WELCOME GARDEN GIVEN TO ARBORETUM
A welcome garden has been added to the UI Arboretum thanks to a generous gift from Rosann Noel of Champaign.
Located along the path between Lincoln Avenue and the Miles C Hartley Selections Garden, the welcome garden provides a "first entrance" to the Arboretum, according to Anton Endress, professor of horticulture in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and chair of the Arboretum Advisory Committee.
"It welcomes visitors and creates a visually pleasing way to attract people to the Hartley garden," Endress says. "It's visible from the street."
"I've watched the Arboretum evolve, and I know its needs," says Noel, who has been on the Arboretum Advisory Committee for several years.
"The advisory committee had been discussing a welcome garden," Noel adds. "And I thought it was something I could do. It's dedicated to my four grandchildren."
According to the Arboretum master plan, the welcome garden is located where a visitor's center is planned to be located. "When the visitor's center is built, the welcome garden will be relocated to a proposed children's garden," Noel says.
"Rosann and her family have been active, important contributors to the university for many years," Endress says. "We're pleased she chose the Arboretum for her latest gift."
Richard Bogren