Frederik Meijer Gardens: a grocer's gift, and a horse five centuries late

Did you know one of the most-visited gardens in the country grew out of a grocery store? This is the garden, not the supermarket. Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park opened in 1995, the gift of Fred Meijer — who ran the Meijer stores — and his wife, Lena. Fred had a growing collection of large bronze sculptures, and Lena loved plants and flowers. The 158-acre park in Grand Rapids gave both a home. The gardens report record crowds — more than 785,000 visitors in a recent year — and say they have now welcomed over 16 million guests since opening in 1995. The Art Newspaper has ranked it among the most-visited art museums in the United States.

The park’s most famous resident is a horse. “The American Horse” is a 24-foot bronze based on a design Leonardo da Vinci started in 1482 for the Duke of Milan — and never finished. (The bronze meant for it was melted into cannons in 1494, and da Vinci’s clay model was later destroyed.) For nearly 500 years it stayed just an idea. Sculptor Nina Akamu finally built it, and Fred Meijer paid for two castings: one was unveiled in Milan in 1999, and the twin was dedicated at Meijer Gardens that October. The park also holds 29 bronzes by Michigan sculptor Marshall Fredericks.

Inside, the Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory is a five-story glass house — the gardens call it Michigan’s largest. Each spring it fills with the “Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming” show, which the gardens describe as the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibition in the U.S. More than 7,000 butterflies and moths flutter freely around visitors, from blue morphos to giant Atlas moths. There’s also a big Japanese garden and one of the country’s largest children’s gardens, so plan to spend a while.