ANN ARBOR—A membership in the University of Michigan’s Friends of Matthaei Botanical Gardens (MBG) can save you admission fees and bring gift shop discounts at arboreta, gardens and conservatories across the country.
Not only will the membership (beginning at $45) assure privileges at MBG’s sales, educational programs, child and family education programs, and free admission to the conservatory, but can elicit favors from participants in the 1999 Reciprocal Garden program which extends across the country.
From Alabama to West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the presenting of a MBG membership card can bring a 10 percent-20 percent discount in gift shops, free admission or any combination. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston offers a free Elm Bank Festival Admission. The Chicago Botanic Garden offers free parking, and Mobile Botanical Garden in Alabama offers free admission plus a 10 percent discount on all events and plant sales.
In Michigan, the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory in Detroit, the Fernwood Botanic Garden in Niles and the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids all offer free admission. While visiting in Ontario Province, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton will offer free admission to anyone presenting a membership card from U-M’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
Membership in the Friends of Matthaei Botanical Gardens can be obtained by mail, by phone with a credit card (734) 998-7061; in person at the Gardens at 1800 Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor; or by mail at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105. New memberships will be presented with or mailed the complete list of the more than 125 1999 Reciprocal Gardens, including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden; the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati; A World of Orchids in Kissimmee, Florida; and the Lyon Arboretum at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu.

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