Show #25/1612. Cheyenne Botanic Garden

Annual Beds

In Shane's annual beds he has 2 different design concepts going on. In 1 bed several different annuals are planted among each other, in the other bed a very wide variety of annuals planted in clumps which are sort of scattered throughout the bed. Years ago Shane took a trip to France and saw they were doing a lot more clumping with their annuals. He brought that idea back and in one bed they're clumping tighter with good selections, good color combinations and the show is yet to peak. They can't grow tall ornamental grasses so they grow Sorghum vulare Broomcorn that when it seeds out will look like a wonderful annual since tall grasses can sometimes reach 9 feet tall. These clumps work well together.

But on the other side they're trying a two-story kind of show. They have Verbena bonariensis up high and Silver Wave Petunia which is a lighter Petunia growing lower. The Silver Wave is so aggressive that in another week or so it will start to climb up the Verbena bonariensis. It will become even more dramatic as the bonariensis reach heights almost double what they are now. And, they're great at attracting butterflies, a real show. As a backdrop in this garden they have an area where they have a number of what were full size Picea pungens f. glauca Blue Spruce that they prune into a hedge. It makes an impenetrable hedge year round and does a great job of blocking the parking lot. A lot of people never had any idea they can actually use Blue Spruce as a hedge.