The Arboretum is in bloom for its Spring Flower Show

It’s been a long, gray and — frankly — bizarre winter! Fortunately, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is blooming in full color for its annual Spring Flower Show.

Open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through March 10, this all-indoor event technically happens in winter. (Calendar spring arrives March 19 this year.) But the eye-popping colors, stunning fragrances and creative botanical and tropical displays at the Arboretum may be just the thing to get you excited about spring in your own home or backyard. 

Access to the Spring Flower Show is included with regular daytime admission to the 1,200-acre Arboretum grounds with advance tickets, including miles of walking trails in excellent condition thanks to the mild weather.

Special evening events include three newly expanded After Hours With the Flowers Date Nights (Thursdays: Feb. 15, 22, 29), complete with live music, horticulture speakers, Botanical Trivia by Trivia Mafia, Board Games with CMYK Games and wine, beer, snacks and cocktails (available for purchase). 

Need a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift? Date Night tickets are still available for all three nights, said Signature Seasonal Events Manager Wendy Composto. She added that daytime tickets or a year-long membership to the Arboretum also make great gifts.

Composto, who was instrumental in bringing together this year’s show, said the three Date Nights allow folks busy on the weekends or weekdays to see the show with extra activities and live music, all geared toward adults.

“Having the show in February works out well because our Date Nights make excellent Valentine’s Day gifts,” Composto said. “The romance of flowers is undeniable, especially all the tropical orchids that are included in the show from beginning to end.”

Indeed. This year’s floral vignettes include blooming tropicals (myriad orchids, rare bromeliads and flowering houseplants) and forced bulbs (daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, paperwhites and more), along with a seemingly endless array of foliage plants with lush, colorful leaves that go far beyond basic green. 

The show starts in the Oswald Visitor Center Great Hall, which includes these four highlights:

Woodland Wall: This one-of-a-kind installation was created by Arboretum staff member Richard DeVries, using a single downed cedar tree from the Arboretum grounds. Cut logs, natural log tables and huge hollowed pieces of bark make for a mesmerizing scene, all finished off with highly unusual orchids from Orchid Web by Orchids Limited of Plymouth. Some of the orchids are planted in moss spheres known as kokedama, a Japanese style of orchid-friendly planter that gardeners can try at home. 

Baskets of Dreams: More than 50 repurposed baskets of all shapes and sizes were used to create this eye-catching two-story wicker wall of wonder, designed and created by Arboretum Horticulturist Jewel Engstrom, who is responsible for much of the show’s inspirational ideas and designs. 

Moon Gate: This selfie station is adorned with sprays of cut and potted cymbidium orchids. Also known as boat orchids, cymbidiums are native to the Himalayas and produce bloom spikes with up to 25 flowers that span up to 6 inches across — not your typical grocery store orchids. Nearby in the Gift & Garden Store, visitors will find a cherry blossom selfie station for those who want a seated selfie with virtual butterflies flitting around. 

Reflection Garden: In this display, the largest of the entire show, visitors will find stunning plant arrangements and fabric-wrapped trees, but also one-of-a-kind mosaics by local artist Shelley Beaumont, whose flower-like works are inspired by the natural symmetry, geometry and enigmatic colors of flowers. Her pieces contain bits of mirror, natural stone, glass, copper and even gems. All of Beaumont’s works, embedded in the vignettes of the Great Hall, are for sale through March 10.

Exhibits continue in all the attached buildings and spaces, including vignettes titled “Enchanting Terrariums,” “Super Succulents,” “Beautiful Bulbs,” and — near the windows of the cafe — a large run of window boxes in bloom, so visitors can have a bite to eat and bask in the flowers, bathed in southern sunlight. 

History lovers will be delighted by the 100-plus-image slideshow appearing in the cafe in honor of the 50-year anniversary of the Snyder Building opening. History snapshot panels were added under the window boxes for a bit of light reading. It’s amazing to discover just how far the Arboretum has come since its founding in 1958, starting at 160 acres and growing to 1,200 acres with 600,000 visitors per year.

From the Eatery, the Skyway Gallery leads to the historic Snyder Building, which is honored with a giant (if faux) birthday cake! Staff member Audrey Busch created this botanical confection using meaningful and iconic plants from across the Arboretum.

The show’s final destination is the Conservatory, lavishly decorated with common and exotic orchids, including some suspended from the ceiling! 

Also in the Snyder Building, be sure to check out the Andersen Horticultural Library, celebrating Library Lovers’ Month. Tell the staff about your favorite book or write a library love note, and you’ll get a Hershey’s Hug and Kiss. Here, you’ll find floral arrangements unlike any you’ll see in the rest of the show, including Japanese-style Ikebana arrangements — a perfect match for the library’s historic and custom-built furnishings by American George Nakashima. Want to learn Ikebana? Sign up for a class (Feb. 25) at the Arboretum during the Spring Flower Show.

The Spring Flower Show tour takes about an hour, depending on your pace. It will be longer if you stop for a bite in the cafe or browse the gift store. 

Before you head out, you can read about the Arboretum history (PDF) and check out all vignette descriptions (PDF), too! Learn more and get tickets on the Arboretum’s website.

Editor’s note: Sarah Jackson is a former journalist, editor and garden writer who found her calling as the public relations/media specialist at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska.

Jackson’s column on the happenings at the Arboretum will appear periodically on the Eden Prairie Local News website. Contact her at arbpr@umn.edu.