Oudolf Magic in Detroit

I jumped on the opportunity to visit the Oudolf Garden Detroit in person at the Perennial Plant Association’s Fall Symposium on Belle Isle. What a treat! September is the perfect time to visit this deeply moving love letter of a garden.

We were able to have access just after dawn, which made for some misty, moody photos. It turns out that garden spiders also love this space, likely because myriad insects are attracted to the native plants and long-blooming cultivars. I personally love a dew-bedecked spider web.

This has been a labor of love in a challenging, flood-prone site. The planting beds are raised to avoid some of that tendency. The wetland areas around the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon are the most recent addition and are filled with native plants that can handle its typically wet profile. A boardwalk takes you through the space to be buzzed by curious dragonflies as you inspect the myriad flowers.

One of my favorite aspects of any Oudolf design is his focus on plant structures. He treasures and designs for autumn and winter interest just as much as spring and summer shows. The intertwining textures are what bring me back to an Oudolf-designed garden again and again. The tapestry richness makes me want to plunge my hands into the foliage and wade through the grasses. It feels like home to me. Clearly, prairies are one of my deepest held experiential touchpoints.

Here in the Chicago area, Lurie Garden is the most accessible Oudolf design. However, if you are ever in the Detroit area, put this on your list to visit. If you can, try when the light is low so it catches foliage, flowers, and seeds to limn them with silver gilt. You deserve singular garden pleasures.