


Over the years, Clemens Gardens expanded into six unique gardens across 7 acres - from plots of all white flowers modeled after Sissinghurst Castle's in England to the Virginia Clemens Rose Garden that shows off about 1,000 roses, her favorite flower. Cloud added on Clemens Gardens, named after entrepreneur Bill Clemens and his wife, Virginia, who lived across the street from the park and helped fund it. Before that, a sawmill occupied the land in the 1890s before being replaced with a campground of cabins.īy 1986, St.

He designed the park in the 1930s with the help of workers in the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. Munsinger Gardens is also a key link to the city's history, named after its first park superintendent, Joseph Munsinger. It's not just a place you drive through to get Up North." Cloud sort of gets overlooked," says Penny White, who leads the Friends of the Clemens and Munsinger Gardens, a volunteer fundraising group at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation. While the city-owned gardens draw an estimated 350,000 people a year, including many local visitors and cabin commuters veering off Interstate 94 for a detour, others may be surprised to learn it's one of the top tourist spots in St. Tirana-Echeverria meander through floral stretches and bees find nourishment. Lily Clouse posed for mom Stephanie Helland at the gardens, where fountains stand tall, visitors like Luz C. Usually by October, crews prep the plots for winter. In the fall, bluestem and other grasses transform with silver and red blades while trees glow yellow and orange. You don't see many gardens located along a water bank like that," says Nia Primus, the gardens supervisor for more than a decade. Cloud's is the only of its kind that hugs the majestic Mississippi. Of the many public gardens across Minnesota, St. Cloud's Munsinger and Clemens Gardens sprawl across about 20 acres with rows of colorful blooms, a riverfront gazebo, fountains and four resident peacocks.

"This is one of the gems of our community." It's restful," says Joan Andersen as she strolls the grounds. Monarch butterflies flutter by as chickadees and other birds call out in the sun-drenched treetops, the sweet smell of petunias and hydrangeas wafting through the air.
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Explore the alleys of the park without getting lost, thanks to the GPS feature, and see the château as it was in the 17th century.ĭiscover the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud through one of the treasure hunts in the Paris Region Adventures application specially designed for families and downloadable free of charge.Īnd don't miss the National Ceramics Museum of Sèvres : you will be offered an immersion into the history of ceramics and the art of potter.A boat whizzes by on the winding Mississippi River, passing acres of vibrant gardens showcasing nearly 100,000 flowers under towering century-old pines.
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To guide you on your visit, download the free app (available on ITunes or Google Play) and use your smartphone or tablet to help you discover this vast estate though a historical circuit. The Domaine National de Saint-Cloud is also home to one of the Paris Region’s biggest summer music events, playing host to some of the most famous artists from all over the world at the weekend-long Rock en Seine festival at the end of August. The estate itself is also managed using sustainable development strategies, and visitors can take part in art, gardening, and cooking courses all year round.
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Water plays an important role here too, with plenty of fountains decorating the park as well as a large waterfall and an ornamental lake where jets of water shoot up more than 40 metres into the air.ĭelving deeper into the woods you’ll find the Pavillon du Piqueur, a little farm offering a range of educational workshops on how to be more eco-friendly. There’s also a breath-taking view of Paris from the terrace which is not to be missed. Its 460 rolling hectares of pathways and woodland make a lovely spot for a stroll, or a picnic on the lawn. Now classed as a Historic Monument, the park is a popular destination for people living in western Paris and looking to get outdoors. A château – which now sits in ruins – that was commissioned by Louis the Great’s brother once dominated this garden estate, which was designed by André Le Nôtre. A royal and imperial summer residence, the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud has followed French history through all its twists and turns since the Renaissance.
