At the same time, a garden for the blind was created, featuring Braille signs, textured walkways and interactive fountains, which has evolved into the present-day fragrance garden offering an amazing variety of scented plants. In 1974, Hanses and landscape architect Dale Armstrong designed a new rose garden. Other specialty gardens include aquatic, viburnum and winter gardens, and a children's garden offering activities for kids throughout the spring and summer. The gardens, with their wide variety of trees, shrubs and plants, unfortunately doubles as a smorgasbord feast to hungry deer. Unfortunately, the azalea walk is severely nibbled.
Employees report seeing deer dig up bulbs with their hoofs.
Vismara, a rosarian by training, cannot bring himself to walk through the decimated rose garden. The result is that the Brookside staff has made deer management a top priority. An eight-foot fence, patrolled by volunteers, encircles the garden property. Despite these precautions, deer trot brazenly down Glenallen Avenue and through the front gates during the day. But there's hope for the future.