Why hello there Erle Theresa, I'd like to wish you a very royal welcome to planDisney!
Did someone say flowers? If you're just as in tune with the plant life as our dear friend Isabela Madrigal, you may have definitely noticed the greenery perfectly perched along the walls of the
Grapefruit, Lime and Orange parking garages at Disney Springs. It almost seems too perfectly placed and I've often wondered myself: "Why don't we see these growing? How come there are never any leaves scattered on the ground directly underneath?"
I spoke with a few key Cast Members along with a member of
Disney's Horticulture team and asked just how they're able to get around to prune or water these particular sets of parking garage plants. While they could not provide an answer on any specific varieties, they seemed to imply that they received an extra bit of "Disney magic", or perhaps the protection of Tinkerbell and
Garden-talent Fairies like Rosetta to keep them looking great and seemingly everlasting. I dove in a little deeper with my research and found a company called Autograph Foliages (which has been around for as long as Walt Disney World Resort); based on their portfolio they have intriguingly been supplying the artificial plant life for outdoor spaces at Disney destinations as well as themed foliage for attractions including
Na'vi River Journey at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. With this in mind, the planters on the Disney Springs parking garages do share a very striking similarity to several of their outdoor foliage and hanging garland varieties!
In fact, you may be able to glimpse some
more of their work if you visit during the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, where my pals
Lauren and
Greg recorded a
bonus episode of the planDisney Podcast hosted by Amiyrah Martin that was entirely dedicated to it. According to the Autograph Foliages website, they're responsible for the topiary frames currently found around EPCOT which now gives me something extra to keep an eye out for whenever we're there!
Be sure to check out
Living With the Land for a leisurely cruise through EPCOT's greenhouses employing some real applications of vertical growing techniques, and see if you can ask a specialist Cast Member more about spotting the difference between real and artificial plant life on a
bookable Behind the Seeds tour! I hope this was just as eye-opening for you Erle Theresa, and you're absolutely
welcome back here at planDisney again for more intriguing questions for me to research.
Here's to Happy Horticultural adventures ahead!
Prince