Colorado State University Perennial Gardens

The Colorado State University Perennial Gardens completes the off-campus University Garden Arts District as the final component, complementing the existing Annual Trial Gardens and University Center for Performing Arts. The district encompasses the grounds of the historic Fort Collins High School and serves as an educational and entertainment amenity for the community. The Perennial Gardens provide an opportunity to showcase over one-thousand taxa that were relocated from the previous gardens at the site of the new on-campus stadium at CSU. 
The gardens provide a setting for these unique species and subspecies that are not commonly available in the Colorado nursery industry, but have proven to be successful candidates as low-water use perennials in Northern Colorado. The project also functions as a living laboratory for students in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University for coursework and graduate studies. In addition to serving as a university amenity, the gardens provide an opportunity for community members to learn about new planting opportunities for their own properties, while showcasing plants in a memorable design. Through a combination of plant composition, designed experiences and thoughtful site planning, the garden serves as an example of how architecture contributes to quality of life and the environment.