Released Feb. 27, 2008
URBANA, Ill. — At this year's annual Chicago Flower and Garden Show, the labor of University of Illinois horticulture student will be front and center. As visitors enter the show's exhibit area next week, the first feature garden is a U of I creation — and in keeping with the "Sleeping Beauty" theme sponsored by the American Ballet Company, the garden will feature a fantasy "bed" of flowers.
"The fantasy bed will be covered with flowers, moss and plants. The posts of the bed will be flowering dogwood trees to create a canopy," said U of I horticulture professor Greg Pierceall.
"Roses will be a theme plant, as roses separated Sleeping Beauty and the Prince in the story. A water moat will frame the garden as visitors enter the show. Collectively my class in Oak Brook will then help install the design prior to the show's opening March 8," said Pierceall.
Pierceall said that the plants being used in the garden are being forced to bloom early in local greenhouses to get the 'spring' effect. He designed the entryway garden drawing from brainstorming sessions with his horticulture classes in Urbana and Oak Brook.
Pierceall has over 30 years of experience in environmental education and landscape design. Currently he is advisor of a horticulture degree-completion program for Chicago area students. "They can complete the last two years of a four-year degree and get a diploma from the U of I without having to move to Champaign-Urbana," said Pierceall.
The Chicago Flower and Garden Show runs from March 8 to 16 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. For more information, visit http://chicagolandflowerandgarden.com/.
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http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4310.html
Contacts: Greg Pierceall (217) 722-2109, pierceal@uiuc.edu
Debra Levey Larson, (217) 244-2880, dlarson@uiuc.edu
