ALI ROGIN: Finally tonight, as the end of summer# nears, a public garden in Michigan that evolves## with the seasons thanks to its meticulous# design and an army of volunteer gardeners,## John Yang went to Detroit for our# arts and culture series Canvas.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): There are birds chirping,# bees buzzing, flowers waving in the breeze.## Tucked away on Detroit's Belle Isle, just# minutes from downtown, sits a three acre## public garden.

It's tended to by a grounds crew# that is almost entirely made up of volunteers.

LINDA MCKENZIE, Native Detroiter: I would say# it's one of the retirement loves of my life.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Native Detroiter## Linda McKenzie recently traded her# stethoscope .. LINDA MCKENZIE: If I were to# describe what I did as a physician,## it was really about shepherding people# to a better, you know, level of health.## And so with gardens, it's shepherding the# environment to a better level of beauty.# Plants will tell you exactly how they feel.# You plant something and you can tell when## the soil is right and it's happy with the# amount of sun.

And if it's not happy, yeah,## it's going to die.

So they don't scream at you,# they don't argue, they just do what they do.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): But where in# Audolf Garden, Detroit, they would do## it was carefully plotted by Piet Oudolf, the# world renowned garden and landscape designer.

In 2019, Aldo showed PBS News Jeffrey Brown the## plans for the garden during a visit# to his studio in the Netherlands.

PIET OUDOLF, Landscape Designer: If you look at# this drawing, see the groups of plants, and this## is one particular grass that may understood all# these groups.

So it feels more like a meadow.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): He was# already a big fan of the city.

PIET OUDOLF: I was always sort# of intrigued by Detroit.

Found so## much energy and so many people that# were just the one was doing this,## the other one was doing that.

So you see,# I felt that the whole city was vibrating.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): The roots of# Oudolf Garden Detroit reach back to## 2016 with a letter.

Three members of# the Michigan Garden Club asked Oudolf## if he'd design a garden in Detroit, just as# he had done in Chicago with the Lurie Garden## and in New York with the High Line.# Please, they implored him, say yes.

Maura Campbell was one of those behind# the letter.

For years, she led efforts## to make the garden a reality.

She# died last year, but her husband,## Duncan, was there every step of the way,# including for Aldo's first visit in 2017.

DUNCAN CAMPBELL, Volunteer, Oudolf Garden# Detroit: We called it our first date.

So we## picked him up at the airport and we drove# him all over Detroit, Southwest Detroit,## the train station, the depopulated east side# of Detroit.

And he fell in love with Detroit.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): The path from a# plant on paper to plants in the ground## wasn't easy.

In 2019, a harsh winter and# heavy rain raised the Great Lakes water## levels to historic highs.

The Detroit# River, which surrounds Belle Isle and## connects with Lake Erie, flooded# the planned site for the garden.

DUNCAN CAMPBELL: I came out here# with a yardstick and a GPS unit,## and one third of the garden was underwater.# Piet was very flexible on it, but we had to## go completely back to the drawing board.# So we pulled it back from the shore,## and we basically raised it up, and that way# it insulated us from high water in the future.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Then came the# pandemic, delaying planting until the## fall of 2020.

The garden opened in August 2021,# paid for entirely with private donations.

There## are four distinct the main garden, a rain# garden, the bird border, and the meadows.

There are nearly 80,000 plants in the garden,## and horticulturist Richard Thomas oversees,# faithfully carrying out Oudolf vision.

RICHARD THOMAS, Horticulturist, Oudolf# Garden Detroit: His goal is to excite## an emotional response and the same# kind of response that you would have## if you were coming across natural# beauty, a meadow that's blooming.

JOHN YANG: Designing the plants# or choosing the plants and the## colors.

Is it almost like an artist# figuring out what goes on the painting?

RICHARD THOMAS: That's really astute, because# it very much is, and he's often referred to as## painting with plants.

And that's# where his genius really shines out,## because very few people can see a# plant through all the seasons and add a## layer of time and understand how# that garden is going to look.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): Part time# Horticulturist Alexandra Sarkozy assists Thomas.

ALEXANDRA SARKOZY, Assistant Horticulturist,# Oudolf Garden Detroit: What consistently boggles## my mind about this is just that incredible# complexity of it.

Planting a garden.

Ye.. you want something in bloom in May, June,## July.

Whereas this palette changes every 10 days.# It's just this constant series of moving parts.

PIET OUDOLF: That one is called Fatal# Attraction.

Isn't that fun?

And the## other one that we have is called Hula Dancer.# Great name plants.

And this Dahlia purpurea,## which is a prairie plant and it's just finished# blooming.

Plus fatal Attraction, the echinacea.## And then there is an accidental butterfly# weed plant with Sclepius tuberosa right there.

JOHN YANG: You say that's# accidental.

What do you mean?

PIET OUDOLF: It seeded here, but its color# matches the intensity of everything else## that's here.

And when it's all in# bloom together, it's fiesta time.

JOHN YANG: So you leave it there.# He's seated there by itself?

PIET OUDOLF: Right.

So even within the# script, there's room for improvising.

WOMAN: I've looked at this a# bunch of times it means air drops.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): But still,## volunteers carefully check.. MEREDITH SIMPSON, Volunteer, Oudolf# Garden Detroit: It's hard for even## seasoned gardeners to see the# plants sometimes from the weeds.

JOHN YANG: Meredith Simpson manages# the roster of nearly 300 volunteers,## keeping in mind what each has to offer.

MEREDITH SIMPSON: We have all kinds# of activities for our volunteers.

Not## everyone is a gardener.

Some folks love to mow# lawns.

They're our amazing green team.

We have## folks that will work on pathways.

Maybe they# can't bend down and work in the soil.

You know,## we have folks absolutely who are# bed captaining these amazing beds## and learning every single plant in those beds.# But there's everything in between as well.

JOHN YANG (voice-over): As# the day draws to a close,## volunteers gather to take a look at the results# of their labors, with spot quizzes thrown in.

PIET OUDOLF: You say Culver's# root.

Well, then you were right.

JOHN YANG: Their efforts attract many of the more# than 5 million annual visitors to Belle Isle.

MEREDITH SIMPSON: To have access to# nature out here, right in the city,## to have this beautiful, emotional, sort# of ephemeral, always changing garden,## you see people simply relax and just exhale# and truly enjoy.

Touches you very deeply.