Virginia Rose Garden
The Virginia Rose Garden was installed in the spring of 2009 by students in an Environmental Science class. The site posed several challenges, including heavy runoff from the quad and salt spray in the winter, and thus the students chose plants tolerant of a wide range of soil moisture and salinity conditions. The site’s naturalistic design requires little maintenance; nitrogen-fixing plants (e.g. sweet fern and blue false indigo) provide much needed nutrients; and flowers, food, and cover provide wildlife habitat.
The following plants are in the Virginia Rose Garden:
Shrubs
- Virginia Rose (Rosa virginiana)
- Arrowwood (Vibernum dentatum)
- Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrine)
- Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
Wildflowers
- New England Aster (Symphotrichum novi-angliae)
- Blue false indigo (Baptisia australis)
- Pink tickseed (Coreopsis rosea)
- Dwarf-crested iris (Iris cristata)
- Wild columbine (Aquelegia canadensis)
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)