johnson is a past MSHS membership communications manager
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