Green Thumb Tuesday: Holiday Hayracks at WPC

The Holiday/winter display is one of four displays Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Community Conservation staff designs throughout the year to enhance the Burke Building in downtown Pittsburgh. We start with a mix of cut greens, Boxwood, White Pine and Oregon Cedar. After we cut the branches to the desired height we placed them into the soil of the basket. We add the dried flowers and plants; China Millet Mango, China Millet Basil, Cedar Rose Stem, Orientalis Merlot, Lotus Pods, Star Flowers Red, Broom Bloom Red, Ti Tree Red, Protea Repens. Add a ribbon and bow and you have created an attractive holiday display. Look for the spring display in early April; the month of May will bring the summer display and October the fall display.

You can get a closer view of the handiwork created by Community Conservation Landscape Specialist Arthur DeMeo.

A bit about the Burke Building...

"We moved into downtown Pittsburgh's oldest standing office building," said Western Pennsylvania Conservancy President Larry J. Schweiger. "But when we renovated 209 Fourth Avenue to satisfy our needs, we used state-of-the art technologies to showcase our commitment to resource conservation. To preserve the past, we took every opportunity to reuse existing materials, including some from the building's original construction in 1836. Looking to the future, we bought as many natural and recycled materials as were financially realistic. And we installed energy-efficient heating, cooling and lighting."

WPC bought the building in February 1996, and spent a year renovating the 167-year-old structure, known most commonly to long-time residents as Arthur's Restaurant.

Nine years after the building was erected, it survived the city's "great fire of 1845," only to suffer one of its own around 1900. The rafters in the attic still show the signs of charring, but the fire didn't jeopardize their structural integrity. Most of what exists today dates to the turn of the century, except for the window casings and shutters, which were part of the original construction.

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