This past Thursday night was one of the highlights of my life. My colleagues and students celebrated the grand opening of our new 7,000 square feet trial garden in the Plantery, our student botanic garden on campus. This project has been in the works since we applied for a $32,000 grant last fall with the Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation. We requested the funding to build a trial garden to evaluate herbaceous native plants in the southeast similar to the gardens you see at Chicago Botanic Garden or Mt. Cuba Center. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of hours went into this project, but we are beyond proud to have it to the point where we can open it to the public.
I’ll have a more detailed post at some point in the future, but I can provide a brief design synopsis. Since the site is sloped, we decided to build a terrace out of 1/4 inch metal similar to Corten steel with steps running offset through the middle and a platform near the top. Our aesthetic in the Plantery is for the space to look like a reclaimed farm since we are part of the Department of Agriculture, and when the metal rusts, the patina will fit in nicely with the landscape. Their are five large terraces that will allow us to do replicated trials of natives over three year periods, and the surrounding space will feature less formal evaluations of species. Perforated pipes were installed and covered with grit to allow for rainwater capture on site so that the terraces don’t turn into the Plantery waterfall garden.
What amazed me was the capability of our team and the spirit of the students. We didn’t contract things out. No, instead it was over 30 students working alongside faculty to get this project accomplished and learn lifelong skills. We still have to finish planting some things in the spring, but it is so good to get the garden to a point where we can share it with others. Here’s a few pictures to give you a sense of the site.
The site in February 2023 before we began deconstruction
The new terraced trial garden in November 2023
The bottom of the trial garden will feature a Sporobolus prairie with a mixture of herbaceous perennials.
The terrace steps are a big improvement over the previous iteration of the site. They now have consistent rise and run.
We integrated our trial garden grand opening into our Fall Plant Fair where we sold student-grown plants. And, if you’re going to have a grand opening, it is important to have cake and mocktails! Enjoy these photos of the night.
Kate, one of our Plantery apprentices, made this beautiful terraced cake to match the terraced trial garden. Notice the already rusted metal, the gray gravel Rice Krispies, and the graham cracker soil. Such talent!
Tess (L) and Kate (R) cut the terraced cake and served it. It was delicious and a highlight of the night.
We also had three flavors of autumn-themed mocktails. Tess (R) and three of her hospitality friends served them for attendees.
And, with a plant fair, we can’t forget the plants! Students grew some great winter annuals for our attendees to purchase.
The weather had cooled off, and Dr. Michael Maurer reprised his role of managing the s’mores station.
An overhead shot of the s’mores station showing how our summer color somehow made it through the 29°F the morning before!
Our other plantings that students had done were in their fall glory. The gravel garden grasses were in their full haze, and in the veggies behind in Sprout looked delicious.
We also debuted a new logo this fall thanks to Kubs Kubisch in SFA marketing. Not only do we have shirts but also a swanky new sign painted thanks to our talented Plantery apprentices Jadyn (L) and Kendal (R).
We did a trial run of putting colored panels on the glasshouse this fall for a fun effect, and they glowed with the twinkle lights behind.
An overhead shot of the Plantery with luminaries and twinkle lights all aglow. You can also now see in the terraced trial garden that we have a gator accessible pathway through the Plantery, something that we were greatly lacking before.
And, one last shot of the terrace steps with luminaries. This night will be one I will remember for many years to come thanks to all the hard work from my colleagues and students.