Time-travel garden

Mark Zurolo ’01MFA

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The dinosaur sculpture that stands guard in the front yard of the Peabody Museum of Natural History is starting to feel more at home. The museum has begun to landscape the area surrounding the sculpture with plants that date back to the Cretaceous period—145 million to 65 million years ago—when the museum’s signature Torosaurus lived. Unlike Torosaurus itself, some of the plants it might have feasted on are still with us, including ginkgo trees, ferns, pachysandra, and yew. Jane Pickering, the museum’s director of public programs, says the “Cretaceous garden” is an effort to “extend the museum’s educational experience outdoors.” It’ll take about ten years to grow into maturity, she adds. So Torosaurus will have to be patient.