Dow Gardens is a botanical garden located at 1809 Eastman Avenue, Midland, Michigan, United States. It is open to the public, and currently contains over 1700 varieties of plants hardy in mid-Michigan. The main entrance has geographical coordinates of. The Dow Gardens were started in 1899 by Herbert Dow, founder of The Dow Chemical Company with his wife Grace, and gardener Elzie Côte, on eight acres of flat, sandy land. The Herbert H. Dow House is located at the southwest corner of the gardens. The Alden Dow House and Studio are on the west side of the gardens, separated by a pond. Subsequent generations of the Dow family have continued to develop the gardens. Their house, called the Pines, was the first and only home the Dows owned. As a National Historic Landmark, The Pines welcomes visitors for guided tours and special events. The home, which is still filled with the Dow family’s furnishings, provides an intimate look into their life. Upon Herbert's passing, Grace Dow established The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, which has charter goals to improve the educational, religious, economic, and cultural lives of Michigan’s people. Dow Gardens is a signature gift of The Foundation as the family shares the estate with the community and its visitors. Dow Gardens now welcomes over 300,000 guests per year.
Gardens
Dow Gardens has two main botanical attractions, the Gardens and the Whiting forest. In addition to the visitor center and gift shop, the flora and fauna are the boulder pass and waterfall, the stream walk, the estate garden, the color garden, pineside, the exploration garden, and the Dows' Pines residence. During the spring/summer months the Garden is home to over 35,000 annuals. A donation to the Dow Gardens' Rose Garden will sustain the rose collection, which is cared for by the Dow Gardens staff. The rose collection is located with the trial plants in the Exploration Garden and contains most of the All-American roses as well as species and shrub roses. Each year the Dow Gardens uses a variety of annual bedding plants as part of the summer botanical display. This primary source of seasonal color is evaluated three times throughout the growing season.
Whiting Forest
Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens features 54 acres of woodlands, ponds, apple orchard, meadows, and stream. Guests of all ages and abilities are immersed in the forest on the nation's longest canopy walk, 1,400 feet long, soaring up to 40 feet above the ground. The Alden B. Dow-designed Whiting home now welcomes guests as a Visitor Center. Designed to be accessible for all ages and abilities and open in every season. Canopy Walk has three arms, each end at a unique viewing platform, including views of a forest pond from 25 feet up, a large cargo net in a grove of spruce trees at 25 feet high, and an orchard view which includes a viewing platform with a glass floor and railings at 40 feet high. Features of the forest are a playground, a visitor center, the canopy walk, forest trails and snake creek, Whiting Forest Cafe, and bridges and orchard. The first piece of Whiting Forest property was acquired in 1905 by Herbert H. Dow, the founder of the Dow Chemical Company, and his wife Grace. In 1949, the property passed to H.H. Dow’s granddaughter Helen Dow Whiting, and her husband Macauley. The Whitings took great care to create a beautiful home for their six children. Now owned by the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, it opened to the public in 2004, with a grand re-opening in October 2018.
Recent Accolades
2017-AAS Landscape Design Challenge Winner 2018-TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2018-Keep Michigan Beautiful President's Award 2019-Midland Business Alliance Heritage Award 2019-Bette R. Tollar Civic Commitment Award 2019-AIA Tri-State Architectural Excellence in Design Bronze Award 2019-Society of American Registered Architects Award of Merit
