A LIVING FOSSIL AT THE GARDEN - The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park has worked long and hard to preserve the historic relics of the old State Hospital Farm, including the Granary, the Wagon House and the Horse Barn and Silo foundations, all of which date back over 100 years. The Garden will be introducing something much more ancient as planting begins in the Walled Garden, and eventually in the Healing Gardens - the tree known as Ginko Biloba. The Ginko is considered a living fossil, as it dates back 270 million years! There are many reasons the Botanic Garden will be including Ginkos in the landscape plans. These trees are amazingly hardy, to 40 degrees below zero! They are extremely disease and pest resistant, important to the Garden since we use no fungicides or insecticides. They are long-lived (there are some specimens believed to be over 2,000 years old!) and are said to have many medicinal qualities. They can survive environmental stresses that are often fatal to other trees. Extreme examples of the ginkgos tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where six trees growing between 1–2 km from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living things in the area to survive the blast. Although almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were destroyed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again. The trees are alive to this day. Is it any wonder we want to include this living fossil in the Botanic Garden? Our landscape designers, Nelson Byrd Woltz Associates, are planning on 4 Ginkos in the Walled Garden - a large rounded cultivar like Golden Globe and three narrower columnar cultivars like Goldspire. All turn a striking gold color in fall, and all will be enjoyed by visitors to the Walled Garden. To make a donation towards the purchase of these trees, go to thebotanicgarden.org/support/donate. Thanks for helping to Grow the Garden!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:01:46 +0000
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