Winter View
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Seen through the Queen’s Gates from BBG’s main entry, the stately Conservatory dominates the open, verdant Formal Garden that lies before it. Designed in 1962 by noted glasshouse designer Dr. Henry E. Teuscher, of Montreal, Canada, ours bears a strong resemblance to his greatest creation at the Montreal Botanical Garden. In 1995, a new entrance was added, given by Arthur Ilges Chenoweth, in honor of Barbara Derr Chenoweth. The central house in the Conservatory is the largest clear span glasshouse in the Southeast and shelters a diverse collection of luxuriant tropical plants and understated displays of seasonal hothouse flowers. Plants of commercial importance, such as banana, vanilla, coffee and cacao (the source of chocolate) are here, as are wondrous tropical species of palms, cycads (including a 100-year old specimen) and tree ferns. The Samford Orchid Display Room*, given in memory of Mrs. Frank P. Samford by her daughter Ann Samford Upchurch and her grandchildren, sits at the rear of the main house. It showcases a small, yet always colorful display of this fascinating family that boasts some of the most unusual flowers in the plant kingdom.
Flanking the main house to the north is the Camellia House. During winter months, hybrid camellias of various classifications sport their bodacious and often vivid flowers in varied hues of pink, red and white. Camellia japonica, the Japanese camellia, is the state flower of Alabama. Opposite, to the south, is the Desert House, a children’s favorite, where many unusual and uniquely adapted plants, such as American agaves, aloes and cacti, Pacific rim plumerias and succulent euphorbias from Africa are displayed. Flowers here never fail to amaze and surprise; they can be seen intermittently through the growing season. Seven production greenhouses and maintenance facilities support the Conservatory, and here volunteers assist our staff in propagation, re-potting, plant grooming and other horticultural tasks. Invaluable for education, the Conservatory helps us communicate the need for worldwide natural resource conservation, especially to the thousands of children each year who attend our Discovery Field Trips.
Garden Center is open M-F, 8-5p.m.
The 60,000 square foot Garden Center is the focal point of horticultural activity for the metropolitan Birmingham area and all of central Alabama. This stylish neo-classical structure hosts well over 1,000 meetings, classes, flower shows, functions, fund raising events and private parties each year. A number of gracious rooms, some with kitchen access, are available for public rental. The Garden Center houses the Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ Administrative and Reservations Offices, Birmingham Botanical Gardens Library, Blount Education Center, Gatehouse Gift Shop, Southern Living Lobby, C. Beaty Hanna Horticulture and Environmental Center (with state-of-the-art plant diagnostic and micropropagation laboratories), herbarium, Gardens Cafe by Kathy G, Gerlach Plant Information Center and the future Arrington Children’s Plant Zone.
As seen today, this elegant stucco building was developed in two phases, following the designs of two local architects. Most recently, the Blount Education Center, including the Southern Living Lobby and Linn-Henley Lecture Hall, was added in 1998 by Rick Sprague of Henry Sprott Long and Associates. Earlier, in 1988, John Carraway’s plan included the Strange Auditorium, restaurant and the rooms above. In addition, he beautifully united architecture and garden; his Plaza Bridge strides confidently over the Blount Plaza, and the Belvedere commands a dramatic view across the Hill Garden directly below, to the Formal Garden in the distance. The Garden Center is open to the public from 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays and most weekends.* We are closed on city holidays.
Gerlach Plant Information Center
Exhibits change bimonthly
Named for Gary G. Gerlach, Director of Gardens from 1971-2001, and opened in February 2006, the Gerlach Plant Information Center (GPIC) is a multi-purpose educational area on the Garden Center’s first floor, accessible from inside the building or from outside on the Blount Plaza, under the Plaza Bridge. GPIC is the location of Extension’s regional Horticulture Hotline, which centralizes gardening assistance and information across nine counties, and is the first stop for visitors with plant questions and plant problems. GPIC functions as an informational link between the living (plants/outdoors) and non-living (library resources/indoors) collections of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. GPIC is staffed by volunteer Master Gardeners under the direction of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. It was designed by architect Ty Cole of Giattina Fisher Aycock of Birmingham and funded by Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens and numerous private donors.
When funding allows, a second phase of GPIC’s development will feature user-friendly ways to access The Gardens’ library and plant databases, and the vast resources of Extension and Auburn University. When completed, users will be able to print Extension publications on demand, along with detailed maps indicating plant locations and other information. Fund raising for this important feature continues. Contact our Development Office for more information, 205.414.3961.
Lawler Gates face Cahaba Road
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The Lawler Gates are located between the McReynolds’ Garden to the south and the Southern Living Garden to the north. These intricately worked, French-inspired decorative iron gates were designed by South Carolina’s Jim Cooper and forged at the Lawler Machine and Foundry Company in Birmingham. Fittingly, they were given to The Gardens in 1987 by Stanley and Sandra Goode Lawler, and dedicated to the memory of their fathers, Edward Goode and Delmas Lawler, the latter having started the foundry in 1933. The Lawler Gates lead out onto Cahaba Road and are opened for special events only.
Quercus nigra
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The main entrance to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens is off Lane Park Road, where a rough-hewn granite sign marks the way. The entry drive curves gently around Sonat Lake, which was given by the Southern Natural Gas Company, now a part of El Paso Corporation. From here, visitors get a commanding view of the Formal Garden and Conservatory through the Queen’s Gates. Three massive Water Oaks dominate the highly reflective water body, and a seating area beneath them provides a popular shaded spot for family portraits. On the opposite side, a collection of moisture-loving Hibiscus offer up their huge blossoms as summer treats. Aquatic plants featuring hardy water lilies and lotus grace Sonat Lake with their seasonally lush foliage and unique flowers. The area was designed by the local landscape architectural firm of Nimrod Long & Associates, and was dedicated in 1988.
Platanus occidentalis
The Moon Tree can be found next to the Dunn Formal Rose Garden. It is actually an American sycamore that was grown from a seed that orbited the Moon with Stuart Roosa in Apollo 14's command module while Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the lunar surface. Stuart Roosa, a former smoke jumper with the United States Forest Service, was approached about bringing the seeds into space and resulted as a joint NASA/USFS project to study the effects of weightlessness on seed germination and seedling growth.
Official logo of Apollo 14 courtesy of NASA
Roosa carried about 400 - 500 seeds in his personal kit which stayed with him as he orbited the Moon in the command module "Kitty Hawk" in February, 1971. Unfortunately, the seed cannisters burst open during the decontamination procedures after their return to Earth, and the seeds got mixed together and were presumed to be no longer viable.
The seeds were sent to the southern Forest Service station in Gulfport, Mississippi and to the western station in Placerville, California to attempt germination. Surprisingly, nearly all the seeds germinated successfully, and the Forest Service had some 420 to 450 seedlings after a few years.
Between 1975 and 1976 as part of the United States' bicentennial festivities many of the seedlings were distributed to a host of state forestry organizations. Seedling planting sites were picked based on where the type of tree species would best take root and grow.
Not only did Birmingham Botanical Gardens receive a tree, other trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, at the White House and presented to such notables as the Emperor of Japan.
President Gerald Ford, in a bicentennial Moon Tree ceremony, called the trees living symbols of "our spectacular human and scientific achievements."
Our Moon Tree was dedicated and planted at Birmingham Botanical Gardens on February 25, 1976.
