All American Selections Display Gardens
These are gardens that grow and display each year’s award winning AAS flowers and/or vegetables. Though the gardens don’t test or evaluate the plants, they grow and display the association’s yearly winners to make them known to the public. The AAS, a seedsman’s association, was begun in 1932. It’s purpose is to encourage the introduction of new varieties of vegetables and plants to the marketplace.
Arboretums
The dictionary definition is “a plot of land on which trees or shrubs are grown for study or display.” Many arboretums have come to include displays of herbaceous plant materials in addition to their displays of woody plants.
Cemeteries with Notable Gardens
These cemeteries have been included because they were established when the roles of recreational parks and burial grounds had less distinct boundaries. In the 1800s, large “garden” cemeteries were not only used like parks, as respites from urban living, but were also planted with numbers of trees to rival arboretums and contained ambitious and impressive floral displays as well.
Glass Houses & Conservatories
These are gardens (or portions of larger gardens) that are enclosed in glass and are therefore protected from Minnesota’s climatic shifts, which can range from minus 30 degrees F to over 100 degrees F. In these protected gardens, plants from other climatic regions of the globe can flourish.
Historic Gardens
These are gardens which are attached to historic homes within Minnesota or are gardens that were established early in the state’s history and are early examples of their type, i.e. Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden was the 1st public wildflower garden established in the U.S.
Japanese Gardens
These are gardens designed using the aesthetic principles that for centuries have ruled garden and landscape design in Japan. There are differing styles of Japanese gardens, but most incorporate either water (or references to water), stones, and lots of woody plant materials. Minimal emphasis is placed on flowering plants.
Rose Gardens
These are gardens (or portions of larger gardens) devoted to different rose species or varieties.
Other Garden Types
These are gardens that do not fit into the categories above.