Cheyenne Botanic Gardens

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The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens (8 acres, 3.2 ha) are located in Lions Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with an associated High Plains Arboretum located five miles northwest of Cheyenne at an elevation of 6,200 feet.

The gardens began as a vision in 1977 to build a non-profit, solar heated greenhouse. Today, the 6,800 square foot (630 m²) conservatory consists of three greenhouses. The first is filled with tropical plants, herb and cacti gardens, and a waterfall pond filled with Koi fish. The second is used primarily for growing vegetables, with beds of lettuce, onions, cabbages, broccoli, carrots, etc. The third is focused on propagation of bedding plants and flowers for the botanic garden grounds and all flowers for the Cheyenne park system. Outside are many gardens featuring perennials, annuals, wildflowers, roses, herbs, and cacti.

The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens has one of the highest volunteer-to-staff ratios of any botanical garden: Over 90% of the physical labor is provided by incredible senior, youth and handicapped volunteers. Applied horticultural therapy is a part of everyday activity at this unique botanic garden. This enables a small town to have a sustainable botanic garden.

One of the most inspiring things about this garden is the conservatory is 100% solar heated and 50 percent of the conservatory's electricity is also powered by the sun. They are the United States Intermountain West's oldest and one of the largest public demonstration sites for renewable energy. This helps enable a small town to have a botanic garden.

The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens functions as a traditional public botanic garden, municipal nursery and community garden. Inside their conservatory there are tropical plants, water falls, herbs, cacti and food crops. In spring you will find over 50,000 bedding plants being grown for their grounds as well as for flower displays in Cheyenne parks and parkways.

The grounds have many special garden landscapes including a rose garden, herb garden, Peace garden, water garden, cacti display, annuals and perennials, shade loving plant display,

xeriscape and native plants. There is also a wetland display and gardens that depict plants that were important in S.E. Wyoming over the past three centuries (called the Rotary Century Plazas). It also has a labyrinth known as the "Garden Labyrinth" and is a wheelchair accessible, original designed labyrinth which is dedicated to the former Wyoming first lady, Bobby Hathaway.

This Botanic Garden has received numerous awards- the awards relate mostly to the innovative way that they do things with volunteers, solar energy. These awards have come from three different United States Presidents: Reagan, Bush (senior) and Clinton. In addition, the founding director, Shane Smith [1], of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens was awarded a Loeb Fellowship from Harvard and the Community Hero award from former Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer.

Shane Smith [2], is the founding and current director. He planted the first seed in 1977 and has guided the project since. Smith is also author of the book "Greenhouse Gardener's Companion" and also works as a greenhouse consultant. Smith has lectured and consulted on the subjects of greenhouse gardening, community greening, horticulture therapy and community based botanic gardens in over 27 states and 3 countries. Smith also does a regular radio program in Cheyenne, WY on KFBC and Wyoming Public Radio (KUWR).

The master plan and many of the designs for the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens were created by landscape architect, Herb Schaal, of the firm EDAW. Schaal is one of the most award winning landscape architects in the United States and his work tends to focus on public botanical gardens and arboreta. He is also well known for his designs of public children's gardens. Schaal designed the Children's Village at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens which will open in 2009. This design has won two awards and focuses on both sustainability and gardening. Schaal also created the master plan for the High Plains Arboretum (see below).

A moon arch located between the Peace Garden and the Garden Labyrinth is dedicated to the late Edwina Wiederspahn, wife of former Laramie County Coroner and Community College trustee Arling Wiederspahn (1916-2007).

It is rare that a public botanic garden is found in such a small city like Cheyenne, WY(population approximately 60,000). It usually requires a community of at least a half of a million people to support such a venture. The Cheyenne Botanic Gadens has been able to exist because of its utilization of free labor with its large volunteer force, free heat (solar heated greenhouse), free electricity (photovoltaic solar electricity). Last but not least is the effective non-profit private foundation, "The Friends of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Foundation." This foundation amazingly raises virtually all the funds privately for the development of its grounds in a public/private partnership with the City of Cheyenne.

Admission is free, with donations accepted. The gardens are open 365 days a year during daylight hours. Conservatory hours are weekdays 8:00-4:30, weekends 11:00-3:30. For more information, visit: www.botanic.org

[edit] The High Plains Arboretum

The High Plains Arboretum is located at the former High Plains Horticulture Research Station which was started on March 19, 1928, when Congress authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Central Great Plains Field Station at or near Cheyenne. In 1930, the site officially became the Cheyenne Horticulture Field Station, and was directed to

concentrate on fruits, vegetables, windbreaks and ornamental plants. The goal was to find plants that would make the High Plains of the United States more habitable. This station still exists in its original location on a 2,140 acre (870 ha) plot leased from the City of Cheyenne for 199 years at $1 per year. The site also has many historic buildings that include a greenhouse, a number of quaint wood framed houses which are still used for staff housing, laboratories, storage areas and office space.

As a Horticulture Station By 1962 they had had tested:

• 1,300 varieties of woody ornamental plants including over 100 different types of hedge materials
• 200 species of trees and shrubs for dry land wind breaks with over 250 cooperative plantings in various parts of the region served by the station.
• 2000 fruit cultivars
• 8,000 vegetable cultivars

The work of the Cheyenne Horticultural Field Station came to an end in 1974 when the mission and name was changed by the USDA. Since 1975 its trees and shrubs have relied mainly on natural precipitation, and many have perished. The arboretum is now a shadow of its former self with over 50% of the plants inventoried in 1974 gone, and many more are in severe decline. Late in the summer of 2000, a group of interested participants gathered to begin an effort to "preserve, restore and enhance" the arboretum. This group is now a sub-committee of the Friends of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens.

They were motivated because there are still many of the trees and shrubs still exist that were once part of the Horticulture Station's landscape and research. The site is still quite stunning and in some places you can find a small dense forest.

The Friends of the High Plains Arboretum operates as a sub-committee of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens has a 20 year master-plan to preserve, restore and enhance a 62-acre portion of the station that includes the original remaining research plant testing sites. In late 2007 the USDA modified its lease with the City of Cheyenne allowing for the return of the 62-acre portion to be returned to City operation through guidance of the City of Cheyenne Parks and Recreation's Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and the foundation of the Botanic Gardens.

The Arboretum is not currently open to the public but special arrangements can be made to view the site through the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens.

For more information visit www.botanic.org