Elle Beyer, left, and her sister, Mila, daughters of North Central Electric Cooperative General Manager Jon Beyer and his wife, Molly, visit the International Peace Garden conservatory. Photos by NDAREC/Kennedy Delap
Spanning across the U.S.-Canada border like a floral handshake, the International Peace Garden is a botanical haven rooted in friendship and bursting with natural beauty.
“The most unique thing about it is that it’s in two countries at the same time. It’s a garden dedicated to peace between those two countries,” says Johannes Olwage, International Peace Garden curator of living collections.
With one foot in Canada and the other in the United States, visitors find themselves not only immersed in nature, but standing on a living symbol of international harmony. The expansive sanctuary offers 2,400 acres of uninterrupted prairie, forests and radiant floral gardens defined by nature, not borders.
“It’s a beautiful place where you can see the flowers and a sign of peace between the two countries,” says Jon Beyer, general manager of North Central Electric Cooperative in Bottineau, which provides electricity to the Peace Garden. ”Families can run around, look at the flowers, play on the playgrounds and just enjoy being outside.“
Bringing nature to life
Two recent additions include the children’s nature play area and an 18,000-square-foot conservatory.
Now entering its third season, the play area is designed around animals native to the Turtle Mountains. It invites children to scamper like turtles, build and balance like beavers, and gather like a wolf pack around a stone-ringed fire circle.
“It gets kids to use their imagination in a natural setting,” Olwage says.
The conservatory, which opened last May, is home to one of the world’s most diverse indoor collections of cacti and succulents. The collection features 6,000 plants from the Americas, Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula and Australia.
“It’s pretty cool, because the plants are colorful and they have pretty flowers,” says Elle Beyer, 9, Bottineau.
“There’s some big cactuses!” adds her sister, Mila, 8.
The collection’s origin story begins with a Minot tire salesman, Don Vitko, who spent 45 years curating one of the largest private cacti and succulent collections in the world. It was a labor of love. Vitko didn’t just grow plants – he nurtured them, pouring time and care into each one and meticulously documenting every addition. As the physical demands of tending to the plants grew, Vitko searched for a new home for his collection.
In the end, the Peace Garden became that forever home. It was the only place he felt could protect and preserve what he had built with so much heart.
Among the plants are 4,000 unique species or cultivars, including welwitschia mirabilis – a prehistoric plant Olwage holds dear.
“It’s the national plant of my home country, Namibia, which is in southern Africa,” Olwage says. “It's an old dinosaur relic with no living relatives. It grows only in the Namib desert. These plants can live between 2,000 and 3,000 years, and they only ever produce two leaves. That makes it the longest-lived leaf on any plant.”
Pretty blooms, powerful protection
While the conservatory is open year-round, it showcases its most stunning displays from March to July, as the cacti spring to life with vibrant blooms during peak flowering season.
“Really pretty flowers on not-so-pretty plants,” Olwage jokes.
But behind the scenes, keeping this collection alive is no easy task. To protect the plants from brutal winters, the Peace Garden has backup systems for power and heat, including propane tanks, emergency heaters and alarms to prevent even the slightest temperature drop from endangering the plants.
“It’s like a visit to the ER,” Olwage explains. “Every minute counts when it’s negative 30 outside.”
Thankfully, the garden is in good hands.
“North Central Electric Cooperative is amazing,” Olwage says. “We don’t lose power often, but when we do, I’m always surprised how quickly they restore it. We’ve never had it down for more than an hour.”
A stage for music
In addition to its natural wonders, the garden is also home to the International Music Camp. Held from June through August, the fine arts program attracts musicians from 84 countries who come together to create a unique blend of sound and scenery.
“When you’re at the garden, check to see if there’s anything going on, because you can see some world-class performances. And most of them are free, too!” Olwage says.
He considers the Peace Garden’s symbolic value as important as its botanical marvels.
“It’s important to play a consistent role in that symbolism and offer the same opportunity for friendship and camaraderie that we’ve done for decades,” Olwage says.
A place of peace
Whether you’re a plant enthusiast marveling at a 26-foot cactus, a family climbing into a giant eagle’s nest or a visitor straddling the international border with a camera, the Peace Garden offers something truly rare – a living, breathing tribute to peace, nature and community.
In a world that could use a little more harmony, the International Peace Garden offers it in abundance.
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Krista Rausch is a communications specialist for the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. She can be reached at krausch@ndarec.com.
