Much more than trees at Linnaeus Arboretum in Saint Peter, Minnesota

Last updated on September 6th, 2024

True to its name, Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, features a large collection of trees and shrubs. But there are also flower gardens, pools and ponds, wetlands, and a restored prairie. The arboretum is also home to a cabin built by Swedish settlers.

Table of Contents

Trees, flowers, and ecosystems on display at Linnaeus Arboretum

Technically, an arboretum is a garden or living museum of trees and shrubs. Of course, many arboretums are noted as much for their flowering gardens as for their collection of woody plants.

Portions of the Linnaeus Arboretum are a true arboretum. But the property also includes formal flower gardens and three “natural” areas planted to represent Minnesota’s prairie, hardwood forests, and conifer forests.

Flowers and formal plantings

Most of the arboretum’s formal flower gardens are located near the interpretive center where most visitors enter the garden. The interpretive center itself is nearly engulfed by gardens, with a butterfly garden that all but obscures the back of the building from view.

Nearby, the hosta garden offers a shady retreat.

A waterfall garden is at the other end of the visitor center.

Many of the other gardens are a little harder to keep track of, as most feature a mix of flowering annuals, perennials, and shrubs. However, one stands out from all the others: A large formal garden where roses are inter-planted with colorful annuals and punctuated by towering evergreens.

When I visited in late summer the roses floated above a sea of brightly colored zinnias and other flowers. All of which the butterflies apparently found very attractive!

While these gardens feature perennials and flowering shrubs, most also have a number of annuals and/or bulbs mixed in with them to provide color throughout the season.

Prairies and potholes

More than half of the arboretum’s 125 acres is being restored with native prairie plants.

While all of this land was once part of the vast tallgrass prairie that stretched across the Great Plains, European settlers turned it into farmland in the 19^th century. The oldest prairie you see at the arboretum today wasn’t planted until 1988, when the college began a project to restore a bit of the original landscape.

But prairies weren’t just endless expanses of grass.

Glaciers left depressions that filled with water to become small lakes and wetlands. Bits of this landscape have also been re-created at Gustavus. And, when I visited, these were among the most interesting areas, with blue stem and other prairie grasses mixed in with moisture-loving plants like giant hyssop.

Trees from Minnesota and around the world

Not surprisingly for an arboretum, the college has planted a lot of trees here.

The formal arboretum includes almost 700 trees native to Minnesota and from around the world. These represent over a hundred species, many of which are planted in groves that highlight a single type of tree, like oaks or maples, to show the variations within that family.

Other areas include more natural areas reminiscent of the Big Woods that once covered eastern Minnesota and the conifer forests of northern Minnesota.

An old Swedish homestead

The Linnaeus Arboretum also includes a bit of an old homestead. It’s located in an open area where a traditional Swedish fence surrounds a small log cabin and garden.

The cabin is a good example of the Swedish construction techniques immigrants brought to Minnesota from their homeland. (Originally located in nearby Norseland, the college moved it to the arboretum in the 1980s.)

Although not regularly open, the exterior provides a hint of how early settlers lived in Minnesota.

Today it’s a little hard to imagine a family with eight young children and a hired man all living together in this place. However, Borgeson’s immigrant neighbors may have looked at his well-built house with envy. It’s certainly larger and more substantial than the log home my grandfather built when he settled in Minnesota some 50 years later!

Named for Grandmother Clara, the large kitchen garden behind the house features flowers, herbs, and other plants that would have been familiar to a Swedish pioneer family of the time.

History of Linnaeus Arboretum

While the size of some mature trees may make you think otherwise, the College of Gustavus Adolphus didn’t plant the first trees in what would become the arboretum until 1973.

But planting those trees must have sparked interest in doing more as, within a few years, a plan for the arboretum came into being. That plan that laid out the basic structure of the arboretum pretty much as we see it today.

Show more about the history of Linnaeus Arboretum . . .

Most of the arboretum’s big projects – moving and reconstructing the Borgeson cabin, building the Interpretive Center, and the first prairie restoration – didn’t begin for another decade. And then, in 1998, a tornado hit the campus. Multiple tornadoes, actually. Tornadoes that severely damaged or destroyed campus buildings and flattened nearly 2,000 trees in the arboretum.

Since then Gustavus and the Saint Peter community have worked to both rebuild and expand the arboretum’s plant life. The addition of wetlands, expanded prairie areas, native wildflowers, and new gardens created the arboretum we see today.

Who is Carl Linnaeus and why is the arboretum named for him?

Carl (Carolus) Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) was an 18^th century Swedish scientist who taught medicine and botany at Uppsala University. A popular lecturer and researcher who studied both plants and animals, Linnaeus became one of the most well-known and respected scientists in Europe.

