Demonstration Gardens & Projects

Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum), extremely drought tolerant native up to 18” tall, The purple plant in back ground is Salvia pachyphylla ‘Blue Flame’ is a oily plant and at a minimum should be far into Firewise Zone 2.

Demonstration Gardens & Projects

A demonstration garden is a cultivation of an ordered collection(s) of plants designed to teach and learn

What way to better spend a day than walking around a beautiful garden? Spend one of your days visiting a demonstration garden and combine beautiful surroundings with learning.

What is a demonstration garden?

At its most basic, a demonstration garden is a cultivation of an ordered collection(s) of plants designed to teach and learn.

Demonstration gardens are used throughout the world and can be as small and focused as strains of wheat for wheat growers in the Inland Northwest to the grand collections of plants at some of the world’s most famous gardens such a Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Great Britain and the U.S. Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C; gardens that are both dedicated to demonstrating the global importance of plants to the well-being of humankind through the cultivation of ordered collection of plants.

Types of demonstration gardens

Demonstration gardens offer real-life information as they develop over time and cover a range of topics and issues, including water conservation, pollinator preservation, food production, sustainable maintenance practices, locally adapted plants, and home protection and safety, such as windbreaks and Firewise landscapes.

Demonstration gardens also

support self-directed learning, which can result in both short- and long-term outcomes that include knowledge gain, increased curiosity, improved skills, problem solving, behavior change, increased confidence, and attitude change.
serve as a catalyst for initiating and sustaining beneficial community collaborations and partnerships.

Idaho Firewise demonstration gardens serve a particular purpose – to illustrate fire resistant landscaping principles and practices that allow residents of the wildland/urban interface areas to live there more safely.

Currently there are 4 Idaho Firewise Demonstration Gardens established in the southern part of Idaho.

Visit an Idaho Firewise Demonstration Garden

For more information on the Idaho Firewise demonstration gardens in Idaho, see the drop down boxes below.

College of Western Idaho - Idaho Botanical Gardens, Boise, ID

College of Western Idaho - Idaho Botanical Garden (Homesite)
2355 Old Penitentiary Rd.
Boise, ID 83712

The Firewise Demonstration Garden at the College of Western Idaho (CWI) Horticulture & Idaho Botanical Gardens (IBG) was the first firewise demonstration garden developed in Idaho to show homeowners how they can live on the edge of wildlands more safely and beautifully.

This firewise garden was born out of the 2000 fire season, the worst at the time since 1910. Seven million acres burned and fires caused $10 billion in loses – including entire neighborhoods in Los Alamos, NM. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) botanist Roger Rosentreter, now retired, got the idea for an Idaho-based test site from a similar garden he visited in San Diego. Many of the plants in the San Diego garden would not grow in Idaho’s climate, so Dr. Rosentreter worked with the BLM to partner with Boise State University, the Idaho Botanical Garden, and later the College of Western Idaho and Idaho Firewise, to install and manage this garden in what once was an ugly weed patch.

The garden opened to the public in 2008 and is currently visited by over 100,000 people a year.

https://www.instagram.com/idahofirewise/

Idaho Firewise Garden Photo Book

Current/Available Self-Guided Material:

Eagle Sports Complex, Garden City, ID

Eagle Sports Complex
Old Horseshoe Bend Rd.
Garden City, ID 83714

In 2014, the City of Eagle’s Parks & Recreation was proud to announce the ribbon cutting ceremony for their new firewise demonstration garden. This demonstration site off of Old Horseshoe Bend Road is located at the City of Eagle Sports Complex.

The Eagle Firewise Demonstration Garden shows landscape beauty, smart environmental safety choices and efficient use of resources to Eagle residents and the Treasure Valley community. The Eagle Firewise Garden is sponsored by the City of Eagle’s Parks & Recreation Department, Eagle Fire Department, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Firewise, and Healthy Hills Initiative.

Jim Hall Foothills Learning Center, Boise, ID

Orton Botanical Garden, Twin Falls, ID

Collaborative Firewise Garden Projects

Idaho Firewise has consulted with several interested organizations to either work towards becoming a recognized demonstration garden or to make significant landscaping changes to improve the resiliency of their site.

