Matthaei Botanical Gardens
1800 N. Dixboro Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48105 – Map
Tues – Sun 10am-4:30pm | Wed 10am-8:00pm | Closed Mondays
Holiday Hours: Closed December 24th, 25th, and 31st.
Matthaei Botanical Gardens has something for everyone: Outdoor garden spaces featuring bonsai, native plants, and perennials, a garden created just for kids, nearly 3 miles of trails, and an indoor conservatory filled with plants from around the world.
Nichols Arboretum
1610 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor – Map
Daily 8am-8pm
As you explore Nichols Arboretum you’ll find one of the richest landscapes in the region, including vast panoramas, broad valleys, and intimate dales and glens.
Nature Play Pop Ups
The Gaffield Children’s Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens is hosting weekly hands-on Nature Play Pop-ups for fall 2023. Young children will have hands-on fun while taking a closer look at nature, and parents will leave with easy ideas to encourage creative nature play at home.
Field Trips
We offer amazing opportunities for classroom groups to visit Matthaei in-person or virtually. Our field trips are easy to schedule, interactive, and fun.
Get to Know Michigan’s Bees
Discover the hidden world of Michigan’s native bees and their vital role in local ecosystems as we highlight their unique appearances, behaviors, and essential interactions with plants.
Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum is a transformative force for social and ecological resilience through the waters and lands we steward. We turn this commitment into action by:
- Positioning humans as active participants within the natural world and compelling the university community and our publics to negotiate the full complexity that entails
- Advancing partnerships, programs, user experience, and all that we steward to catalyze equity and justice in a radically changing world
- Emerging as University of Michigan’s premier partner for research, teaching, and public impact in sustainability, climate-forward practices, and biocultural diversity
- Promoting healthier communities, cultures, and ecosystems through active care and cultivation of the gardens, fields, natural habitats, and dynamic systems that sustain our world.
Learn more about our Strategic Plan at this link.
MBGNA News
Gardening in the Quiet Season
Perhaps you’ve considered gardening purely a pastime for the warmer months—carefully planting your garden in the spring, working soil under the summer sun, and harvesting in the fall. What about the hushed winter season though—the under-appreciated time of year that wraps the landscape in a snowy blanket, seemingly bringing nature to a standstill?
Interview with Mahalina Dimacali
Mahalina Dimacali is a community and cultural organizer whose research explores the intersections of critical museum studies, Indigenous studies, and ethnobotany. Since 2017, her focus has been on how museums can affirm or deny relationships with the water, land, and all beings within. Her work is rooted in the belief that everyone should have access to culturally relevant spaces to foster these relationships.
Letter from the Director: 2023 in Review
Dear MBGNA Community, Reflecting on an eventful year at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (MBGNA), I am filled with gratitude and enthusiasm for what lies ahead. Our mission - to act as a transformative force for social and ecological resilience - was...
Every Day Outdoors 2024
We're excited to bring back Every Day Outdoors for 2024! Every Day Outdoors was created several years ago as a way to inspire the MBGNA community to spend time outdoors all year long. At MBGNA, we know how great it feels to spend time outside and studies show that...
Wonder Walks at Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Matthaei Botanical Gardens is hosting free guided nature walks on select Wednesdays and Sundays. These walks are FREE, no registration is required. MBG Wonder Walks are designed for all ages to inspire curiosity and learning from each other through activities that...
@matthaeinichols / #matthaei / #nicholsarboretum / #a2outside
