Our Gardens

Windmill Island Gardens is proud to be one of the premier garden destinations in Michigan. We are a proud member of the American Public Garden Association and American Horticultural Society. 

We are well-known for our annual display of Tulips, one of the highlights to Holland's annual Tulip Time festival in May. However, we pride ourselves on beautiful gardens throughout the entire growing season. The gardens on our main campus (surrounding our Posthouse and Gift Shop areas) contain 40 beds that are planted with tulips for spring display. Once the tulips have finished blooming we replace them with 8-10,000 annuals that have been growing in our onsite greenhouses. We plant over 80 varieties of annuals to complement the perennials, bushes and trees located in this area along with 70+ combination planters and containers. These annuals tend to reach their full glory in July but look beautiful through September. 

Our 2023 garden theme is 'Celestial Summer'! This summer, our annual garden beds will celebrate the sun, moon, stars and everything else located above our heads!

In addition to our themed beds, we are excited to showcase several new and returning garden areas including:

'De Gezellige Tuin' Community Garden: After several years in shifting locations, our community garden has a permanent home with fencing and a path to let visitors see in and keep critters out! With 48 plots, this garden continues the Dutch tradition of Volkstuinen - or people's gardens - where the community comes together to enjoy growing food, flowers and friendships. For further details or plot availability, please contact greenhouse@cityofholland.com. 

'Zonnebloem Veld' Sunflower Field: Located in the field next to the community garden guests will be greeted by multiple varieties of sunflowers in a beautiful display. This year we are especially proud to display this garden as a tribute to Ukraine which features sunflowers as a national symbol. 

Native Pollinator Garden: We are proud to partner with our local Michigan State University extension to feature a beautiful garden of native pollinators. Located west of the windmill, we hope this area provides inspiration for our visitors to take home to their landscape. In addition to planting and maintaining this area, the MSU Extension offers several classes onsite each year as well as a plethora of information about gardening (available in the Posthouse Visitor Center.) 

Tulip Grove: New this year will be our season-long display of 'tulips'. Would you believe that many visitors ask to see our tulips throughout the summer and fall? As we hate disappointing them, we will now feature many larger-than-life tulips carved by a local artist. Due to flooding in the last few years we lost several oak trees which are now transformed into 8+ feet tall tulips!

Along with our formal garden areas, guests are encouraged to roam and enjoy our full 36 acres including woods, wetlands and several species of furry and feathered friends!