Chihuly glass at the Denver Botanic Gardens 2014. Photo Credit: Urban Safari Photography.

The Denver Botanic Gardens has announced that it was the most visited public garden in North America in 2014 with 1,411,116 visitors. This was due in part to the popular display of Chihuly glass.

“One of the best outcomes from 2014 was the vast increase of visitors from all 50 states and dozens of countries around the world,” said Botanic Gardens CEO Brian Vogt. “The most important statistic is the fact that we have 2,700 volunteers who, arm in arm with the staff and Board, are utterly fearless, passionate and dedicated.”

Next year the Botanic Gardens will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Tropical Conservatory. The charter for the gardens was established in 1951 by the non-profit Botanical Gardens Foundation of Denver. Landscape architect Saco R. DeBoer was hired to design the grounds. The first plants were placed at the York Street location in 1959 and the Tropical Conservatory was dedicated in 1966 featuring tropical and subtropical plants.

Chihuly Glass at the Denver Botanic Gardens in 2014.
Photo credit: Urban Safari Photography

In addition to the attendance record, the Gardens is honored to be included in the North American Garden Tourism Conference’s ‘Top 10 North American Gardens Worth Traveling For’ 2015 Awards. The Garden Tourism Awards are presented to gardens that have distinguished themselves in the development and promotion of the garden experience as a tourism attraction. Now presented annually, the inaugural Garden Tourism Awards were bestowed at the 2011 North American Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Photographs courtesy Urban Safari Photography.

The post Denver Botanic Gardens most visited public garden in North America appeared first on Denver Urban Review.

“The design of the newest neighborhoods at Stapleton has been a very thoughtful effort to intersect urban living with the beauty of the high plains,” says Heidi Majerik, Director of Development at Forest City Stapleton, Inc. “There is respite in the peace and serenity that is inherent to the prairie while the urban form and park design provides interconnectedness not only with the environment but also with one another.”

Rendering of the Stapleton parks with native prairie landscaping incorporated into the project. Image courtesy Civitas

Stapleton is a master planned community that sits on the site of the former Stapleton International Airport which served as Denver’s primary airport operating from 1929-1995. Aviation operations ceased at Stapleton in 1995 when Denver International Airport opened allowing for a massive development opportunity at the former airport site.

With the open space-directed plan for Stapleton’s newest neighborhoods, north of I-70, featuring Conservatory Green and Willow Park East, Civitas has reversed the landscape typologies it established in Stapleton’s earlier neighborhoods. “Instead of living adjacent to the prairie, Stapleton’s newest residents will be living in the prairie,” explains Civitas design principal Craig Vickers. “The landscape will reflect the natural and organic qualities of the prairie and the cultural influences that made it habitable.”

Civitas studied the natural ecology of this location to determine what it would have been like before jet aircraft were landing and taking off from runways that were constructed at this location. The designers of this project state that there will be both ecological and human benefits captured from the design of these public spaces.

Rendering of Stapleton’s network of parks on the north side of I-70. Image courtesy Civitas

The parks and native prairie included in the development include:

• Uplands Park, an area that will include sculpted earthworks and a traditional lawn
• Prairie Meadows Park, which will stand as the nexus of the park system and will emulate the indigenous landscape with wind-swept dunes and high and low bridges for access to the landscape across drainage ways
• Cottonwood Gallery will allow runners and walkers the opportunity to recreate on trails that meander along creek sides and native vegetation
• Sandhills Prairie will incorporate tall-grass prairie and will segue into athletic fields

Rendering of Prairie Meadows Park designed by Civitias in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood. Image courtesy Civitas

“Our objective, as Stapleton neighborhoods expand to the north, is to regenerate this ecosystem for both environmental and human benefit,” said Civitas president Mark Johnson. “People love the parks, but they love the scale and natural form of the open space even more”

More than 250 acres of park, recreational, and open space land comprise this project.

Landscape architects Ann Mullins and Mark Johnson founded Civitas in 1983. Civitas has also designed Denver’s Commons Park and is designing a rooftop park at the San Diego Convention Center.

The post Native prairie incorporated into new Stapleton parks appeared first on Denver Urban Review.