Spend an Evening in the Garden at Rochester Hills Museum

Though the children’s garden at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm was built to delight the younger set, adults will find it magical as well. Especially now, at the height of the season.

Opened in 2004, the garden was designed by master gardener Janet Macunovich and influenced by a garden at Michigan State University. It was expanded with a second phase in 2007.

“I’m amazed constantly by the number of people that are out there in the garden,” said Pat Hambleton, who co-chairs the Van Hoosen committee of the Rochester Branch, Woman’s National Farm and Garden Association. The club’s members planted and maintain the garden.

“We’ve just got a great group of dedicated volunteers and the garden has done very well this year,” she said.

A new event this summer is designed to entice adults to stop by. Thursday, August 18 from 7-8:30 p.m. will be the second Evening in the Garden of the summer. There will be a short program on Butterflies, Bees and Beneficials. Then, as guests explore the garden, master gardeners will be available to answer questions. Light refreshments will be served.

The club has a long association with the museum.  When the Van Hoosen committee was formed a year and a half ago, “It actually became overnight our largest committee,” Hambleton said. The committee came up with the idea of hosting an evening in the garden.

“We wanted to say the children’s garden is not just for children, it’s for adults too,” she said. “We need to work with the community to share our love and our knowledge.”

Filled with art, the Children’s Garden is a delight for all the senses–literally. There’s a Five Senses garden, where kids are allowed to touch the plants. There’s an Alphabet Soup garden, where plants that start with each letter of the alphabet can be found via stepping stones. There’s a miniature school house reminiscent of the nearby Stoney Creek Schoolhouse, and a footbridge. Among the sculptures are two sheep from downtown Rochester’s Ewe Review. A vintage red tractor and a scarecrow make the setting complete.

“Each garden area has been adopted by a member of the club,” Hambleton said. “We ask them to go once a week and make sure it’s maintained. … If I’m in Rochester, I’ve got a watering can in my car.” 

Plans call for the garden to be expanded again soon with the installation of a living sundial. Laid out by a surveyor, the garden will allow visitors to tell the hour by where their shadow falls on a series of stones as they walk in the garden. Plantings, such as a flower known as a Four O’Clock, will be appropriate to the theme. The local and national WNFGA and individual contributors will pay for the sundial garden.

Evening in the Garden is free, but pre-registration is required. The museum will also be open with a new exhibit, Lost Rochester, which offers a look at the buildings and events that have been lost to memory but are still alive and well in the museum archives. To register, call the museum at 248-656-4663 or e-mail rhmuseum@rochesterhills.org.

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Photo by ANNETTE KINGSBURY/RochesterMedia.com
The Children’s Garden at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm is home to plants you can see, smell and touch, as well as lots of art. It will be the centerpiece of Evening in the Garden Aug. 18.
 
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Photo by ANNETTE KINGSBURY/RochesterMedia.com
The Children’s Garden at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm is home to plants you can see, smell and touch, as well as lots of art. It will be the centerpiece of Evening in the Garden Aug. 18.

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