One of the most talked-about features at the George W. Bush Presidential Center has quickly become the Texas Rose Garden-a 15-acre park just outside the steps of the center’s full-scale replica of the Oval Office.
Despite the name, the garden’s design, in which former First Lady Laura Bush played an active role in, will not showcase a majority of roses. Rather, the focus has been placed on wildflowers native to Texas and many specific even to Dallas.
Project manager Herb Sweeney IV of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. told the Dallas Morning News that wildflowerswill be rotated seasonally and the colors schemes will match the essence of each season.
The garden will also utilize eco-friendly irrigation by collecting and reusing rainwater. The Bush Center itself earned the Platinum classification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which is the “highest level in the U.S. Green Building Council,” as explained on the Bush Center website.
According to the project description by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, “the landscape…contributes to the Presidential Center’s ambitious sustainability objectives,” citing specifically the factors of “biodiversity, restoring native habitat, reducing the need for irrigation, and employing an organic maintenance program.”
The Texas Rose Garden joins the Bush Center as another cohesive facet that will be officially unveiled Thursday.