Historic
Crockett
Home & Garden
Forty summers of a garden redrawn from scratch each year — a Logan, Utah tradition planted in public view.
A long standing tradition, adapted for today
A new design every year
Each spring the beds are cleared and a new design is drawn — pulled from world events, societal progress, and scientific breakthroughs. The 2002 Winter Olympics garden, planted the summer the games came to Salt Lake City, remains the most photographed of them all.
Started in 1985
Bruce began the garden in 1985, not long after taking on the historic Crockett Avenue house — a home that had stood on this corner since 1887. The first summer's rows of vegetables became the start of a tradition: every year since, the yard out front has been cleared and planted into a new design for the whole street to see.
What began as one family's summer project has become a civic landmark: a garden neighbors plan their walks around, and school groups visit every August.
The Home
The historic house behind the beds, and the work of restoring it.
The Gardens
Every design, year by year, from the first summer to this one.
About
The Bugbee and West families, who plant the garden every summer.
Visit
The garden is planted in June and at its peak from late July through September. It sits on a public sidewalk in Logan — come see it any time.
The Gardens
Forty summers, forty designs. Scroll the years — each one gets its own photographs and the story behind the design.
Index: Every Year
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About
Every summer, the Bugbee and West families plant the garden together.
The Bugbee Family
The Bugbee Family, including Bruce and his daughter, Anna, have been creating a floral design at the Crockett household since 1987. Throughout the years, Anna's creativity grew as her curiosity for the world did too, leading to timeless garden designs you can view on this very page.
Bruce Bugbee grew up in Paynesville, Minnesota, where the rhythm of seasons and the promise of a good harvest shaped his earliest curiosities. That fascination with how plants grow carried him through the University of Minnesota, to UC Davis, and on to Penn State, where he immersed himself in the quiet science of how light, water and air coax life from the soil.
In 1981 he came to Utah State University and almost immediately set his sights beyond the sky, working with NASA to imagine how astronauts might one day grow their own food among the stars. He built the Crop Physiology Laboratory, mentored a generation of scientists, bred a tiny wheat named Apogee that has flown aboard the International Space Station, and founded Apogee Instruments, whose sensors now help researchers around the world understand the plants and climate they study. His pioneering work with LED light has changed how greenhouses and indoor farms are lit.
For all his work on the frontiers of space, Bruce's favorite garden may be the one in his own front yard. At the historic Crockett House in Logan, he and his wife, Diana West, plant a new 30 by 40 foot flower design each summer, a living canvas that has honored beloved children's books, remarkable people and moments in world history. Opened to neighbors for community gatherings and fundraisers, the garden has become a gift to the town, and a reminder that great science and simple wonder grow from the same soil.
The West Family
In 2013, Diana West and Bruce were married and joined together with Diana's five children to continue the tradition of the Crockett Gardens. Some of the most impressive gardens have been created since then, including 2013's Wizard of Oz garden that featured a winding yellow brick road that invited people to walk through the garden.