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Seasonal Displays
A New Look for the Cherry Circle
In redesigning the beds, we’ve worked to create a mixed border that will offer QBG’s visitors colorful annual displays as well as shrubs, grasses, and perennials that will add to the Garden’s beauty throughout the seasons.
~ Catherine Redd, landscape designer and QBG board member
 The Cherry Circle is getting a new look this year! For decades, its colorful summer displays and the cheerful spring bloom of the cherry trees have been the dramatic backdrop for many wedding photographs and events. With the changes of 2007, you can bet it will continue to be a popular place for photographers and visitors.
A fountain from which harvested rainwater will spring and flow across the new entry plaza and through the new Visitor & Administration Building will provide a new place for visitors to gather. A seat wall along the fountain will invite visitors to enjoy a quiet moment and take in Garden views or absorb nearby interpretation about water and cultural traditions. Bordered by an evergreen hedge, the new Cherry Circle planting will feature a design that provides four seasons of beauty, with beds full of interesting textures and colors year round.
With the help of landscape designer and new board member Catherine Redd, and funding from the Mushroom Trust and board member Magda Salvesen, the Garden’s team has developed a new planting design that features perennials, annuals, and repeated clusters of small woody shrubs. Visitors can expect to see shrubs such as Winter Flame Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea ‘Winter Flame’), which features brightly colored winter stems of yellow, orange, and red, and Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), which blooms white and shows off leaves that turn brilliant shades of burgundy, orange, and red in the fall. These clusters will provide the structure or bones of the planting design that will be surrounded by striking displays of perennials such as Asters, Sedum, and Rudbeckia, and annuals like Zinnia Zowie! Yellow Flame, a 2006 All-America Selections winner, and Blue Anise Sage (Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’).
Horticulture enthusiasts will have plenty of opportunity to find something that intrigues them in this new garden, such as Thread-Leaf Blue Star (Amsonia hubrichtii), which has clusters of steel blue flowers in late spring and golden fall color, or Shenandoah Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’), a cascading form with burgundy fall color.
 Woodland Garden Revitalized The Woodland Garden will also showcase several renovations this year, including improvements to the water feature in the wetland area, repairs to the split rail fence, new edging (made of recycled split rail fence!), plantings, and labels. It’s a favorite spot for visitors, who enjoy its peaceful woodsy setting, observe the seasonal changes, and learn about the garden’s unique ecosystem. New plantings will include ferns, sedges, and perennials, such as Phlox, Trillium, and Bloodroot.
New additions to the shrub layer will include Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), a variety of Rhododendrons, Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), and Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium). QBG thanks board member Magda Salvensen for supporting this project. |
