| Chris Gajewicz with his ‘fedge’ featuring willow at Simpson Garden Park (Photos: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
The great variety and changing seasons assures no two visits to Simpson Garden Park will be the same.
Now that summer has officially arrived, visitors who have not been to the park recently, may want to see
some of the new items which can be found throughout the park.
Among those items are an assortment of plants, called crinum lily. They are an experimental gift to the
park from Jenks Farmer who operates Lush Life Nursery in Columbia, S.C.
The plant is normally not found this far north as it is not considered ideal for this zone.
Farmer is a friend of Chris Gajewicz, the natural resources coordinator with the City of Bowling Green.
Gajewicz says they are also called a southern gentleman’s flower as well as cemetery lilies.
| One of the various varieties of crinum (left) is shown in bloom at Simpson Garden Park in Bowling Green. |
| A new water feature replaced a bench at Simpson Garden Park |
| Fox Tail Lily in bloom |
He says they are growing well now, but the trick will be to see how they survive the winter and if they
return next spring.
"As far as we know, we are the only place to have them in Northwest Ohio," Gajewicz said.
In front of the building at the park, Gajewicz also was inspired by a grand water feature at Disneyworld,
as he created a new much smaller feature which he has not named.
The water feature is a tribute to all of Wood County. There are a variety of elements which include field
tiles, metal containers as well as terra cotta, to include both the farm and garden aspects of the
county.
The unusual design is to have the pots mimic the water falling. He says it is balanced, though not
symmetrical.
The theme at the park this year is "Over the Top," and in keeping with that theme, Gajewicz
says there are "pockets of color all over" the 11-acre facility.
Dan Parratt, horticulturist, was planting a new bed near the Conneaut Avenue entrance.
Parratt says this area will likely be an annual bed with something different each year. He was planting
nicotina, which is also called a false tobacco plant. It has a lime green flower. Parratt was accenting
with Prairie Sun Black-eyed Susans, which have a center to coordinate with the nicotina flowers.
Gajewicz is also proud of the "fedge" he installed near the parking area
He said the fedge, short for fence hedge, was one of his own personal projects. Using a native willow,
the plants are woven together to create a living fence.
With thousands of plants featuring hundreds of varieties, the park is always changing. Though much of the
spring has felt like summer, now that summer is officially here, it may be an ideal time to see what’s
new at the popular park.
