It doesn’t matter what photo I post here, there isn’t one that will do justice to the beauty of these gardens. The Munsinger and Clemens Gardens, are side by side. The Munsinger is located next to the Mississippi river, with a walking path along the river.
Munsinger Garden
The Munsinger Garden is pleasantly shady which makes it extremely pleasurable to walk in its dappled shade . Apparently Camp Fire Girls planted Scotch and Norway pine trees in 1926, when the area was a campsite. In 1930, Joseph Munsinger, became the Superintendent of Parks for St. Cloud. He used labor from the, Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create these beautiful parks. There are over 150,000 plants in the gardens. It’s unbelievably lovely but……….the Clemens Garden is even better!
Clemens Garden
The land for the garden was donated to the parks department by Bill Clemens who owned a house across the street from the land. Construction started in 1990, with the building of the rose garden. You walk through the gardens along red brick paths. There are fountains, ironwork fencing, benches and urns. As I walked through the gardens humming birds darted to and fro. It was like a scene from a Disney movie. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs came skipping along the path!
Clemens Gardens are made up of six separate gardens, they are:
- Virginia Clemens Rose Garden
- Rest Area Garden (the Renaissance Fountain with Cranes is located here, it’s one of the tallest fountains in Minnesota.)
- Formal Garden
- White Garden
- Perennial Garden
- Treillage Garden
