Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is a 67.5 acre botanical park located in Lane Park between Cahaba Road and Lane Park Road. The gardens, which are free for visitors every day, are owned by the City of Birmingham and managed by the Birmingham Botanical Society and the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

The Botanical Gardens encompass 20+ specific garden areas, of which the Rose Garden, Conservatory, and Japanese Garden are most well-known. The botanical collections include over 3,000 taxa of plants. The visitor's center includes an extensive horticultural library, an education center, gift shop, conference rooms, offices, and the Café de France restaurant. Numerous events are scheduled at the gardens throughout the year, of which the semi-annual plant sales are the best-known.

History

The idea of creating a botanical garden was the idea of Mayor Jimmy Morgan, who commissioned a master plan for a garden attraction on the present site from Henry Teuscher, curator of the Montreal Botanical Gardens in 1960.

The centerpiece of Teuscher's plan was a 300-foot long greenhouse conservatory reaching 33 feet tall at the center. The mayor tapped architect Charles McCauley to develop plans for constructing the conservatory as the first phase of developing the gardens.

After a fight with the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board, Morgan was able, in the fall of 1961, to establish the Lane Park Committee to act as trustees for the park's creation. Welborn Construction Company submitted the winning bid for construction and the $161,000 conservatory was opened on December 18, 1962 with Carl F. Mattil as its director.

The next spring, a 26-foot diameter floral clock was donated for the slope in front of the conservatory. The first plant sale took place that May. In the fall of 1964 the board created a membership organization, the Birmingham Botanical Society to maintain and develop the gardens. The Society immediately began working on other elements of the master plan.

In 1965 the annual Sidewalk Art Show was relocated from Woodrow Wilson Park to the gardens. That December a 30 foot by 70 foot pool with an illuminated fountain was installed below the floral clock.

The same year, a major project to create a Japanese-style garden was commenced. Working with several patrons, architect Darcey Tatum engaged Japanese-American architect Masaji "Buffy" Murai to create a garden design for the 7 1/2-acre triangular end of the park closest to Mountain Brook Village. The opening of the new attraction, on May 6, 1967, was attended by the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and was accompanied by the Birmingham Festival of Arts salute to Japan.

In 1969 the "Touch and See Nature Trail" for visually-impaired visitors was opened. A Dogwood and Lily Garden and Iris Garden were developed the following year.

In 1971, in anticipation of the Birmingham centennial a new modern expressionist Garden Center, designed by McCauley, was constructed. A crape myrtle garden was also established, reflecting its designation as the city's official flower.

In February 1977, a sycamore tree was planted by the entrance plaza, south of the rose gardens. The tree was grown from one of 400-500 seeds taken to the moon and back aboard Apollo 14 in 1971 by astronaut Stuart Roosa. All of the seeds were planted and most grew. They were distributed to sites across the country in honor of the bicentenial. The sycamore in Birmingham is one of 59 known "moon trees" to still exist as of August 2008.

References

• Satterfield, Carolyn Green (1999) The Birmingham Botanical Society: A Brief History. Birmingham: Birmingham Botanical Society. ISBN 0-9669670-1-1
• White, David (August 31, 2008) "Alabama home to several trees grown from seeds that orbited the moon." Birmingham News

External links

• Birmingham Botanical Gardens website