Two Bridges

     One of several projects we have undertaken at the Norfolk Botanical Garden this spring has been to hang and plant hayracks on two of the garden's bridges. This effort was very collaborative on my team's part, and I am so pleased with how the planters turned out that I just had to share. 

     The first bridge we planted was the Rose Garden Bridge, and our goal was to design something to give some life to a gray stone structure. Though color and blooms were the most important consideration, I asked if we could find plants that might have some degree of heat and drought tolerance, and there had to be several trailing elements as well. And another thing, not often considred when designing planters, they had to look good when viewed from below as tour boats go under this bridge. Here is what ended up in the planters:

Caberet Deep Blue Mini-Petunias (Calibrachoa x Cabaret™ Deep Blue)

Superbells® Double Lavender Mini Petunias (Calibrachoa x Superbells® Double Lavender)

Red Sensation False Dracena (Cordyline australis 'Red Sensation')

Bride's Cascade Mandevilla (Mandevilla 'Bride's Cascade')

Graffiti Lavender Pentas (Pentas lanceolata 'Graffiti Lavender')

Variegated Mexican Mint (Plectranthus amboinicus 'Variegatus')

Angelina Stonecrop (Sedum rupestre 'Angelina')

Gay’s Delight Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Gay’s Delight)

Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)

     Originally we had planned to have a similar look to the second bridge near NATO Tower, but with a different mix of flowers and a different color scheme. However, someone on the team suggested this might be a good opportunity to expose garden visitors to some unusual succulents, and the rest of us wasted no time saying yes. We had a few of the plants already in the nursery, but I found a company, normally noted for their tulips and narcissus, willing to send us more of what we were looking for. These planters are designed to be examined up close, and not from a distance or from the deck of a boat. All the plants we used are exceptionally drought tolerant and are a nice contrast to the canal and rain curtain below. Each of these planters was a little different from its neighbor, but we ended up using a mix of the following plants:

Aeonium arboreum atropurpureum 'Zwartkop'

Aloe species

Crassula species

Echiveria species

Faucaria tigrina variegate

Graptopetalum paraguayense

Haworthia fasciata

Kalanchoe species

Pachyveria species

Portulaca grandiflora ‘Happy Hour Mix’

Portulaca oleracea ‘Rio Scarlet’

Ruschia indurata

Sedum rupestre 'Angelina'

Sempervivum species

Senicio species

x Graptoveria 'Silver Star'