By Kaki Holt

If you haven't seen theSociety of the Four Art's showcase garden on Palm Beach yet, don't wait another minute. Delayed by hurricanes and construction challenges, the renovated garden opened in spring of 2007.

"We lost most of the canopy when our tall trees went down in the storms," said Johanna Kitson, curator of the garden. "Fifty foot trees like the ylang-ylang, magnolia and sandalwood all came down, and everything else was ragged. Now, it's a completely different garden."

Landscape architect Morgan Wheelock had already drawn up designs for renovating the gardens before the first storms hit in 2004.

"Eighty percent of what we had planned on using was gone after two hurricane seasons," said Wheelock, who also designed the Dallas Botanical Gardens and the sculpture gardens at Winfield House, resident of the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

The new garden has taken on a more park-like, less botanical look than its former incarnation.

"This is not only a beautiful park, but it's also an outdoor museum for sculpture and a gathering place for events," said Ervin S. Duggan, president of the Society of the Four Arts. "This is the last open space in the center of Palm Beach, and it's our gift to the community."

There are actually two separate gardens on the corner of Royal Palm Way and Cocoanut Row: The Botanical Display Garden begun in 1938 by the Palm Beach Garden Club and the two-acre Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden, snatched up back in 1952 when the parcel was in danger of becoming a grocery store parking lot.

"Eight years after it bought the site, the town finally decided something needed to be done that would serve the community. Philip Hulitar then raised the funds to buy sculpture for a public garden," Morgan Wheelock said. "His wife Mary donated the bronze 'Apples', that today are worth $700,000."

Before his death last year, local philanthropist Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., chairman of the Society's board for 18 years, had picked up the mantle by combining his considerable fortune, determination and enthusiasm to renovate the gardens.

"Fitz had a vision of a splendid public park," Wheelock said. "The Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden is the ultimate realization of his vision."

Visitors enter the sculpture garden through an elegant plaza adjacent to the society's library building - a building designed in 1936 by architect Maurice Fatio in his distinct neoclassical style. Two large peacocks, donated by Dixon before his death last year, flank the entrance.

Elements from the adjacent library building echo throughout the renovated sculpture garden, reflected in the colors (terra cotta and pale green) as well as the design elements of the pergolas, pathways, benches and arbors.

"That's the bones, right there," said Wheelock. "In a way, the plant material is an embellishment."

The repeated elements unite this two-acre into a cohesive whole, all of which radiates out from a central octagonal fountain on the entrance terrace, providing a sweeping vista of the garden below. The terrace and adjacent pavilion were designed for events and performances; the two lawns below seat 450 guests.

Brazilian quartzite in rose and pale verdigris form paths that lead visitors past the lawns to interesting "rooms" along the perimeter of the garden.

"The strictness of the paths keep people on the circuit," he said. "The course leads you from one special field to the next in a purposeful way. It's different when you're designing a public park."

The first area of interest: a rectangular fountain situated along the south side of the garden. Cascading water drowns out the street noise from Royal Palm Way. The fountain is surrounded by junipers, Bromeliad imperiales, coconut palms, gingers, alocasia and bamboo.

The metal latticework along the pergola sides support bougainvillea, providing both shade and privacy.

"The pergolas offer a romantic, sensuous place to sit in the shade," he said. "And shade in Florida is a big deal."

Unfortunately, the cherished giant banyan that shaded the northeast corner of the former garden had to be removed even though it survived the storms.

"Sadly, we lost our banyan because it had a contagious disease and the city wanted it moved," Duggan said.

However, another 40-ft., 75,000-pound banyan rescued from the society's parking lot was moved into the spot. Nearby, a huge Tropical Almond Tree ( Terminalia catappa) and magnolia trees provide dense shade, while the Madjool Palm Court allows breezes to cool visitors underneath.

Surprisingly, the garden doesn't look like it's just been planted. Wheelock's partner Don Skowron hand-picked many of the larger trees and plants.

"It's magnificent...it looks as if it's been here forever," Duggan said. "We purchased mature trees so we don't have to wait forever."

Given that scale is a primary consideration in sculpture gardens, Wheelock has created more intimate spaces and seating for smaller pieces. Bottle Palms are planted in families throughout the eastern end of the garden. Beds of rose Florida Hydrangea (Dombeya 'Seminole'), lantana and dwarf chenille set one area apart from another.

"It's important to understand the scale of the piece when you create an outdoor 'room' around it," said Wheelock, who uses hedges and tall plants as walls. "There's nothing worse than seeing other pieces nearby from everywhere you stand."

More sculpture will be added to the garden's collection in years to come; Wheelock has already built in sites for those.

"We'll begin with seven to ten works," Dugan said. "We want to live with it for awhile and then we'll slowly build a collection with the emphasis on discernment for quality."

Located to the west of the sculptures, the separate Botanical Display Gardens were first planted in 1938 by members of the Palm Beach Garden Club in order to give new residents ideas about the types of landscapes that could be created here in the subtropics.

Those gardens were let go until 1952 when Innocenti & Webel, a famous Long Island landscape architecture firm, came in and turned the space into a series of themed gardens: Chinese, Jungle Rock, Classical and Moonlight.

"Of course, they used plants that were available in 1952, but today those are boring," Wheelock said.

In addition to his sculpture garden redesign, Wheelock has also renovated all four demonstration gardens. An admitted perfectionist, he has created a detailed master plan so that as the gardens mature in coming years, the overall look shouldn't change that much. That suits Duggan just fine.

"Morgan's designs have lived up to our highest expectations," Duggan said.

SIDEBAR: Don Skowron's List of Not-To-Be Missed Plants

Wheelock: "Don Skowron, my partner, is a complete plant aficionado, but even he had never heard of 10 percent of the plants in this garden."

1. Costus woodsonii 'Dwarf Red Buttons'

2. Dwarf Chenile ( Acalypha pendula) used as ground cover

3. Emerald Bamboo ( Bambusa mutabilis

4. Tropical Blue Bamboo ( Bambusa chungii)

5. Seabreeze Bamboo ( Bambusa malingensis)

6. Palm Collection - Coconut, Sabal, Adonidia, Canary, Madjool, Bottle and Winin

7. Podacarpus - Mature, not pruned