FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert Bowden, Executive Director (cell) 407-719-2714 (home) 407-869-5407;Tracy Micciche, Marketing Coordinator

LEU GARDENS UPDATE

[August 19 2004 Update:  The Garden House will open the evening of August 19 for events, but the gardens remain closed.]

ORLANDO, FL (August 17, 2004) – Harry P. Leu Gardens, a fifty-acre botanical garden in the heart of Orlando and one of the south’s most extensive botanical collections, suffered a devastating loss of trees as a result of Hurricane Charley on August 13, 2004.  (see photos)

In many areas of the garden, operated by the City of Orlando, more than 75 percent of the tree canopy was destroyed. More than 100 trees, varying in size from six inches to more than three feet in diameter, were uprooted, shattered or sheared off due to high winds.

“The remaining shade-loving botanical specimens, many planted more than a century ago, will undergo extreme stress in the years ahead until the protective tree canopy can be restored,” said Robert Bowden, executive director of the Gardens.

Leu Gardens is home to the largest collection of camellias outside of California and the largest collection of banana plants in the United States. Given the method by which they grow, the damaged banana collection will recover quickly. It may take decades, however, for the camellia collection to recover, if at all.

Buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the 1880’s farmhouse on the museum grounds, were spared damage. Garden House, the Gardens’ 27,000 square foot educational facility, also survived the storm. Once power is restored, all events planned within Garden House will occur as scheduled. Until then, Leu Gardens remains closed.

Leu Gardens, located at 1920 North Forest Ave., is home to more than 8,000 different plants, many of which are rare or threatened with extinction.

“The Gardens’ priorities will be to rescue damaged rare plants from the storm debris and to reopen as many garden areas as soon as possible,” said Bowden. “Some zones in the public garden may open as early as two weeks, other areas could take several months or more.”


 

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