The two-word system we use today as the basis for identifying, naming, and classifying plants (along with every other living thing) was formalized by Linnaeus. Thus, attaching his name to an arboretum or garden is not surprising. It makes even more sense for the arboretum at Gustavus, as this Lutheran college was founded by Swedish immigrants and retains cultural ties to Sweden.

Show Less

Plan your visit to the Linnaeus Arboretum

Because so many “arboretums” these days include huge botanical gardens, visitors may be surprised by how little of the Linnaeus Arboretum is dedicated to traditional gardens. But there are flowers, so even those in search of nothing more than flower gardens will find plenty to enjoy.

Show more about visiting Linnaeus Arboretum . . .

The best time to visit

The Linnaeus Arboretum is open year-round. However, this being Minnesota, the arboretum’s plants change dramatically throughout the year.

Spring: This is the season to begin looking for woodland and wetland wildflowers, fruit trees in bloom, spring-blooming shrubs like lilacs, and both formal and naturalized plantings of tulips and other bulbs.
Late spring and early summer: The best display of flowering perennials comes after the lilacs bloom, beginning in June and running into July.
Summer: By July roses and the most dramatic prairie flowers are bursting into bloom.
Fall: Late-blooming perennials will have a tough time competing with the fall colors of the arboretum’s many deciduous trees. With such a broad mix of trees and shrubs, the fall leaf season should be pretty long, beginning with sumac even as summer is winding down and ending with oaks as late as November. And, if you catch it at the right time, the prairie grasses briefly take on brilliant reds and oranges during mid fall.
Winter: Unlike a flower garden, which often doesn’t offer much to winter visitors, an arboretum’s woody plants provide year-round interest. Winter highlights the form and shape of the trees.

Location and how to get to the arboretum

Linnaeus Arboretum is located in Saint Peter, Minnesota, on the campus of the College of Gustavus Adolphus. It’s about an hour southeast of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. The fastest route to drive there is US Highway 169, but be prepared for a lot of truck traffic along this route.

Looking for a stop along the way? Here are a few suggestions:

Explore the vast trail network in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and State Recreation Area. Segments run from Richfield down to Belle Plaine.
Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store (or so they claim) is also located near Belle Plaine.
There is a nice rest area just north of Le Sueur, not long before you get to Saint Peter. It’s behind the Cambria plant, so follow the signs in order to find it.

From Rochester, follow US Highway 14 to Mankato and then head north on 169 for another 15 minutes.

Once you get to Saint Peter, go up the hill toward the main entrance to Gustavus and follow the signs to the arboretum. There is parking by the arboretum entrance, near the flower gardens and interpretive center.

At the arboretum

The arboretum is along one edge of the campus and, in many places, you’ll get a glimpse of campus buildings across the way.

buildings in distance

Cost and hours

The arboretum is free. Donations are welcomed.

The grounds are open from dawn until dusk. However, the Lind Interpretive Center is usually only open weekday mornings. And, while the arboretum grounds remain open this summer, the interpretive center and restrooms are currently closed.

Wayfinding

An information kiosk (a big sign board) provides an orientation to the garden and its trails. However, if there are printed trail guides available, grab one. You’ll want it both for the botanical information and wayfinding. If a trail guide isn’t available, take a picture of the sign’s map of the arboretum’s paths. It’s easy to get turned around, so first-time visitors will want some way to figure out where they are.

Once you enter the arboretum, the interpretive center and most of the flower gardens are right in that area. The formal garden is a little farther along, but still generally on that end of the grounds.

There’s a crappy map online that identifies and gives a little information on all of the gardens, groves, pools, and other features in the arboretum.

I can’t image why there isn’t a decent map online, but here’s a copy of the map from the arboretum’s self-guided tour brochure:

map of arboretum

You’re better off with the full brochure, but if there isn’t one available, this will help you get around. And maybe someday Gustavus will put that brochure online so we can use it on our phone or iPad.

Take the self-guided walking tour

This map shows the arboretum’s self-guided walking tour. The walking tour includes a mix of botanical information, arboretum history, and ecological information.

It’s a loop that takes you through most of the arboretum’s highlights. However, flower fans should note that the tour does NOT specifically include the formal garden.

Linnaeus sculpture

Art fans may want to take a closer look at the bust of Linnaeus near the arboretum entrance. It’s by Paul Granlund, a noted Minnesota sculptor. However, it’s a straightforward depiction and not nearly as inspired or interesting as the best of Granlund’s work.

Granlund was a Gustavus grad and served as sculptor in residence at the college for 25 years. Because of this connection, the college has more than 30 of his pieces, ranging from plaques to monumental works.

If you’re a fan of Granlund, you can take the self-guided Granlund Walking Tour once things get back to normal again. The tour takes visitors through the main campus area and into the chapel, a recital hall, and various other spaces.