Did you know that this stairway and the other railings up in Treillage need to be painted every year or two? First, there is a coat of black paint that is allowed to dry, followed by a special application of antique green. This job is done after the flowers are planted and major events are over for the season. It looks beautiful!

This colorful rudbeckia is blooming in the yellow garden in the Treillage area of Clemens Garden. If you look closely, you can see an insect on the flowers called the soldier beetle. This beetle is considered beneficial because it feeds on pollen and nectar, does no damage to the flowers, and is a very good pollinator.

A beautiful view of the Mississippi River looking through some hot pink 'Benarys Giant' zinnias.

This is our amazing staff at the Gardens! Their hard work throughout the season keeps Munsinger Clemens Gardens blooming and beautiful. Thank you all for your dedication!

The containers in the Gardens are overflowing with flowers. Here is a beauty in the Rest Area Garden full of lantana and petunias in pink, blue and yellow. Plenty of water and fertilizer, especially later in the season when the plants are huge and the roots are starting to fill the pots, is the secret to growing such beautiful container displays.

Music in the Gardens Sunday August 20 at 3:00 p.m. Bring a lawn chair and join us down by the Gazebo in Munsinger Clemens Gardens. Free and open to the public and free parking. MCBS will again sell those wonderful $1 root beer floats. Laura Caviani Trio Jazz pianist Laura Caviani is a veteran of two decades of performing, recording, and composing with some of the best jazz musicians in the region. Her recordings have received such praise as “stunningly fresh” from JazzTimes and “in a word, outstanding” from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She has recently been commissioned by Saint Cloud’s Great River Chorale. Performing with Laura will be Chris Bates, bass, and David Schmalenberger, percussion.

The Perennial Garden cycles through the season with new things blooming every week. Tall garden phlox is winding down but perennial hibiscus (large white flowers with pink centers) and Joe Pye Weed (very tall pink flowers in the background) are just getting started. Perennial grasses, rudbeckia, allium and coneflowers are also blooming now.

The color theme of the Formal Garden this year is red, yellow and black. Check out the flowers and foliage here!

Check out the large planting of colorful annuals in the Rest Area Gardens this year. The color theme is pink, blue and yellow. Here is a close up of pink 'Magellan' zinnias and blue 'verbena bonariensis 'Buenos Aires.' Both plants attract butterflies and many kinds of other pollinators.

Rose Specialist Deb Keiser designed the Formal Garden and Fountain using colors of red, yellow and black. Plants are growing big and the colors are really starting to show! Colors are repeated using many different plants. Here are views of the fountain (photo by Deb Keiser) and a corner of a flower bed in the Formal Garden, showing a mix of plants using both flowers and foliage.

People who visit Munsinger Garden know about one of the oldest features in the garden - Salvia Hill. It is traditional to plant this area in bright red salvia. This year it is mixed with lime green sweet potato vine. These photos were taken on a cloudy day and Salvia Hill really lit up the Gardens.

Our next Music in the Gardens event will take place on August 13, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. Bring a lawn chair and join us down by the Gazebo in Munsinger Clemens Gardens! Gypsy Mania Hot Club gives a spontaneous, vivid performance by some of Minnesota's most stellar gypsy-jazz artists, played in the Django Reinhardt French swing tradition of the 1930's. The ensemble includes the unmistakable mastery of jazz violinist Gary Schulte, the diverse guitar styling of Glen Helgeson, tasty, refined bass work of acoustic bassist Steve Pikal, and accomplished jazz drummer Jay Epstein. This event is free and open to the public. MCBS will sell $1 root beer floats. More information at www.munsingerclemens.com