COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University's Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens is welcoming a new perennial garden this fall with the aid of an internationally renowned horticulturist.
Adrian Bloom, president of Blooms of Bressingham Nursery in Norfolk, England, famous for its unique perennial varieties, will be at Chadwick Arboretum on Sept. 7 to aid in installing a perennial garden that he designed specially for the arboretum. The activities will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will continue through the afternoon. The event is free and open to the public.
"The Bloom family is very well known and honored around the world," said Mary Maloney, Chadwick Arboretum education and volunteer coordinator. "This event is very significant as it puts an international spotlight on our gardens."
Bloom has appeared on BBC-TV's "Gardeners' World Program" and other gardening programs, including the PBS Victory Garden, to educate the public on the latest gardening tips and cultivars. He has authored and co-authored several books, including "Blooms of Bressingham Garden Plants" and Adrian Blooms Year-Round Garden Glory," and is the holder of the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour of service to horticulture.
The 4,500-square-foot mixed perennial and shrub garden will showcase more than 150 perennial cultivars, some of them award-winning Blooms of Bressingham varieties. The garden will be located in front of Howlett Hall on Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences campus.
"The new perennial garden is designed to be a point of pride for Ohio State Department of Horticulture and Crop Science alumni who return and view a garden right at the front door of the place where they studied," said Maloney. "And for people who are garden lovers or just like the aesthetics of flowers, the garden will be a nice new addition to stroll past. It will be planned for year-round interest."
The event kick starts preparations for the 25th anniversary of the Perennial Plant Association, which will be celebrated at the 2007 symposium in Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the installation of the new garden coincides with the retirement of Steve Still, an Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science professor and executive director of the Perennial Plant Association.
A new rose garden is also being added to Chadwick Arboretum. The John Peter Minton Memorial Rose Garden is being developed in honor of the late world-renowned Ohio State University cancer researcher and physician and rose enthusiast John Peter Minton. The garden will also be housed in front of Howlett Hall.
The 60-acre Chadwick Arboretum is home to one of the most varied collections of flora in the state, made up of woody plants, tropical plants, wildflowers, native Ohio plants, perennials and more than 400 cultivars of newly planted annuals.
For more information on the perennial garden installation activity and more a specific itinerary, contact Mary Maloney at (614) 688-3479 or e-mail maloney.23@osu.edu.