The elegant arches of the Garden Gates frame a sweep of emerald lawn bordered by magnificent perennial flower beds, backed by the imposing presence of Love Library. This is Love Garden, the traditional entrance to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln city campus.

The Garden Gates always remain open, inviting the community to visit the campus and enjoy the garden's ever-changing colors and textures.

Love Garden originally was a formal rose garden, with clipped euonymus and juniper hedges and beds of red roses surrounding a large lawn. A complete renovation begun in 1981 created the present garden. The new design produced greater interest by using diverse plants to provide more seasonal change and contrast in size and textures than the formal rose garden.

The perennial beds soften the edges of the paired walks leading to the library, but their symmetrical placement recalls the garden's historical design and echoes the angular mass of Love Library.

Dwarf yew hedges maintain the formality of the old garden, now balanced by the informal feel of the colorful perennial flower beds. The traditional expanse of lawn ties Love Library to similar open spaces south of Canfield Administration building and the College of Business Administration and acts as the setting for the jewel-like flower beds.

Strolling past the perennial beds on a June day, a visitor passes through varying patterns of sun and shade cast by the garden's trees. Plants in the beds are chosen to fit the different growing environments created by the trees.

Just inside the Garden Gates, young serviceberry trees (Amelanchier x grandiflora) are too small to cast much shade, so Phlox maculata, Heliopsis and Coreopsis verticillata thrive in the long hours of warm sun.

Farther along the walk, a group of Eastern redbuds (Cercis canadensis) offers the shade enjoyed by Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) and celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), and lush groups of Sedum and lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) prove their versatility as lovers of sun and shade. White meadow anemone (Anemone canadensis) flowers gleam from a pool of June shade and large heart-shaped wild ginger leaves (Asarum canadense) look handsome throughout the growing season.

At the end of the walk, near the library, the deep shade created by mature pin oaks (Quercus palustris), Japanese pagodatree (Sophora japonica) and redbuds is a cool, dim home for columbine and ferns. Shade also provides an opportunity to showcase plants with colorful and textured foliage. Here, smooth, bright green hosta leaves and the elegant bronze-red leaves of Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple' combine for a lovely effect.

The eight perennial beds are a Nebraska version of traditional herbaceous English borders, using masses of color and varied heights and depths to maintain visual interest. The overall effect is informal, belying the time and effort spent on design. Carefully chosen species provide a sequence of bloom and color from early spring until frost, but the garden'' season doesn'' end there. Plants with interesting textures and seedheads remain to enliven the garden in the winter months.

A group of sun-loving perennials adjoining the lawn illustrate the careful planning of colors, textures, heights and bloom times required for an effective border.

A fine example is a small group of plants near the north end of the walk, consisting of Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), zebragrass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'), Moonshine yarrow (Achillea x 'Moonshine') and dwarf fountaingrass (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'). Tall, upright zebragrass makes a bold season-long statement with its dramatic striped foliage, while alongside it the airy, silver foliage of Russian sage is covered with an understated haze of blue flowers from July to September.

In front of the zebragrass, shorter Moonshine yarrow boasts bright yellow blooms that perfectly match the yellow stripes on the grass. The flowing, mounded from of dwarf fountaingrass completes the tableau, its rich green, fine-textured leaves contrasting with the fern-like gray foliage of yarrow.

Caring for such a large garden can be a labor-intensive enterprise. The task is eased by beginning with excellent soil, enriched each year with additional compost. No chemical fertilizers are applied to the beds and pesticides are used only when absolutely necessary.

Wood chip mulch maintains moisture and keeps down the weeds in the beds. Deadheading, or removing spent flowers, is an ongoing chore. It often means simply clipping off dead flowers, but some early summer-blooming perennials, such as geraniums, salvia and veronica, can be cut back almost to the ground after flowering. This stimulates a flush of new growth and a second bloom.

Certain perennials, such as Autumn Joy sedum and Moonshine yarrow, begin to flop of thin out after a few years. Dividing these plants by lifting them in the spring, cutting them into clumps and replanting restores their vitality and results in additional plants for use elsewhere on campus.