Here's an interesting fact: Only 100 feet divides Adventureland from Frontierland. While one land drips with banyans and bromeliads, the other sizzles with cactus and sage.
It's within this great divide that perceptive visitors can find their own garden inspiration -- one of many masterfully conceived mini-landscapes at Disneyland whose design just might work at home.
That's right. Now that the summertime crowds are starting to ebb, put on the mouse ears and head to Anaheim.
Aptly named horticulturist Karen Hedges, who oversees the day-to-day upkeep and artistry of the park's gardens, provided a behind-the-scenes tour one recent morning, before the gates opened to the public. What she and her gang of nearly 150 gardeners pull off every day is nothing short of Herculean.
"It's 6 a.m., and we just got through laying 10,000 square feet of new sod," she notes cheerfully, adding that her crew deadheads the gardens of Disneyland, California Adventure, Downtown Disney and three Disney hotels every day.
Sure, most visitors don't come for the landscape design, but take a look at that garden separating the entrances to Adventureland and Frontierland, and you'll see a fantastic example of color usage, plant juxtapositions and water-wise design.
There beside a duck pond grows a deep spray of ruddy yellow rudbeckias, tawny yarrows, gaillardias, salvias, sunflowers and swaying golden fountain grasses. The sunset hues set a romantic tone, a Wild West where men crack bullwhips and madams snap garters. Some of these flowers are hot-weather annuals, whereas the grasses and sages will hold up for years to come.
In fact, using visually dynamic perennials as the bones of a garden is a classic design technique. Annual flowers can be shucked in and out as the seasons change (and they do change here, occasionally). Designing a garden with perennials first, annuals second, results in a landscape that's almost always beautiful, easier to maintain and, because you'll buy fewer plants as time goes by, kinder to your wallet.
The plants in this part of Disneyland are all distinctively shaped. Each one has a slightly different leaf and sends its own message to the eye. If you live in a Spanish-style bungalow or a California Craftsman, take a close look, me 'earties, because the vibrant and expertly blended colors here are perfect for pirating.
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