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1. Bulb Garden

Photo taken 4/28/07
1:20 p.m.

The Bulb Garden is the place to go anytime in spring to see thousands of tulips blooming in succession with vibrant color. But hidden under the shade of a gorgeous pink crab apple, Malus 'Selkirk', are some unusual bulbs you might not have heard about.

Species tulips are tulips that can survive winters better than hybrid tulips and can be treated as a perennial tulip. Tulipa greigii 'Oratorio' is one that has beautiful purple-mottled foliage, adding interest even before the bright red flowers bloom. As with all perennial bulbs, be sure to let the foliage yellow before removing it since the leaves manufacture food for the bulb to produce next year's blooms. Tulips prefer to be dry when they are dormant so they do well with ground covers, perennials or grasses which tolerate dry conditions. They make great companions since the tulip will bloom before the other is in peak and will help hide the yellowing foliage of the tulip. T. 'Oratorio' blooms earlier and is a little shorter than the typical hybrid tulip. Planted in mass, these tulips create a stunning splash of color you can enjoy year after year.

2. Circle Garden

Photo taken 4/30/07
8:57 a.m.

The Circle Garden is a display garden for unusual combinations of annuals, which are changed out each season. The trees, shrubs and some perennials remain for structure. It has two intimate secret gardens on either side of the central square, which offer a nice enclosed space to relax. From mid-April through June, the garden bloomed with a mixture of Tulipa 'Banja Luka' (red-tipped flowers with yellow centers), Tulipa 'Blushing Apeldoorn' (yellow flower with orange edges), Tulipa 'Golden Parade' (yellow) and Tulipa 'Parade' (red), Hyacinthoides hispanica 'White City' (white) and Fritillaria imperialis 'Aurora' (orange).

3. Crescent Garden

Photo taken 5/1/07
12:54 p.m.

The Crescent Garden is the first garden visitors see as they cross the bridge from the Visitor Center. Concentric garden beds feature seasonally changing palettes of color and texture, including seasonal annuals, grasses, shrubs and small trees separated by pathways. The concentric nature of the beds mirrors the Heritage Garden's curved beds, which neighbors the Crescent on the south. The spring display was a riot of color made out of 30,000 midseason blooming tulips. Tulipa 'Barcelona' (pink) and Tulipa 'Golden Parade' (yellow) were two of 12 different varieties. They prefer full sun conditions.

4. Gardens of the Great
    Basin, Lakeside Garden

Photo taken 5/8/07
10:06 a.m.

Puryear Point is high on a hill overlooking the Gardens of the Great Basin, with its ring of 200 crab apples lining the Lakeside Gardens. Few visitors venture up here to enjoy the only sculptures on grounds that also serve as benches, the Puryear sculptures. Conceived by Martin Puryear for the Garden in 1998, the sculptures are conical shapes suggestive of a yurt, one in stainless steel and the other in pink granite. The pink-flowering crab apple is Malus 'Prairie Fire' and the white-flowering variety is Malus x zumi var. calocarpa. Hosta 'Sum and Substance', a large easy-to-grow cultivar, is planted beneath the trees in a broad sweep. This area demonstrates the philosophy of the designers of the Gardens of the Great Basin, Oehme, Van Sweden and Associates, who use basic plant material on a grand scale.

5. Sensory Garden

Photo taken 5/9/07
3:57 p.m.

The Sensory Garden celebrates the fragrances, sounds, colors, textures and movement of plants. In this entry garden, the focal point is a large sycamore tree, Platanus occidentalis, in the center bed. Around it are many spring bulbs, annuals and perennials chosen for fragrance to draw people into the garden, but also for harmonious color echoes. Plants include Tulipa 'Orange Princess', Tulipa 'Andre Rieux' (purple), Muscari armeniacum, Narcissus 'Golden Dawn', Linaria 'Enchantment', Viola 'Velour Orange', Erysimum 'Orange' and Pansy 'Bingo Rose w/Blotch'.

6. Elizabeth Hubert Malott
    Japanese Garden

Photo taken 5/14/07
1:11 p.m.

The Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden is a garden of three islands, with much symbolism in the plants and hardscape elements. In dry garden on Kieunto, gravel represents water and plants represent landmasses. The focal point is the traditional Japanese lantern, Ikekomi, with the shaft buried in the ground to look as though it were surrounded by water. Wintergreen Korean boxwood, Buxus sinica var. insularis 'Wintergreen', represents islands behind the lantern. This variety is used because it takes well to regular shearing. It also holds its green color well, provided with protection from the wind. The two azaleas in front of the lantern are the only real flowers in this garden because color is used sparingly to put more emphasis on the subtleties of form and texture. Azaleas are often used in Japanese gardens to give that rare burst of color in spring. Azaleas prefer part shade and acidic soils.

7. Buehler Enabling Garden

Photo taken 5/14/07
3:03 p.m.

The entrance to the Buehler Enabling Garden features a rill fountain with varied jet patterns, sound and tactile qualities, as well as seating along the edges. This fountain bed welcomes visitors into the garden with annuals such as Tulipa 'Ballerina' (red-orange); Matthiola incana 'Harmony Purple', which is very fragrant; Viola 'Psychedelic Spring' (maroon-rose with bronze) and Lobularia maritima 'Snow Crystals'. These annuals prefer full sun and most don't require much maintenance throughout the season. We do recommend deadheading Matthiola to encourage continuous bloom and removing the tulip stalks after they have bloomed but leaving the leaves to provide green in the bed.

Behind the gallery fountain is a bed of shrubs that provide structure throughout the year. Spiraea fritschiana is left of Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie', which is very fragrant. The Japanese bush spruce, Picea maximowicziana, is an evergreen that provides winter interest when the flowers and deciduous shrubs are done for the season. On the wall are two urns planted with complementary colors of yellow and purple. Linaria hybrida 'Fantasy Yellow' will remain vertical while the Calibrachoa 'Cabaret Purple' trails over the edge of the urn.

8. Heritage Garden

Photo taken 5/22/07
10:04 a.m.

The Heritage Garden is modeled after the first botanical garden in Padua, Italy and is dedicated to Carolus Linnaeus, who established binomial nomenclature as the system of naming plants we still use today. The perimeter beds include seven beds that display plants according to geographical origin and 14 beds that display the major plant families. In spring, more than 60 hypertufa troughs are placed in the garden, planted with a mix of annuals and bulbs in pastel shades.

The central element of the Heritage Garden is the physic bed, planted with medicinal plants from around the world. The light lavender/ blue flower is thistle sage, Salvia carduacea. Sage has been used throughout the years in flour products and to flavor herbal drinks. Thistle sage prefers sunny conditions and dry sandy soil. The plant looks menacing with large thorns, yet the leaves are very furry, protecting you from the thorns. The sage family is very large and this is one plant that is underused in gardens. The bright yellow flower is pot marigold, Calendula officinalis 'Bon Bon Yellow'. Calendula petals have many healing properties, mainly noted for the anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial effects. Calendula can grow well in many sunny growing conditions, from very wet to very dry, but they do not perform well in heat and humidity. Both of these annual plants bloom from early spring to early summer, slowing down when temperatures are above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. English Walled Garden

Photo taken 5/29/07
10:58 a.m.

The checkerboard garden of the English Walled Garden is made from the contrasting colors of lush, bright green boxwood, Buxus 'Green Velvet', and silvery white sage, Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis'. The gently curved bench is great place to sit and listen to the fountain, enhanced by containers of scented geraniums, and cool-colored annuals. Sitting on the bench, you'll see Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Pendula' dancing at the water's edge and beyond the fountain, Allium blooms sway on the breeze.

Shortly, the many varieties of wisteria will bloom in the Pergola Garden. Most pruning is done to shape the vines in the summer months, before August 1, when you can braid the Wisteria vine into itself to maintain a shape. Light winter pruning is also a good idea.

Once established, Artemisia and boxwood like sunny and dry conditions. The boxwood squares are sheared once a season in late June to July, depending on the weather. To create a hedge appearance, the Artemisia is pinched on a weekly basis until the correct height is achieved, and then cutting is done with a manual hedge sheers. Humidity and late-season flooding are very detrimental to this Artemisia.