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| View from NE of the abstract crevice creation at the Aurora Civic Center Complex |
We are extremely lucky to have a number of talented young designers and plantspeople in Colorado who are constantly taking on challenges and creating great gardens. I've blogged about Kenton Seth several times: he's been unfairly pegged as the
"Crevice Garden guy"--Kenton's talent with all manner of gardens deserves acknowledgment. But what impresses me most about him and his work is that he doesn't keep repeating the same precise style everywhere he goes. His latest opus in Aurora is proof of his capacity to vary his approach.
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| View from the south |
You can barely make out a corner of the Aurora "Taj Mahal" (the rather grandiose Civic complex for the city of Aurora) that had a complex of gardens designed to promote water conservation to its East. I have admired the layout and variety of these gardens, which have many fine plantings and good specimens, but have lacked a certain "je ne sais quoi" to edge them into the rank of Kendrick Lake Park or Apex--the other two Municipal Gardens that have made such an impact locally. This cutting edge crevice garden (designed to showcase xeric plants) will do much to nudge this garden into the "must see" category. I will certainly be dropping by whenever I'm in the vicinity henceforward to watch its progress.
One last final glimpse to snow the Urbanite and how much it functions like rocks. I think it's refreshing to see rock work designed in different styles. This sort of "mid-Century modern" sort of abstract formal design would suit many garden settings perhaps better than naturalistic rock outcroppings.
What fun it will be to see these crevices fill with Acantholimon, penstemon and all manner of drought tolerant treasures!
Keeping up with Kenton's gardens is turning out to be a full time hobby!
With that design, I would be worried that the area kids might think Kenton had made them a bike park instead of a garden.
ReplyDeletegreat reuse of concrete
ReplyDeleteThanks for the expanded look at this fun design. You're lucky to be able to visit "Kenton's creations" in person.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed perusing your blog today; I love modern and I love rock gardens, so this works for me. But I came here after doing a search for Clematis fremontii and albicoma images and you have a lot from 2015 (thank you!).
ReplyDeleteIf you still have that plant you received from Bluebird Nursery as C. pitcheri (but obviously a hybrid) I would love to have seed from it! Bluebird stopped doing retail as of October of this year. My email is mikejmiller65 AT gmail if you see this!
Thanks for documenting the garden, PK, and putting much better photos of it on the net. Aurora was trying to do something to appeal to younger homeowners (read: hipster/millennials- the few of us who can mange to afford a house!) and showcase recycling. We'll be making a hands-on class/workshop out of the planting of it in late April, right around the RMC rock garden sale date, for those who live nearby.
ReplyDeleteAnd James-more than once friends and I have wondered about the feasibility of an urban mountain-bike crevice garden, especially after some weenie took a bike around the back of the Cheyenne crevice garden when it was new (and who totally took the easiest, unimpressive line, for the record) . Ironically the term "rock garden" is already common in mountain bike culture.
I'm guessing it would be rather easy to get funding for an urban mountain-bike crevice garden. Years ago, the president of my areas mountain biking club said his bike cost 5,000 dollars. That amount would be about double now. Those guys have no problem laying down surprising amounts of cash for their sport.
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