The Garden is continuously making improvements so that we can best serve our Members, guests and the Community. Some of those improvements are in programming and exhibits, and others are in the Garden itself with enhancements like the Dorothy and John Bohannon Rose Garden, the Promenade, and the Dorothy and Allen Lay Staghorn Fern Collection. Now, we can add the Upper Meadow to that list as it reopens to the public on Friday, April 1, after being closed for a revamping the past few weeks.
Leading the charge on this new look was the Garden’s landscape design consultant Brian Kissinger, of GreenRoom Collaborative Int. Kissinger has also spearheaded the designs of the Promenade and the Dorothy and Allen Lay Staghorn Fern Collection. For this new project on the Upper Meadow, he says work included:
- painting and repaving the gazebo
- repairing and painting the two large trellised arbors, one of which was also paved
- creating garden beds where the lawn wasn’t thriving
- adding new walkways and a patio area
- landscape lighting on the pathways, accent lighting in trees and down lighting in the arbors and gazebo
While the garden beds have been planted, it will take about a year for the vision to fully come to life as the plants grow and fill in. There’s also the opportunity to add collections to the area, but as Kissinger says, these things take time.
“The inspiration to do the plantings around the Upper Meadow and gazebo came from the large Tabebuia trees that had a very impressionist feel while in bloom,” says Brian. “We wanted to create plantings that played well with this feeling of light and dark, either through color, mass, or form.”
A lot went into picking each plant for this area, and each species was picked for different reasons – some for their flowers and others for their adaptability in the shade or more drier exposed slopes. Below, Kissinger has identified some standouts that will be seen in the area and explains why he picked them:
- ‘Cathedral Bells’ for its old-fashioned garden rose shape and scent, reminiscent of ones you see in impressionistic paintings.
- ‘Ballerina’ for this billowy, soft, wild-like charm and pollinator-friendly flowers.
- ‘In Your Eyes’ and ‘Easy on the Eyes’ are the result of cutting-edge breeding; these varieties were included for their unusual purple/red blotch on the base of their petals – almost as if someone painted them on – and color-shifting flowers to capture that painterly feel.
The plantings are arranged in large swaths or drifts for impact, like the burgundy colored Phormium, the silver leafed Westringia, and Cestrum aurantiacum ‘Orange Zest.’ With this new look, the area should be in bloom from spring through summer, tapering off in fall. However, the unique colors and textures will be apparent year-round.
Below, you can see some photos of the work in progress., but if you’re ready to see it in person, get your tickets here!
The Garden relies on generous donations from our Members, visitors and community to keep access to our 87 acres open for all and to provide unique horticultural experiences that help people find connections with nature. Please help us continue this mission for years to come by considering a gift to the Garden. You can do so here.
