This afternoon, I helped Cornell bulb expert Bill Miller and his class prepare a bulb labyrinth for planting at the Bluegrass Lane Research Center. Center manager Ron White ran a sod stripper over the pattern Bill laid out yesterday. And today the students excavated the trench where the bulbs — daffodils, tulips and muscari — will be planted next week.
Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has a single convoluted path to the center. Go ahead. Trace it with your finger following the grass path that will be defined by the bulb planting. (Much easier with the larger image.) It’s an ancient, contemplative tradition. Read much more about it at the Labyrinthos website.
Update [11/13/2007]: Nice coverage of the project in the Cornell Chronicle: Student-created labyrinth plants the way for a perennial path to peace.
I like it, very cool. I wish I had space for one in my back yard!
That’s going to be awesome.
My friend Bub made a labyrinth in her backyard a couple of years ago. I’ll have to tell her about this one.
Whoa! that’s some kind of precision sod-stripping+student machine! Gorgeous trenches and a great idea. I can’t wait to see what it will look like in bloom. And also happy to know that it isn’t too late to plant muscari up here 🙂 thanks for the cool link, too.
I’ve been wanting a labyrinth for a while, but I didn’t think I had space. But this bulb labyrith has given me an idea – I can plant scilla in a labyrith pattern in the middle of the lawn.
I love this–the use of lawn space for it, the temporariness, the whole thing. How fun.
Now this is something I can get deeply into.
I would love to see how the pattern was actually laid out. Chalk? Spray Paint?
That looks like a lot of work but I am sure it will be well worth it. Please post a photo when it is blooming.