North Dakota's first botannical conservatory is on its way to becoming reality. The structure is taking shape at the International Peace Garden. As Jim Olson reports, the building is adjacent to a new garden area that officials think will be a big attraction. Sure, you know the
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International Peace Garden is a beautiful destination in July and August when the hundreds of thousands of flowers are blooming. But work going on this autumn is designed to stretch that out some. (Doug Hevenor, Peace Garden CEO) "Typically in the past we'd say come out and see the bloom in July and August. June is going to be a new month of bloom for us. We're going to have another 4 to 6 weeks of flowering." The reason? The new sunken garden that's just about finished in the center of the Peace Garden. It's been planted with hundreds of trees, thousands of shrubs, and some 55-thousand perennials. And it's sitting on a piece of land that has been engineered to stay dry. (Doug Hevenor, Peace Garden CEO) "We did over a million dollars of work under the ground that nobody sees but it's saved us. This year in the sunken garden, it wasn't sunken, we didn't have to swim through it." So the sunken garden will lengthen the bloom time at the Peace Garden considerably. So too will this - the new botannical conservatory now under construction right next to the sunken garden. (Doug Hevenor, Peace Garden CEO) "That's North Dakota's first botannical conservatory." Peace Garden CEO Doug Hevenor says the conservatory will allow visitors to experience the warmth and colors of summer all year long. (Doug Hevenor, Peace Garden CEO) "Imagine at -40 and you come up here to the Garden to the conservatory and you stroll through orchids and winter blooming tea plants. It's kinda cool. And then you step outside into what we expect in North Dakota." The conservatory sits on the North Dakota side of the international border that bisects the Garden. Hevenor says an 11-million dollar Conflict Resolution Center and Hall of Peace are under development across the way on the Canaidan side. The projects make Hevenor smile about the Garden's future. (Doug Hevenor, Peace Garden CEO) "You can sense from my voice I'm excited. The local people are excited. It's going to be great for North Dakota." Jim Olson, KX News. The International Peace Garden is funded by grants, visitor fees, and tax money from North Dakota, Manitoba, the US, and Canada.
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