Dr. Allan Armitage (third from left) joins Bill Ruppert (National Nursery Products-St. Louis), Steffie Littlefield (Garden Heights Nursery) and Gwenne Hayes-Stewart (Gateway Greening Executive Director) next to the McGowan|Walsh St. Louis Planter. This particular planter combination was designed by LNAGSL member company Garden Heights Nursery. (Photo credit: Robert Weaver, Editor, The Gateway Gardener)

Dr. Allan Armitage Visits the Kiener Plaza Seasonal Color Displays

During a short visit to St. Louis, Dr. Allan Armitage visits the seasonal color displays at Kiener Plaza associated with two Hort Co-op member organizations.

Dr. Allan Armitage, professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia/Athens, very active ornamental plant researcher, author of key reference books on the subject of herbaceous ornamental plants (i.e. "Herbaceous Perennial Plants" and "Armitage's Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials", and prolific writer for a variety of professional trade journals and Fine Gardening Magazine, visited St. Louis on June 10 and 11, 2007 as part of a non-horticulture related trip. Dr. Armitage was visiting his son, Jonathan Armitage, who recently joined the Gateway Grizzlies as an outfielder. During his brief visit, Bill Ruppert, Hort Co-op Executive Director, LNAGSL Treasurer and Gateway Greening Board member, provided Dr. Armitage with a tour of the downtown St. Louis seasonal color displays coordinated by Gateway Greening as part of the Urban Roots downtown St. Louis landscape enhancement initiative.

As part of the downtown tour, Dr. Armitage enjoyed viewing the St. Louis Planter plant combinations designed by four Landscape and Nurserymen's Association of Greater St. Louis member companies (Bowood Farms, Effinger Garden Center, Garden Heights Nursery and Hillermann Nursery and Florist) along with the Kiener Plaza central floral display bed planted and managed by volunteer members of the Gateway Professional Horticulturist Association.

To learn more about Dr. Allan Armitage's extensive research, teaching and introduction of new herbaceous ornamental plant varieties, visit the Gardens at Athens, on-line, at The Gardens at UGA.

About the St. Louis Planter:

Inspired by St. Louis' early French heritage, the fleur-de-lis forms the primary decorative feature for creating a landscape planter unique for the St. Louis gateway region. The idea of creating this special landscape planter was conceived in 2004 by Bill Ruppert, a Gateway Greening board member, the design effort in 2005 lead by Ted Spaid of SWT Design, a professional landscape architecture firm, the ultimate crafting of the planters by Cassilly and Cassilly studios with generous support by the Gateway Foundation. Gateway Greening continues to support and manage the St. Louis Planter as an Urban Roots project.

The creation of the St. Louis Planter is intended to enhance and complement metropolitan St. Louis public landscapes. Design criteria for creating a planter unique to St. Louis include establishing a size appropriate for landscape settings of urban scale and durability to succeed in dynamic public spaces. The planters are conducive to healthy growth for large-scale seasonal plantings. The appearance of the planters is both clean and contemporary but sensitive to the rich history and heritage of St. Louis. The design proportion of the first planter allows for the ultimate creation of a 3-size set. The first planter measures 4' diameter and 3' tall and weighs approximately 2000 pounds. A second size, measuring 6' diameter and 3' tall, is now available for larger landscape spaces.