The Rock Alpine Garden at DBG was designed in 1978 by Herb Schaal of EDAW Inc. and planted in 1980, making it the oldest public rock garden in the Intermountain West.  It won several awards for design and was the most ambitious rock garden in the Western US in the early 1980’s, until the Betty Ford Alpine Garden was built.  Panayoti Kelaidis designed the plantings and was curator for many years, creating a world renowned collection. 

The garden contains around 2,300 species, with a focus on alpines from continental mountain ranges and steppe ecosystems around the world, and has plants from every continent except Antarctica.   It also holds the majority of DBG’s North American Plant Collection Consortium (NAPCC) “Alpines of the World” collection.

The structure of the garden is built on 5 distinct rock types, including limestone, sandstone, granite, tufa, and pumice, with one waterfall.  Be sure to check out the north side of the Cactus and Succulent House in late March and early April, and the various crevice gardens in April through June.  The garden is now overseen and maintained by Mike Kintgen, with the help of 1 seasonal gardener and 25 volunteers.