The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden

The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden. .12 Acre. , Located within the shady recesses of New York's financial district, this garden was commissioned by the British Memorial Garden Trust and given to the City in memory of the British and Commonwealth citizens who lost their lives during the attacks of September 11, 2001., The garden was developed from a plan by English landscape designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman and combines the historic footprint of this public square with the silhouette of the British Isles. The garden is encircled by Morayshire sandstone inlay, quarried from the highlands of Scotland. A geography lesson itself, the sandstone is inscribed with the shires of the British Isles, from Aberdeen in the north to Fortland in the south. The large, rounded 'Braemar' stone, from a riverbed near the HM The Queen's home in Balmoral, sits in the south end of the garden and takes the spirit of a calm, marking the distance from Aberdeen to New York. , ,br> Here the rich tradition of English gardens meets the urban American landscape. New York-based garden designers Lynden B. Miller and Ronda M. Brands worked with the Bannerman design to create an enduring garden for all seasons, selecting plants from both the British Isles and the North American landscape that echo the spirit of an English garden., At the northern end stand two tall Canadian hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis 'Fastigiata') which softly frame the inner path. Running the length of the garden is a ribbon of 67 heavenly bamboo shrubs (Nandina domestica 'Gulf Stream'), each signifying one of the 67 British victims of 9/11. These finely-etched semi-evergreen shrubs turn red and orange in the colder months. Deep green spires of Graham Blandy boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens 'Graham Blandy') and Irish yew (Taxus baccata "Fastigiata') add depth and punctuation to the garden. Marking the southern entrance to the garden are two evergreen holly trees (Ilex x aquipernyl 'Dragon Lady'), a cultivar bred from an English holly parent., Serpentine benches made of white Portland stone quarried in southern England and carved in Northern Ireland run though the garden, with a backdrop of yew shrubs (Taxus x media 'Brownii'). These long-lived evergreens are often found in English churchyards, a natural link between the living and the dead. These plants form the backbone of the garden and suggest the narrative that led to its making., Nestled in planting beds are herbaceous and woody flowering plants that are often found in a shady English garden. Yellow daffodils (Narcissus cvs.), pink bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis), and the tiny blue flowers of Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) bloom in early spring, among rhododendrons and azaleas. Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), plants native to both Canada and the U.S., add flowers and fragrance to the garden. Foxgloves (Digitalis purpea) and meadowsweet (Spiraea japonica 'Neon Flash') and a variety of hydrangeas, bigleaf, oakleaf, varietgated, and climbing, flower in midsummer, followed by the nodding pink blossoms of Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida 'Robustissima')., At the southern end of the planting beds, where the nandina ribbon ends, rises a yellow magnolia, called Magnolia 'Elizabeth.' HM Queen Elizabeth II, the garden's namesake, visited this living memorial on July 6, 2010. The Magnolia 'Elizabeth,' patented at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1977, was planted by her grandson HRH Prince Harry on May 29, 2009. With fragrant yellow flowers, this tree is an early bloomer, catching the first rays of spring light as the sun rises over the tops of the skyscrapers and into the garden., Along the gates and upon the slate walk are reminiscences of the Commonwealth, placed here as mementos of friendship between the Americans and the British. The four national flowers of the British Isles, rose for England, daffodil for Wales, thistle for Scotland and flax for Northern Ireland, are embossed on the finials that top the eastern fence. The coat of arms for Westminster Abbey, historic guardian of the Queen, is carved in slate and set midway in the walk, presiding as a guardian of the garden., Gardens can be read like letters, each flower capturing a part of a human story. Here amongst the quarried stone and plantings, sent from the English to the Americans in a time of mutual loss, this garden can be read and reread in the days after, remembering, healing, and ever cultivating.