Redwood Acres HBGF Rainbow Exhibition Garden

Redwood Acres HBGF Rainbow Exhibition Garden

Located at the main pedestrian entrance at Redwood Acres, the HBGF Rainbow Exhibition Garden's design was inspired by the Dedekam Ornamental Terrace Garden at the Humboldt Botanical Gardens.

Both gardens reference the individual bands of color of and order of the bands of color in a rainbow. Plants were selected for foliage or flower color and organized into long bands based on their most apparent color from red to orange to yellow and so on.

HBGF Dedekam Ornamental Terrace Garden

The Redwood Acres HBGF Exhibition Garden moves from one four foot band of color to the next.  Plants were selected for their foliage or flower color, hardiness and overall quality and then organized based on their strongest color attribute.

Plant List*

Red
Achillea millefolium 'Red Velvet'
Berberis thunbergi 'Helmond Pillar'
Coreopsis verticillata 'Limerock Ruby'
Rosa Meidiland Scarlet

Orange 
Geum chiloense 'Princess Juliana'
Helianthemum nummularium 'Ben Nevis'

Yellow
Hemerocallis 'Stella d'Oro'
Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm'
Spirea japonica 'Goldmound'
White
Artemesia 'Powis Castle'
Cerastium tomentosum
Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus'
Rosa 'Starry Night'

Blue 
Geranium pratense x 'Blue Sunrise'
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nikko Blue'
Picea pungens 'Globulosa'

Purple 
Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'
Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'
Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead'
Nepeta faassanii
Penstemon x gloxinoides 'Midnight'

Pink
Echinacea purpurea 'Magnus'
Rosa 'Cecile Brunner'

*Some substitutions were necessary

Above a contemporary Piet Oudolf inspired bench was set into the planting bed, which invites the passerby into the garden.