Shakespeare Gardens is located in the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park in the heart of the south, Montgomery, Alabama. The Shakespeare Gardens will serve as a venue for a variety of events from non-amplified music concerts, lectures, and theatrical productions to private events including weddings and receptions. The secluded 56,700 square foot garden complex, adjacent to the Carolyn Blount Theatre, home of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, includes various plants and Elizabethan herbs mentioned in William Shakespeare’s poems and plays. The project is a multi-million dollar gift by Wynton M. and Carolyn Blount to the people of Montgomery.
The landscape design for The Shakespeare Gardens was created by Edwina von Gal and Company of New York and features plants and flowers, such as Roses, mentioned in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Narcissus from Anthony and Cleopatra, and leek from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Medlar and Pomegranate trees will also grow in the gardens, Leafy Bowers, woven with Willow, Honeysuckle, and white and red roses clinging to clamshell shaped willow arbors provide a shady place for park visitors to sit and relax. Flowers will be changed several times each year.
An astonishing number of lush plants and delicate blooms have been installed in the secluded Shakespeare Gardens venue. Among them are 8,000 Narcissus bulbs covering 6,700 square feet. Another 1,000 square feet of bulbs include Asiatic Lilies and Chives. Surrounding a six-tiered 325-seat amphitheatre with rock ledge seats are 4,000 Catlin Sedges, 4,790 Yellow Archangels, and 1,285 Moneyworts used as ground covers, along with 570 Rosemary and Lavender plants.
A canopy of 55 trees will shade the garden and amphitheatre and will be at their height of color at different seasons of the year. Among them are Trident, Species, and October Glory Red Maples, Eastern Redcedars, Sweetgums, Athena Elms, Chinese Flametrees, Medlars and Pomegranates.
More than 200 magnificent garden shrubs include Dwarf Yaupons, Foster Hollies, Serviceberry plants, LaMarque vines, and Honeysuckles. Among the fragrant perennials are Tangerine Wormwoods, Red Poppies, and Rues.
Karen Weber, head gardener at Wynfield and a Master Gardener from Montgomery, will supervise the on-going care of The Shakespeare Gardens with the help of other area master gardeners.
The aromatic gardens are surrounded by uniquely woven willow wattle fences built by Marc Stinchcomb, a craftsman from Marc's Vine Yard of Millbrook, Alabama. He also built several trellises and arbors which are in the gardens over its numerous benches.
Public rest rooms for park visitors have been added as part of the new cultural park venue. The facility features a stone building and, like the amphitheatre stage building, is covered by a conical shaped thatched roof and features special Medieval chandeliers. About 12 inches of special thatch roofing consist of Turkish water reed and English combed wheat. The thatching was provided by WettStart International, Ltd. of England and was installed by a team of master thatchers from England. These are the same thatchers which installed the roof at the New Globe Theatre in London.
The English-style buildings in the Gardens were designed by Robert McAlpine of McAlpine Tankersley Architects of Montgomery. Overall construction was managed by Taylor Dawson of Andrew and Dawson Construction Company of Montgomery.
The extensively lighted amphitheatre and gardens in the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for individuals and group tours. It will be available for admission-paid events, musicals, lectures, and private rentals for weddings and receptions by appointment. During scheduled events, the Gardens will be closed to the public. The amphitheatre features two crow's nest lighting poles typical of the period except for the construction material.
Additional, smaller garden sites scattered along walking trails to be located throughout the park will eventually be made available to Montgomery area garden clubs who wish to participate in the further development of the 300-acre park.
For additional information on The Shakespeare Gardens or to schedule an event on the 300-acre Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park grounds, call at 334-274-0062.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Grand Opening Photos
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The FUTURE of the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park
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