Sadly, visitors to the Royal Tyrrell Museum this past year haven’t been able to enjoy one of the coolest areas in the museum; the lush, jungle-like Cretaceous Garden.
However, plans are in place to have the garden wow crowds in the spring of 2013.
“We’ve determined next year will be the grand reopening for our Cretaceous Garden. We’re working hard to get it ready and looking good in the spring,” said Leanna Mohan, marketing and communications coordinator at the Tyrrell Museum.
The renovation began out of a desire to increase the accessibility and interpretive potential of the garden. The garden houses plant species similar to what was in Drumheller during the late Cretaceous period (roughly 70 million years ago), giving guests a glimpse into prehistory.
“It’s staying as it was before, so the Cretaceous. There’s a certain criteria of plants that fall in that. Some of the things in there previously were left over from when it was still a tropical garden, so there were things that weren’t specific to the Cretaceous that probably shouldn’t have been in there. None of that stuff will be returning,” said Dawn Christian, horticulturist with the Tyrrell Museum.
Some of the plants that lived here 70 million years ago included gingkos, a plethora of ferns, and palm trees.
The garden has been closed since the fall of 2011. At that time students from Olds College assisted museum staff in removing the plants and relocating them to Olds College where they were cared for until the Tyrrell garden was ready.
With a clean slate in regards to the plants, it is hoped the renovations will provide an opportunity to take advantage of the whole year. Previously, most of the garden would go dormant when winter set in. The new mix of plants will hopefully provide visitors something to see all year round.
“We hope to have things flower in spring, summer, and into the fall. We’ll have some evergreens and some deciduous trees. We’re also looking at plants that have interesting berries or fall colours. We’re trying to extend the seasonality of the Cretaceous Garden,” said Christian.
“It will still go dormant, but there are some plants that like those temperatures and will still flower and produce interesting things.”
After the plants were removed, most of the soil was removed and some of the concrete foundation of the garden was remodelled, requiring a lot of work with jackhammers.
In addition to new plants, and many of the old plants returning, the garden will boast a walkway over the garden, complete with interpretive signs. Visitors will walk over the garden, rather than through it as before.
The museum will also add different specimens, including a dinosaur footprint found by the museum preparation lab supervisor, Jim McCabe.
“Now everything is ready to go so the plants can survive for another 25 years,” said Mohan. “We’re hoping to start placing the plants in the next month.”
Over the winter, the garden will remain closed as the finishing touches are put on the garden. The time will also allow the plants to get rooted and looking their best for the public once spring rolls around.
“We’ll be putting things back in at the end of the month, but a lot of it will be arriving dormant. We won’t see leaves starting to come back until the spring,” said Christian.
“It’ll take some time to get it done, but it’ll look great,” promised Mohan.
