the beal gardens in east lansing

yesterday, we drove to east lansing to tour the beal gardens on the campus of Michigan State University. their horticultural students maintain the gardens, labeling the plants and categories. it was a beautiful day for a garden walk, and a wedding party was just leaving the gardens when we arrived.


there are rows of plants that are each labeled by category. some of the groupings include: injurious, medicinal, indian food plants, fixed oil, flavoring, dye, honey, fiber, useful, or threatened plants. i noted that some of the plants were growing in more than one category.

weeds of north america are also growing in their own section, as are historical plants grown from seeds. the trees surrounding the gardens are beautiful as well, and many are labeled.

this garden walk is a delightful experience for anyone who likes plants and wants to learn more about them. it was quite educational to me, as i saw several plants that i didn't think i could attempt to grow outdoors in zone 5, such as this pineapple plant.