Wabash’s ‘front door’ earns honors from Flower Lovers Club

The Flower Lovers Garden Club of Crawfordsville is still alive and doing well.

The club recently kicked off its bi-annual Garden of the Month program. Club members seek out what they believe are the best gardens around the city for the months of June, July and August, and honor them.

The featured June garden is Wabash College. The corner of Wabash and Grant avenues has been transformed with a beautiful “front door” garden into the college campus of numerous acres.

Browning-Day of Indianapolis designed the new garden space, which showcases the entrance to the college and is beautifully landscaped with a woodland feel complimenting the already established Fuller Arboretum.

Tim Riley, manager of the grounds services, is dedicated to seeing to the maintenance of the grounds and takes a special interest choosing the annuals planted throughout the campus. Plantings are chosen with low maintenance in mind, but also fitting into the overall look.The use of red and white flowering plants is in support of the school colors. The idea to plant the new “Zesty Zinnias,” Dainthus and taller begonias to highlight the smaller shrubs like dwarf red twig dogwood, groundcover and the blue glow from the Walkers Low Nepta/catmint is a lovely balance in the space.

The dwarf hydrangea groupings will be stunning in bloom. Several trees have also been planted, including serviceberry, oak and redbuds … all the time keeping in mind each season and the overall continuity of the design. The garden is changed out and takes on a new look three times a year.

With Wabash College already being such a large part of our community’s heritage and to see this new garden become a reality certainly gives way to pride.