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Saturday, February 16, 2013

The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden

"Sowing the Seeds of Friendship and Peace" is the slogan of the Queen Elizabeth II Garden (formerly known simply as the British Garden) at Hanover Square in downtown Manhattan, and there probably isn't a park in all of the city laid out with more forethought and symbolism. Designed by English landscapers with paving and plantings outlining the shape of the British Isles, it incorporates Scottish sandstone, evergreen hollies that are "cultivars derived from an English holly parent," 67 nandina shrubs representing the 67 British victims of 9/11, and other signifiers of the British Isles. (See this 2004 news release describing this Britishification of Hanover Square.)

Even in winter the plantings are picturesque.

The Garden's official website lists the high-minded goals of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc., founded by the British Consulate and the St. George's Society (which goes back to 1770). For royal family fans, it also has a photo of Prince Harry at the dedication and one of the queen herself visiting in 2010.

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