Garden Design

Green Roof Insallation at the Wister Center-Part 2

Photo credit: L. StiebitzNext the crane arm went up and down many times delivering pallets loaded with buckets of coarse (2-3”) crushed quarry stone (Read Part 1 here.) This larger stone is used all around the edges of the roof and around any features that protrude above the flat surface of the roof.

Here is where our hardy installation crew got a workout hauling heavy buckets of rock to all corners of the roof.  Swarthmore College gardener Bill Costello made many trips up and down the roof’s access ladder helping to load the pallets in the parking lot down below and then unload them…

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Green Roof Installation on Wister Center-Part 1

DSC08370On a pleasant spring day in the final week of April, the foundations were laid for the fourth green roof at Swarthmore College. Whilst merry old England was celebrating the just completed nuptials of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate), gardeners at the Scott Arboretum were mobilizing for the arrival of some heavy equipment. A large crane was carefully maneuvered into a small parking lot and immediately employed to deliver pallets of materials skyward to the long anticipated Wister Center green roof.

The Wister Center green roof has earned a special place in the hearts of arboretum staff…

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Tropical Sale Preview

Photo credit: D. Mattis

Tillandsia xerographica, Aechmea 'Patricia'

A vast selection of unusual, vibrant tropical plants will overflow from the Wister Center May 21-22 as the Arboretum hosts its first Unusual Annuals and Tropicals sale.  An array of bromeliads, elephant ears, succulents, ferns, vines, begonias, and cannas are just a few of the plants that will be available, providing a prime opportunity to add outstanding colors and textures to your home garden and summer containers.

One of the highlights of the sale is the selection of bromeliads, including Aechmea blanchetiana ‘Orangeade’, Aechmea lueddenmanniana ‘Mend’, and Aechmea penduliflora.  Aechmea blanchetiana grows in the wild in Brazil’s Atlantic forest ecosystem and…

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