Grand Garden Show 2022

Your walk (or carriage ride) up the hill to the Grand Hotel leads you to the magnificent entry gardens. To say this bed is filled to the brim is an understatement—so many colors, textures, layers. It is truly a treat to see in person.

The entire grounds of the Grand Hotel were designed by Jack Barnwell, of Jack Barnwell Design. More than 125,000 bedding plants are used across the grounds each year, and another 1,400 red geraniums grace the front edge of the porch in 147 planter boxes.

Hundreds of feet long, the borders in front of the Grand Hotel are filled to overflowing with colorful annuals, including yellow and orange marigolds, alyssum, purple fountain grass, dahlias, elephant ear, dusty miller, astilbe, and so many other surprises.

Closeup of the borders along the front of the Grand Hotel. This simple combination of marigolds and ornamental cabbage works in large scale plantings such as these borders, as well as could be planted in a single container.

The Grand Hotel's iconic front porch is the world's largest, at 660 feet long, and is lined with rocking chairs that allow visitors unparalleled views across the Tea Garden and out into Lake Huron.

One of the many containers that greet visitors to the Grand Hotel; this one containing Suncredible® Saturn™ sunflower and calibrachoa.

Looking out toward Lake Huron on a cloudy day, the planter boxes that line the road in front of the Grand Hotel really brighten the view. Planters are filled to the brim with cannas, purple fountain grass, Meteor Shower® verbena, geraniums, impatiens and so much more—brilliant color and tons of movement.

Layers upon layers, even in the smallest of beds. Sedum, dusty miller, marigolds, and salvia all lead to a planter topped with red geraniums.

Take a step back in time on Mackinac Island, where the main mode of transportation is by horse-drawn carriage. There are no automobiles allowed on the island, so horses, bicycles, and your own two feet are your only choices.

Tucked below the Grand Hotel's Tea Garden is the magical Secret Garden. You'll find the entrance on the west side of the main road, down a set of brick stairs, through a stand of trees, hydrangeas, and grogeous large hostas. Once through the white "gated" opening, a path veers to the right behind a row of arbovitae.

As you come around the corner, you are greeted by the highlight of this garden, the "river" of flowers, complete with its own bridge. In early spring, it comes to life with thousands of muscari, flanked by hyacinth, tulips, daffodils, and giant alliums. When those fade, the river is transitioned to red, pink, and white begonias and impatiens.

Lemon Coral® sedum, SunPatiens® Compact Tropical Rose impatiens, dusty miller, 'Fireworks' variegated red fountain grass, coleus, and more impatiens make for a bright and playful border across from the Secret Garden "river" walk.

At the far end of the Secret Garden is a large stand of yellow coneflower surrounded by allium, brunnera, astilbe, daylilies, and black-eyed Susan.

More black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) echoing the larger stand of yellow coneflower in the distance.

Tucked behind the Grand Hotel's tea garden is a life-size chess set ready for challengers to play.

Also designed by Jack Barnwell, the gardens at the Hotel Iroquois on Mackinac Island are truly a destination of their own. Jam-packed with color, you could walk this path multiple times and see something new each time.

"Because of the tall buildings on each side, this quaint little garden has everything from full sun pockets to deep shade all within a tiny footprint, allowing for an incredible diversity of plants and styles in a finite space." - Jack Barnwell, The Gardens of Mackinac Island

Welcome to the garden! Here, hydrangeas, lilies, begonias, impatiens, heuchera, and sedum all play nicely together tucked under a gorgeous river birch.

How many different foliage textures and shapes can you see in just this one close-up photo? The beds and containers at the Iroquois are filled with both—plus tons of color! Note how the chartreuse Lemon Coral® sedum (bottom of photo) plays with the lime green veining on the coleus. Brilliant!

At the Hotel Iroquois, not one opportunity is missed to brighten patios, porches, or walkways. These three AquaPot self-watering containers are filled with red geraniums with blue scaevola, red impatiens, and Mystic Illusion dahlias.

Not even a cloudy day can take the color out of this front landscape. The splashes of white, pink, red, and chartreuse seem to compete for your attention, while all the while playing nicely together.

Another beautiful cottage home surrounded by colorful sloped gardens.

What a few colorful plants can do for a white house! The splashes of yellow in the deck boxes connect them with the yellow flowers in the border below, while the pink and purple are carried throughout the other containers and hanging baskets.

You just can't miss the red barn at the back of this property, but the flower beds in front of it steal the show.

This beautiful border is full of color and movement, and is made up of only six different plants— three colors of impatiens, Mystic Illusion dahlia, bee balm, and purple fountain grass. Simply gorgeous!

The white picket fence that divides this garden and front border has been enveloped by colorful masses of dahlias, gladiolus, and black-eyed Susan.

Even small containers are given the same attention as large beds—full of color, texture, and variety.

Dahlias are EVERYWHERE on Mackinac Island; seemingly every garden has at least one.

Layered borders usually entail placing plants shortest to tallest, from the front of the border to the back, resulting in layering that draws your eye across from front to back. However, this border appears almost stacked, drawing your eye vertically—from the begonias and Diamond Frost euphorbia along the bottom, through the impatiens, into the hydrangea and elderberry, and finally straight up to the arborvitae backdrop.

There's much more to this side garden than meets the eye from the front. From this view, it appears the garden is on a contiguous slope. However, there are actually three flat tiered beds, allowing for a grander view when seen from the upper deck and windows. These beds are packed with color, including papyrus grass, elephant ear, browalia, coleus, and various colors of impatiens.

It's not always about brightly colored flowers in these gardens. Foliage is king in this garden border where ferns and hostas play with other leaf shapes, textures, and shades of green.

Many homeowners also tuck a little whimsy within their perfectly manicured gardens.

A short walk toward the East Bluff from the Downtown area takes you past a wild meadow full of yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) blowing in the breeze.

Until next time, Grand Hotel!

For more on the gardens of this beautiful destination, check out the book, The Gardens of Mackinac Island, by Jack Barnwell.

Go to GrandGardenShow.com for more information and to get on the mailing list for updates on future shows.