Photo story: Fernwood hosts annual Spring Garden Market

Published 6:00 am Sunday, May 15, 2022

By Max Harden

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NILES — A popular artisan market made its long-awaited return from pandemic hiatus Saturday morning.

Fernwood Botanical Garden, 13988 Range Line Rd, Niles, hosted its annual Spring Garden Market Saturday, May 14. 

The market – which returned after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus – featured a wide variety of Fernwood-grown plants for sale as well as local vendors specializing in unique and artfully grown plant material and hand-crafted artwork for the garden. 

“It’s a perfect day to not only be out in your own garden but here at Fernwood,” said Fernwood Director of Development and External Relations Elaine Rowland. “People are coming out and taking advantage of this wonderful weather and they’re walking around. … I think people are just excited about this event. It’s finally back, it’s just a really good vibe and I’m glad that the weather held out for that.”

Established in 1964, Fernwood consists of 105 acres of cultivated gardens and natural areas with woodlands, ravines, wetlands, and river frontage on the St. Joseph River. The garden is open year-round for Michiana residents to enjoy.

According to Rowland, Fernwood has experienced an increase in visitors since opening after the initial pandemic shutdown.

“Moving forward, we’re really focusing on our asset here, which is our 105 acres,” she said. “We’ve just really been working on continuing to provide a safe and peaceful place for people to come outdoors and have a moment with nature. We’ve really seen a lot of people taking advantage of that as we were able to open after the shutdown and we’re so happy that we’ve seen that through since then.”

Rowland is looking forward to the programming Fernwood is set to offer this summer, which includes activities such as a natural self-care “take and make” workshop, a terrarium workshop, a presentation on local pollinators and more.

For more information on Fernwood and its programming, visit fernwoodbotanical.org.

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