The Ordway Gardens is located at the Majorie McNeely Conservatory of the Como Park Zoo in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The garden includes a pavilion, terrace, meditative garden, and walkway. The Bonsai Pavilion includes both indoor and outdoor display areas for their large Bonsai collection. As a result, they can display bonsai all year round.
Website: https://comozooconservatory.org/como/ordway-gardens/
The newly renovated Meditation Garden, once covered with forest grass, now contains a small kare-sansui (dry landscape) garden wedged into a corner with an impressive conservatory backdrop.
It can be viewed from both inside and outside of the pavilion.
The terrace includes an impressive array of bonsai along the conservancy wall. However, the terrace is very large and could easily accommodate additional bonsai displays - perhaps future acquisitions will make such an expansion possible (see the Longwood Garden Bonsai Courtyard).
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| Black Pine |
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| White Pine |
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| Japanese Maple |
Additional bonsai displays can be found along the pavilion wall.
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| Kingsville Boxwood |
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| Tamarack |
A hallway leading to the indoor bonsai display provides educational information about bonsai. However, I felt it was underutilized and could also display indoor examples of bonsai (perhaps this occurs in the winter months).
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| Weeping Fig |
In the pavilion there are six large bonsai display tables. There is also a large viewing window that overlooks the nearby Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden.
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| Fig |
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| Willow Leaf Fig |
Exiting the Bonsai Terrace one passes a large cedar before encountering the Pine Grove Walk which brings visitors to the nearby Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden. |
| Eastern White Cedar |
The collection was impressive and the new pavilion addition was well thought out. The open spaces in the terrace and hallway will eventually allow for the acquisition of additional bonsai and the inclusion of additional displays. Combined with a visit to the larger Japanese garden nearby, the bonsai pavilion makes for a wonderful exploration of Japanese gardening.
