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Crosswinds Marsh Preserve
Disbrow Drain as seen from the Wetland Gardens Trail in early autumn.
Location within the state of Michigan
Location	Lower Peninsula, New Boston, Michigan USA
Nearest city	New Boston, Michigan
Coordinates	42°05′46.2″N 83°24′27.2″W
Area	1,000 acres (4.0 km2)
Established	1993 (built) 1997 (opened)
Governing body	Wayne County, Michigan (Wayne County Airport Authority)

The Crosswinds Marsh Nature Preserve is a nature preserve located at 27600 Haggerty Rd in New Boston, Michigan. It covers an area of 1,000 acres (400 ha). It is open free to the public. The nature preserve is best known for it being home to a nesting pair of Bald eagles.

History

Fernwood originally began as the home of Kay and Walter Boydston, who purchased its first 12.5 acres (51,000 m²) in 1941, and became a public garden in 1964, through the efforts of Lawrence and Mary Plym. Additional land purchases have increased the site to 105 acres (42 ha), providing space for the arboretum, prairie restoration, and newer gardens.

Features

The Garden is located on the St. Joseph River and contains landscape gardens (8 acres), woodland nature preserve (50 acres), an arboretum of trees and shrubs from temperate regions around the world (40 acres, started in 1971), and restored tallgrass prairie (5 acres, started in 1976), as well as a conservatory (greenhouse) featuring more than 100 kinds of tropical ferns.

The landscape gardens include a Japanese "dry" garden designed by Ben Oki (1979), a hosta garden with dawn redwood and Ginkgo, a tufa rock garden started in the 1950s, a fern garden with more than 50 types of hardy ferns, a boxwood garden, a lilac garden (1940s), a lily pond (1977), and an herb garden featuring over 200 types of herbs.

The nature center displays exhibits about the ecosystems and animals of Fernwood and items of seasonal interest, as well as live animals including an active beehive and local reptiles and amphibians. Environmental education programs are offered year round.

See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States

External links

• Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve

Category:Nature centers in Michigan Category:Nature reserves in Michigan Category:1964 establishments in Michigan Category:Protected areas established in 1964