World-class plant collections are tucked away in southeast Michigan.

Hidden Lake Gardens near Tipton definitely has the “WOW” factor. Among the many outstanding features of this 755-acre botanical garden and arboretum, two in particular have plant enthusiasts swooning–the Harper Collection of Rare and Dwarf Conifers and the Ralph and Dorothy Benedict Hosta Hillside. Even with rising fuel costs, these two outstanding collections justify the drive to the Irish Hills in southeastern Michigan.

The Harper Collection is located on five artful acres. These marvelous conifers offer myriad colors from blues to yellows to greens, and multiple shapes from weeping to upright to prostrate. Over 600 specimens of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae and junipers provide inspiration for the home gardener. This stunning setting makes you itch to add one of these unique conifers to your own landscape.

The story of how the collection came to Hidden Lake, which is owned by Michigan State University, is almost as amazing as the view. “I guess you would call it serendipity,” says Justin “Chub” Harper of Moline, IL. Harper, a horticulturist, has always loved gardening and plants. He was into roses before he drifted into conifer collecting in the late 1950s and early ’60s. “Dwarfs were hard to find back then, but the dwarf forms just tripped my trigger,” he says. When he’d hear about an interesting dwarf cultivar, he and his wife would plan their vacations around going to see it. “Back in the 1950s through the 1970s, the only areas in the U.S. for collecting [conifers] were on the east coast, states like New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.” Harper also took several trips to England, visiting the famous Hilliers Nursery, one of the largest container tree growers in Europe.

In 1963, when John Deere and Company was building its award-winning world headquarters in Moline, Harper was hired as grounds supervisor, which included overseeing the landscaping of 300 of the site’s 1,400 acres in northeastern Illinois. Davey Expert Tree Co. was hired to do the landscaping, and that was how Harper met Jack Wikle, who later went to work for Hidden Lake Gardens. (Wikle, who is an acclaimed bonsai expert, oversees Hidden Lake’s bonsai collection, also quite impressive.)

By the late 1970s, Harper knew it was time to find a new home for his collection, which had expanded to 342 dwarf and rare conifers on three city lots near his home in Moline. Harper enlisted Wikle’s help in finding a new home for his collection. Wikle convinced MSU to install the collection at Hidden Lake Gardens. Sam Lovell, of campus park and planning at MSU, did the landscape design.

It took eight days in April 1981 to hand-dig the 342 conifers out of Harper’s lots. The conifers were so close together, mechanical digging was impossible. Jack Joy, then president of Davey Tree, picked up the cost of digging up the trees and helped cover the transportation costs. Three semi-trucks were loaded with Harper’s collection. “The last one was so full that they had to force the semi’s door closed with a bucket loader,” Harper recalls.

What can dwarf conifers do for your landscape? “They offer a tremendous variety in form, color and texture,” says Harper. “You can paint your own picture in your landscape with conifers. They perform for 365 days a year, as well as provide the bones of your garden.”

The other unique feature of Hidden Lake Gardens is the Hosta Hillside. Situated along the shore of Hidden Lake, the hillside bursts with hostas in seemingly every color, texture and size known. “We now have 800 to 1,000 varieties of hostas,” says Clarence Owens of Jackson, a retired biology teacher and well-known Michigan hosta hybridizer who was instrumental in getting Hosta Hillside installed at Hidden Lake Gardens.

Back in 1990, the American Hosta Society was looking for a display garden and approached member Owens about finding a site in the Jackson area. Owens had worked at Hidden Lake Gardens with Chub Harper and then-manager Jack Wolf. Wolf had a friend at MSU who worked up a landscape design for the hosta garden.

Renowned hosta hybridizer Dr. Ralph Benedict of Hillsdale gave Owens his first hosta plants and helped plan the garden. After Benedict died in 1993, 200 of his hostas were donated to the Hillside collection, along with funds to help sustain the garden. In 1995, it was dedicated as the Ralph and Dorothy Benedict Hosta Hillside.

Hosta Hillside draws visitors and hosta growers from around the world. The gently sloped hill provides the home gardener with a wide variety of hosta cultivars and plenty of ideas.

If you are a plant lover and live in Michigan, these two superb and unique collections at Hidden Lake Gardens are “must sees.” For more information about Hidden Lake Gardens, visit hiddenlakegardens.msu.edu/

Rita Henehan’s book, “The Michigan Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Great Lakes State,” was published by Globe Pequot in January.