{"id":1841,"date":"2026-06-03T14:05:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1841"},"modified":"2026-06-03T14:05:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T14:05:02","slug":"tens-of-thousands-are-making-annual-peony-pilgrimage-to-university-of-michigans-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1841","title":{"rendered":"Tens of thousands are making annual peony pilgrimage to University of Michigan\u2019s garden"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>ANN ARBOR, Mich.<\/strong> | Nicole Calvin has been visiting the University of Michigan campus annually over the past 16 years to catch a peek \u2014 and a whiff \u2014 of the school\u2019s sizable peony collection.<\/p>\n<p>She even came twice this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just love walking through the gardens,\u201d Calvin said Monday. \u201cI love that they come from different places, and there\u2019s different varieties, different colors. It smells amazing. It\u2019s just a really beautiful place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Ann Arbor school anticipates 100,000 visitors will come to behold the unique perennials and their showy pink, white and red blooms of many shades and varieties.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden features one of the largest collections of historic \u2014 pre-1950 \u2014 herbaceous peonies in North America and likely the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s been a long fascination with this plant, because, when it\u2019s peak, it\u2019s so out there. It\u2019s such a big show,\u201d said Doug Conley, horticulture lead of Nichols Arboretum, known locally as The Arb. \u201cAnd our collection is overwhelming. When you see this garden at peak bloom, there\u2019s nothing like it. You\u2019re captivated by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The peony watch is a spectator sport with so many visitors arriving at The Arb each spring to behold the garden plant that they have to be bused in.<\/p>\n<p>The W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden contains hundreds of historic cultivated varieties from the 19th and early 20th centuries, representing American, Canadian and European peonies of the era. At peak bloom, the garden typically features tens of thousands of flowers.<\/p>\n<p>The garden is free to visit and open from sunrise to sunset. For those drawn to the peony\u2019s scent, it\u2019s best to show up early in the morning or late in the evening, when the fragrances are the best.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is restorative for all of us, I think, to come out into nature and be surrounded by joy, beauty,\u201d Conley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a delightful place for people to just come and gather and be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1835\">Rumfield gets gift homer when flyball bounces off Adell\u2019s head as Rockies top Angels 8-2<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1837\">A mop, a broom and a calmer mind. Why some find mental health benefits in everyday tasks<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1839\">YouTuber box office boom: \u2018Backrooms\u2019 and \u2018Obsession\u2019 draw Gen Z to theaters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANN ARBOR, Mich. | Nicole Calvin has been visiting the University of Michigan campus annually over the past 16 years to catch a peek \u2014 and a whiff \u2014 of the school\u2019s sizable peony collection. She even came twice this year. \u201cI just love walking through the gardens,\u201d Calvin said Monday. \u201cI love that they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1102,149,152,1103,1104],"tags":[2891,2892,2893,2894,2895,2896],"class_list":["post-1841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-0-no-apple-publish","category-1gridmagazine","category-a-town-magazine","category-sentinel-lifestyle","category-uncategorized","category-z-other-galley","tag-ann-arbor","tag-doug-conley","tag-nichols-arboretum","tag-nicole-calvin","tag-university-of-michigan","tag-w-e-upjohn-peony-garden"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tens of thousands are making annual peony pilgrimage to University of Michigan\u2019s garden - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1841\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tens of thousands are making annual peony pilgrimage to University of Michigan\u2019s garden - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ANN ARBOR, Mich. | Nicole Calvin has been visiting the University of Michigan campus annually over the past 16 years to catch a peek \u2014 and a whiff \u2014 of the school\u2019s sizable peony collection. 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