Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum at the Univeristy of Michigan

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Birthday Parties Matthaei Botanical Gardens is great for birthday parties!
Click here for more information.

Winter is a great time to take a stroll and appreciate the conifers along the trails at the Arb and Gardens. If you wish to avoid the chill of winter, stop into the Conservatory at the Gardens to experience the sights and smells of plants from all over the world.
Check out the bloom calendar.

Looking for a central location to hold a group meeting? How about catching up on some of your reading at a riverside bench? We have some of the University's best study spots.

The Gaffield Children's Garden is a place for exploration and fun in a natural setting specially designed from a kids'-eye view, a place that invites discovery with all the senses. Here, children can climb into an oversized bird nest and pretend they're a hatchling, wend their way through a maze, discover magical creatures in a fairy and troll knoll, or just get their hands dirty in a digging pit.

The garden also features a butterfly and hummingbird garden to attract these winged beauties in all their life stages, a builders' garden, habitats hiking trail, and much more.

Tom and Jeannette Gaffield provided a catalyst gift that turned the dream of the Children's Garden into reality. Additionally, there are many donors to the Gaffield Children's Garden, in particular the Woman's National Farm & Garden Association, Ann Arbor Branch. If you would like to contribute to the Children's Garden, please contact our director of development, Gayle Steiner: gayles@umich.edu; 734.647.7847.

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