Great River Road: Munsinger & Clemens Gardens
During our Rolling Down the River adventure one of our stops was in St. Cloud, Minnesota. St. Cloud is a college town about seventy miles to the northwest of the Twin Cities. We were looking for a place to rest by the Mississippi River. Turning off the Great River Road and heading for town we noticed a small sign with an arrow giving directions to Munsinger & Clemens Gardens. About another half mile and a couple of turns later and there we were. We just happened upon an amazing garden right on the Mississippi within walking distance to downtown St. Cloud.
There really are two distinct gardens here. Down by the river the Munsinger Garden is more of a woodland garden with mostly shade plants. Pathways lined with hosta of all kinds lead you through several areas with small ponds and fountains.
Up the hill from the river and the Munsinger Gardens is the sun-loving Clemens Gardens. There are several areas here as well with fountains as the show piece in each area. The Clemens gardens feature the Virginia Clemens Rose Garden with over 1,000 varieties of roses.
The Rest Area Garden features a 24 foot tall fountain with walkways and plantings that are really amazing. Thousands of annual bedding plants and perennials await you as you stroll from one area to the next in the Clemens Gardens.This is one of the nicest gardens I have seen in America.
