MY BIG BACKYARD

My Big Backyard (MBBY) exhibit area was completed in September 2001. This area was designed to integrate the education, horticulture and animal departments to expose children to the holistic view and show them how special their own backyards could be. The Horticulture Conceptual Plan states, “Species specific plantings will be repeated as often as possible creating wild habitats and sanctuaries for migratory species such as hummingbirds, other wild birds, and butterflies.” My Big Backyard contains all three of these theme gardens. Planted in the Butterfly Bed is Moonshine Yarrow, Swamp Milkweed, Joe-Pye Weed, ‘Royal Red’ Butterfly Bush, Spirea, and Moonbeam Coreopsis, which are all repeats from the Butterfly Garden. New additions include ‘Matrona’ Sedum and ‘Croftway Pink’ Monarda. Sedum ‘Matrona’ closely resembles the more common ‘Autumn Joy’. Both reach twelve to twenty-four inches tall and have pink blooms in late summer. ‘Matrona’ also has reddish stems and bluish-green leaves with pink edges. Monarda, commonly called beebalm, comes in several species. ‘Croftway Pink’ grows three to four feet tall, is hardy to zone 3, and has delicate pink flowers.

In the MBBY Hummingbird garden we tried to create the ultimate combination of nectar plants. Selected plants include: Maltese Cross, Monarda, ‘James Macfarlane’ Lilac, Java Red’ Weigela, Golden Current, a unique yellow butterfly bush variety named ‘Honeycomb’, ‘Green Mound’ and Golden Current, Rocky Mountain Penstemon, ‘Orange Carpet’ California Fuschia, and Agastache. Many of these plants are listed and described under the Hummingbird Garden section, so here we focus on a few plants that have not yet been placed in the larger garden. ‘Java Red’ Weigela is a compact shrub hardy to zone 4. Foliage emerges green with a red flush then in late spring the deep pink flowers open. Syringa ‘James Macfarlane is a Canadian lilac (hardy to zone 2) that reaches ten tot twelve feet tall and produces lavender pink blooms in late spring. California Fuschia, or Zauschneria garrettii ‘Orange Carpet’ was named a Plant Select winner in 2001. Showy orange trumpet shaped flowers cover this four inches tall plant from late summer into fall. Agastache is a genus that is just starting to get proper recognition in the area even though award-winning types such as ‘Coronado’, ‘Sonoran Sunset’ and Sunset Hyssop are readily available in the green industry. Many people are leery of their zone 5-6 status, but these plants have proven to be durable in locations throughout Colorado Springs. ‘Coronado’ was a 2001 Plant Select choice and has attractive yellow-orange blooms atop fragrant silvery foliage.

The remainder of My Big Backyard is comprised of several beds but, the majority of plants were selected for their edible fruit for local bird populations. Lonicera tatarica ‘Arnold’s Red’ has red flowers in late spring, blue-green foliage and red berries that appear in mid-summer. Arnold’s Red Honeysuckle is wind tolerant and hardy to 9,500 feet. Prunus tomentosa, called Nanking Cherry, is an excellent plant to attract wildlife. It was first used in Asian Highlands in 1996 and since then has developed into a collection of five feet tall and five feet wide shrubs with graceful arching habits and abundant sour cherries that the birds consume within two weeks. Sambucus canadensis ‘Aurea’, commonly called Golden Elder, grows well in moist areas and at high elevations. The black berries are valued by birds and also used to make Elderberry Wine. Red Coralberry, otherwise known as Indian Current Coralberry or Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, is a new addition to our botanical collection. This low-growing shrub ideal for partial shade produces small yellow to white flowers and pink fruit shortly thereafter. Aronica arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’ has proven to be a resilient shrub that never reaches its potential (showy white spring blooms, red fruit in mid-summer, and red fall color) because it frequently is targeted for dinner by deer.

In fall 2001, before MBBY opened, we brought in a shipment of shrubs to finish the planting. The containers were left overnight and when we returned in the morning the Red Chokeberries (and only the Red Chokeberries) were almost entirely defoliated by the deer. Another plant for multi-seasonal interest is the Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry. Amelanchier ‘Autumn Brilliance’ is one of the first plants to bloom in spring, so the white flowers contrast nicely against its own gray bark and the surrounding bleakness of late winter. Autumn Brilliance also has purplish-blue fruit, bright red fall color, is hardy to 8,500 feet, and grows in a multi-stem habit all of which make it an excellent aspen substitute.
 

From the Colorado Habitat Tree you can get an overhead view of the playground that sits beneath My Big Backyard. Several large cottonwood trees are planted in this area because they provide quick shade over the play equipment. The only other type of tree located here is the play area is a bending Swamp White Oak. This Quercus bicolor was purchased because of its misshapen trunk and the hope that one day it would be a suitable bench. Beneath these trees is a collection of perennials and grasses linked by the color blue. The idea was not to have a Blue Garden as you would have a Fragrant Garden or Shade Garden, but rather to have a garden that complemented the surrounding hardscapes. In this case, the blue tones act as a body of water that surrounds the flat concrete turtles that serve as the play surface. Blue-eyed grass, or Sisyrinchium angustifolium, resembles a twelve inch tall clump of grass, but has quarter-sized light blue flowers. Linum perenne, commonly called blue flax, has blue stems, leaves, and flowers and appear dainty and feathery as it blows in the wind. Many new cultivars of fall-blooming asters have recently developed and they generally fall into two subgroups: A. novae-angliae is the group of New England Asters and A. novae belgii is the group of Michaelmas Daisies. ‘Professor Anton Kippenburg’ is a dwarf variety of Michaelmas Daisy with clear blue flowers.Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’ is a newer variety of switch grass and is hyped to be the “newest, bluest, hardiest, strongest, and quickest Panicum.” We’ll see.

Adjacent to the playground are three beds that collectively form the Plants with Animal Names Garden. This garden has been fun because it provides children with a different way to associate plants with animals.