Below are projects that are either established firewise landscapes or sites that are currently working towards demonstration garden recognition.

Bernardine Quinn Riverside Park, Boise, ID

Bernardine Quinn Riverside Park
Boise River Greenbelt
Boise, ID 83702

The garden project at Bernardine Quinn Riverside Park is a collaborative project with University of Idaho graduate Olivia Harman, Boise Parks & Recreation, and Idaho Firewise. The co-themed garden space incorporates both a pollinator garden and children's firewise garden and was first installed in spring 2021. As this is a relatively large garden space, Idaho Firewise will be working collaboratively to incorporate additional plant material into the firewise portion of the garden as well as keep track of plant species and plant performance.

Boise Fire Station 1, Boise, ID

Boise Fire Station 1
707 Reserve Street
Boise, ID 83712

In 2011, Jerry McAdams, Ada County Fire Inspector/Investigator and Wildfire Mitigation Coordinator, collaborated with former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Idaho State Botanist, Roger Rosentreter, to review plant species suitable for a firewise landscape to be retrofitted at Boise Fire Station 1. In 2012, the first series of plants were installed at the site. Idaho Firewise has contributed many fire resistant plants and grant funds towards the development and maintenance of this garden.

Cascade Public Library, Cascade, ID

Cascade Public Library
105 N. Front Street
Cascade, ID 83611

In 2011, after a recent renovation of the Cascade Public Library, Idaho Firewise was approached with a grant proposal to help fund the development of a firewise demonstration site outside of the library. At the time, the site was nothing but bare dirt as a result of recent renovations to the building, and local partners felt that a firewise garden would be a valuable educational tool for the local community.

The grant was approved and plants were installed in 2011. A grand opening ceremony was held in September 2012.

Partners for the project include the Cascade Public Library, Cascade Friends of the Library, the Horizons' Lifestyle and Education Team, Alpha Nursery, the Valley County Fire Working Group, and Idaho Firewise.

Idaho City Historical Foundation, Idaho City, ID

The initial conversation about hosting a firewise garden in Idaho City began several years ago with Historical Foundation President Beth Wilson and gardener and volunteer Cara Woras. In 2017, they approached Idaho Firewise staff with the idea, expressing an interest to educate residents and visitors with a firewise garden in downtown Idaho City.

The site was provided with fire resistant plant material grown out by Idaho Firewise and in June 2019, Idaho Firewise staff and volunteers assisted with the plant installation. The garden can easily be visited during the summer months and is located on the west side of Main Street and Commercial Street, off of Ponderosa Pine Scenic Highway 21.

Oasis Volunteer Fire Department, Mountain Home, ID

Oasis Volunteer Fire Department
11825 West Tilli Road
Mountain Home, ID 83647

Early spring 2012, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees Brett Van Paepeghem and Daniel Simpson began collaboration with Master Gardener Jinks Hunter of the Oasis Volunteer Fire Station to create a firewise garden on the station site. Located about 15 miles northwest of Mountain Home, this project involved a landscape design utilizing numerous fire resistant plant species propagated and donated by the original Firewise Demonstration Garden at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise, ID.

The goals of the garden are to demonstrate firewise landscaping and educate the public on the benefits of landscaping with fire resistant plants. Continued collaboration between the Oasis Volunteer Fire Department and Idaho Firewise include providing educational demonstrations for local residents and collecting information on fire resistant plant species performance. This information will be used in conjunction with data from other participating demonstration sites and will further our understanding of the suitability of certain plants for firewise landscaping in southwestern Idaho.

To make an appointment to visit the firewise garden, please contact Erin Gulack: russanderin@sbcglobal.net

Tamarack Resort, Tamarack, ID

Tamarack Resort
311 Village Dr.
Tamarack, ID 83615

Idaho Firewise South Idaho Project Manager Brett Van Paepeghem met with Tamarack Environmental Preservation Association, Inc. (TEPA) representatives Jan West and Cathy Dvorak in 2014 to assess a new firewise site and make fire resistant plant species recommendations.

Over the summer of 2015, Alpha Nursery from Cascade completed the installation of the landscape and signage relating to wildfire issues. The project now serves as an educational demonstration for local residents and visitors to the resort.