Hello readers!
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| Staff horticulturalist Justin Nichols, carefully helping to unload the new Lunaform pots. |
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| Some of the pots were too big to carry in our arms! |
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| This planter’s name is Siena, my personal favorite! |
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| Each pot has a sign like this one beside it, for any and all information you might need. |
As Kristin & Montana have introduced themselves in previous blog posts, allow me to do the same. My name is Carrington Flatness and I am one of the three horticulture interns for this summer. After figuring out my uncontrollable love for plants, I decided to attend Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois, where I received my associate’s degree in horticulture in 2011. One month ago, I finally received my bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Iowa State University (Go Cyclones!).
As for horticulture experience, I’ve had the opportunity to work in many different areas of the field, such as my favorite nursery/garden center near my hometown in Illinois and a marvelous public garden in Ames, Iowa.
Despite my love for the Midwest, I knew I needed to broaden my knowledge of horticulture in different areas of the country to become the best professional I can be. It seems apparent already that Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will be a huge part of helping me achieve my goals!
Today I got the chance to work with some wonderful professionals from the Lunaform studio. Lunaform, for those of you who don’t know, is a company in Sullivan, Maine, that specializes in making beautiful concrete structures: planters, urns, fountains, etc. Our director of horticulture, Rodney Eason, decided to put me, along with Justin Nichols, a horticulture staff member, in charge of the project of unloading and placing these beautiful containers within the gardens. We were greeted at 10 a.m. by Dan Farrenkopf and Phid Lawless, the two Lunaform founders and owners who would be helping us for the day.
Justin and I quickly realized that these were no ordinary pots; they were colossal! The largest pots weighed in somewhere around 600 pounds! We couldn’t unload from the truck by hand, so we needed some extra tools on our side. We used a ball cart (typically used for big trees in the horticulture department) and the Dingo skid steer machine to carefully haul these pots to their new homes.
In honor of their 20th anniversary in business, Lunaform agreed to house these beautiful containers at the gardens all summer long and have them available to the public for purchase! Each planter has a sign next to it (shown on the last picture at right). The sign will outline the basic details of the planter and will indicate the price of each item.
My favorite part about these signs is the Quick Response (QR) codes located at the bottom. Anyone with a smart phone can easily scan these QR codes, whcih will provide additional information about that specific planter straight to the phone. In this day and age, I think it is easily overlooked how innovative companies are being to get us the information we want. Just another reason why I have come to love Lunaform!
These pieces, with dramatic plantings by Diane Walden of the horticulture staff, will be in our garden until the Labor Day weekend. You can see the containers displayed on the Gardens’ main campus – by the Visitor Center, the Burpee Kitchen Garden, and Bosarge Family Education Center. You’ll also see planters on the wall by the main entrance. Stop by soon to check out all of them!
For additional information about Lunaform, please click here.
– Carrington Flatness, Horticulture Intern
