Michigan Has Two Of The Best Flower Festivals In America
Spring is here, and flowers are in full bloom. USA Today: 10 Best highlighted some of the best flower festivals in America. Their ten best were selected by an expert…
Spring is here, and flowers are in full bloom. USA Today: 10 Best highlighted some of the best flower festivals in America. Their ten best were selected by an expert panel and voted by readers as the best in the U.S. These festivals "allow attendees to enjoy fragrant, colorful blooms, learn about flowers and plants, and simply have a wonderful time." The outlet said, "Some events offer a marketplace of flowers and plants that you can take home with you."
Michigan has two of the best flower festivals in America
Snagging spot number three on the list is Holland's Tulip Time Festival. Each year, around 6 million colorful tulips bloom in the area, with over 200,000 of them in the downtown area alone. Of course, it's a town called Holland, so visitors can expect the Dutch heritage celebrated with music, dancing, markets, parades, and beautiful floral displays. This year, the festival takes place from May 4 to May 12.
Another place to check out in Holland is the Windmill Island Gardens. They plant over 150,000 tulips. Visitors can enjoy walking trails through the flowers, antique rides for kids, replica structures, and stumble upon the occasional wedding taking place in their garden.
Also, scoring a place on their list at number two is the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival. The 10-day Lilac Festival takes place each June. This year, the festival is scheduled for June 7 through June 16. They pointed out that the festival began as a way to entice visitors to the island with horse-drawn carriage rides among the island’s fragrant flowers. Today, events include the coronation of the Lilac Queen, a 10k run/walk, lilac planting seminars, a cornhole tournament, live music, and the popular Grand Parade.
The parade is free to participate in but you must complete an application. If you arrange a dray or a carriage, there may be a fee to use these services. A bonus is that Businesses and organizations from outside of Mackinac Island are welcome to participate, except for elected officials, who must be currently in office and invited by the Lilac Festival Committee.
The best flower festival in America is in Ohio.
At the top of their list is Ohio's Zoo Blooms at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. They highlighted the garden for coming to a "floral feast for the senses during the Zoo Blooms." This garden offers one of the largest tulip displays in the Midwest (more than 100,000), and visitors can stroll among more than 1 million yellow and white daffodils, hyacinths, flowering trees, shrubs, and various spring bulbs.
Take a look at the complete list here.
5 Plants That Will Make Your Garden Smell
Plants don't always give off beautiful floral aromas, scents, and smells. There are plants that give off unpleasant smells that could stink up your garden. Most plants give off produce scents to lure in pollinators and repel predators.
Bees and butterflies are drawn to your garden by sweet scents from fragrant flowers. Plants with foul odors smell this way to attract flies and beetles which normally lay their eggs in feces and rotting materials.
With the gardening season around the corner, you may want to consider avoiding putting these plants in your garden.
Here are five plants that can smell up your garden.
Crown Imperial Plants
Getty ImagesThe flowers have a potent, musky scent almost like a skunk, which deters rodents and voles as well as squirrels and deer from the garden. Crown imperial plants are native to Asia and the Middle East. They come in These flowers come in shades of red, orange, and yellow.
Stinking Corpse Lily
Getty ImagesThe flower has a large central opening surrounded by petal-like structures and can grow huge, weighing up to 24 pounds. Also known as the rafflesia arnoldii, which smells and even looks like a rotting carcass.
Carrion Flower
Getty ImagesThese flowers are often pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to the smell of decay. The most common odors describe it as smelling like a rotting animal, a dead mouse, foul, and sulfur-like during flowering.
Skunk Cabbage
Getty ImagesSkunk Cabbages get their name from the fact they produce a smell of rotting meat or skunk when their leaves are bruised or crushed. While the smell may be unpleasant, the odor can help keep pests away and attract beneficial pollinators including bees and butterflies.
Corpse Flower
Getty ImagesThis flower is far from sweet. The United States Botanic Garden says its the worst-smelling flower in the world. Also known as the titan arum, some people compare its smell to a stinking corpse or rotting flesh.
