I have a couple spots I wanted to visit this year, and the Frederik Meijer gardens was one of them.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I loved every minute of it. And I got to share it with my best friend which made it even better!

I haven’t been to the gardens since I was a little kid. My mom and aunt (who was my second mom) took me and my twin to see the butterfly exhibit and we had dressed up as butterflies for that day. Good memories.

I wanted to be surprised so I didn’t look up any exhibits or photos of the place, ahaha.

First place we went through was the arid room and oh my gosh that was amazing. Probably my favorite room there in my personal opinion but it’s hard because there were some stellar plants in the tropical room.

The cacti and succulents were so adorable and I almost walked passed the bear paws, and it was indeed just as beautiful in person as it is online. I am going to get one eventually! I soooo wanted to touch the leaves……

I couldn’t believe they could have so much in one room and I told my husband while we walked through it if we ever become rich he can have his hobby rooms and I would build myself a botanical garden, ahaha.

The saguaro were beautiful and I know I’m going to see bigger ones in a couple weeks when we fly out to Arizona for our anniversary! Woot woot!

I love tropical plants but oh my gosh, cacti and succulents have my heart. I could live in a world that is perfect for them. Bring on the heat and dryness!

Eventually we moved out of the cacti and succulents area and went into the tropical room which was much bigger, a lot bigger, actually ahaha.

And oh my gosh I was blown away by the large banana trees and nice bird of paradises, but then while we were looking at the plants our height really, my husband points up and asks what type of plant that was?

I looked up and saw the biggest bird of paradise ever seen, but it was actually a travelers palm I found out later. It was magnificent! So wild and majestic….I could have stared at it for quite a while.

I honestly felt like I had to watch my back just in case a raptor was eyeing me from behind large leaves!

I had such a fun time and was able to show my love and excitement of plants with my best friend which was just icing on the cake.

Came home and wanted a nap I was so spent, but I dove headfirst into my photos for an hour. Looking through them It was funny i saw some plants I’ve only seen online at Frederik Meijer Gardens like bird of paradise, rubber plant, a hoya flower, bear paws, a few philodendrons, palms, and a lot of cacti.

I’d highly suggest if anyone lives near a botanical garden or within a day trip it would be worth it. I’m going again when I get the chance – maybe I can talk my twin into going with me and bring the little nephew so I can talk his ear off and he can’t do anything about it yet, hahaha.