King Fountain & CroQuet Lawn Areas

gave was a tropical one. Yucca has a similar form and is quite hardy. These could be planted

outdoors and wintered over with come protection. A test planting of Yucca is recommended.

The plants used in the other beds appear in several historic views. In addition, the detailed bed descriptions listed in the 1903 article should be used as a reference. Canna was used as the central element in each of the two smaller round beds, eight beds overall, in the center of the lawn panels. Linear beds used Alternanthera, an amaranth relative listed in Henderson’s Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture . 1890, was a frequently used greenhouse perennial with colored foliage set out for ribbon bedding. It was noted as the central plant of several linear beds along Willett Street, edged with alyssum or similar low plants. The planting of authentic display gardens, using period varieties can be viewed as a interpretive tool as well as a beautiful display of horticultural art.

In recent years the dozens of bedding gardens of Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, have been planted to authentic tubers, foliage plants and annuals. The staff and overseeing landscape architect have located and propagated period varieties of canna, for example. The center of the tallest beds have been devoted to selected foliage plants such as Castor Bean and forced Tree of Heaven or other period trees that were pruned to the ground each spring and produced oversized, decorative foliage.

Intensive efforts of volunteers and city park staff since 1987 have regained the display garden heritage of the King Fountain. These activities include the plantings of some 50,000 tulip bulbs for spring display and their replacement with many annuals in early summer. Since 1987 the current garden beds have been enriched with compost and fertilizer, building a better growth medium. Current bed locations reflect stability over the period of years since the late 1940s. Local residents assert that these locations are likely to be original although some blurring of edges or subtle shifting of shapes is likely to have taken place. In the 1950s the three, round central beds of the historic period were abandoned due to tulip virus and replaced with two beds. These beds are recommended for reinstatement.

Bed sizes are recommended to conform with current equipment capabilities as well as reflect the historic organization. Linear beds are 50” wide while central circular ones are shown at 22 feet and 15 feet. Any shift in garden bed location will require a comniitrnent to further soil preparation and enrichment over a period of several years. The effort to recapture the spatial organization of the second tier of garden beds should include this soil work.

There is a recurring problem with dogs in the park damaging plantings, especially the garden beds. The dog legislation requires only that dogs by under the control of their owners. The effort and cost of planting these gardens for public enjoyment is substantial. Dogs should be more controlled in the park. It is recommended that dog laws be strengthened. Dogs should be in the park on a leash and a pooper scooper clean up component should be added. In this way private pets would not be allowed to destroy a place of public beauty.

Both the historic spatial organization and authentic plant materials would enhance the historic quality, and potentially the public enjoyment of the King Fountain area. Over time these gardens should be reinstated, with intial projects addresses some aspects of this organization. No garden bedding was located in the Croquet Lawn area and none is recommended.