Today, we visited Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The Christmas display was still in place and looked as fresh as if it was only the day after Thanksgiving. The building and reconstruction of Longwood Reimagined are nearly complete, and the new West Conservatory was open. The trees were gorgeous; photographs do not do them justice. The first was my favorite, between the East Conservatory and Exhibition Hall. If you are in the Philadelphia area, try to find time to visit Longwood Gardens.
We went to Longwood this week. The walk alongside the Meadow was golden and glorious. Spectacular wildflowers called Common Cup-Flowers lined the path. Goldfinches, butterflies, bumble and honeybees, gathered nectar and seeds.
Common cup-plant is a native wildflower in the Asteraceae (daisy) family. It may self-seed. It typically grows to around 6′, however, can grow to reach 9′ tall. ~North Carolina Extension Gardener.
It’s day two of the Pathways and Passages challenge, and I’m still walking the paths of Block Island and Longwood Gardens in my imagination. We often stayed in a Block Island Bed and Breakfast called the Sea Breeze Inn. It’s been well over a decade since we spent a week on the island, but we still remember one of the biggest draws of the place, its beautiful location, and the innkeeper, Gabby.
In the photograph, Gabby is standing on the path that leads to the room we always booked for our week’s stay. I wish we had kept in touch and could still withdraw to the wondrous room with its high ceilings and comfortable furniture. Every morning, Gabby brought us a basket filled to the brim with a pot of coffee, muffins, Danish pastries, fruit, and many delicacies to start the day. I often wonder where life has taken her, if she still lives on the island, or if she has moved to the mainland.
This well-dressed lady piqued my fancy one October day while visiting Longwood Gardens. I didn’t know her, and perhaps it is not polite to take a photo of someone just because you admire their outfit, but I loved her hat with its sassy bow, the red coat, and the posh bag she carried. Her long skirt was the perfect complement to the coat. So cute! In hindsight, I wish I had told her how beautiful her outfit appeared as she walked the pathways in the gardens. The photograph was taken in 2009. One of these days, I will attempt to create a watercolor of her. Fifteen years later, there is a lot of time between my first inspiration and getting around to it.
Looking up in the Orchid Room at Longwood to the sky beyond the glass panels.
Longwood Gardens has a lot of construction going on. I hope I am able to one day visit more of the new greenhouse sections. When we visited this week, we saw that they are beginning to reconstruct the water lily gardens.
The Longwood Gardens Conservatory boasts a gorgeous display of orchids. Not only can you view hundreds of varieties, you can also gaze out upon the ongoing construction of Longwood Reimagined in the Orchid room. There are many signs on the grounds, and articles available on the web, that apprise visitors of the future gardens and buildings. It’s quite exciting to imagine myself walking in these structures in the future.
While the sun glare, magnified through the window, can make it difficult to take a larger photo, a close-up of these beautiful blooms in the orchid room is enhanced by the back-lighting.
There is no one dominant species of orchid in the display, but I am always drawn to the faces of the Paphiopedilums. Just like pansy blossoms, they seem to have a perky personality.
This lovely orchid almost seems artificial. The inner recesses of the labellum are sunrose yellow, the January 30th color for City Sonnet’s January Colors and Letters.
We visited Longwood Gardens this week. The conservatory was filled with Christmas trees, some elegant and designed by floral experts, a few covered with decorations created by children. All the trees were beautiful, but my favorites were in the Exhibition Hall, atop the sunken marble floor, with faux ice above the water.
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
~ Psalm 55:22 (KJVA)
The acacia passage is one of my favorite areas in the Longwood Garden Conservatory. This beautiful vignette is just one of the many plant displays that will pique your interest during the Orchid Extravaganza.
If I was the gardener in charge of the area, the care, placement and upkeep of all the plants would be daunting. To cope, and do the best job possible, I would remind myself of wise counsel a good friend once gave me, “Concentrate on one problem at a time.” This sage advice works for so many aspects of life. We get into trouble when we overextend ourselves and try to take care of too many problems at one time.
Aha, you say, all my problems must be taken care of now, I have no choice. Yes, sometimes choosing just one doesn’t work, but in that case, I remind myself of the verse I began the post with, and I cast the burden on the Lord. What a promise to cling to in the midst of our busy, problem-filled lives. He will sustain me, He will sustain thee. God bless you on this Sabbath Day.
On a recent trip to Longwood Gardens we admired this arch created with books folded into interesting shapes and flowers. The base appears to be created with gnarly branches and moss.
As a lifelong lover of books, I have mixed feelings about using books for crafts, although I have done so on numerous occasions. I enjoy cutting phrases out of books to use on greeting cards. You can see a sample and how-to on using these cut out phrases on The Flower Ark/Tulip Greeting Card.
I might try to make a few of these book page flowers for a Valentine’s Day Centerpiece.
Each year I visit Longwood Gardens when the Orchid Extravaganza is on display in the conservatory. The Longwood gardeners create a masterpiece of color and form with the orchids grown in their greenhouses.
The conservatory built in 1921, elicits admiration as you turn the bend of the paved path and view it in the distance.
An inviting multitude of paphiopedilum, one of my favorite orchids, greeted us as we entered the side door. Those who plan the displays do a great job creating a balance between flowers, foliage and trees.
The rainbow colors sometimes hold a surprise too…these orchids, in reality are a deep purple, but appear to be a true black on first glance.
If orchids aren’t your flower of choice there are hundreds of additional plants on display. One of my favorites were the African Violets in garden boxes bordering one of the exhibition halls.
We also admired the lilies, filling many of the nooks and crannies of the conservatory in a rainbow of colors. Part II of our recent trip will be posted tomorrow.
What is that oddball bag lying beside my carrots in the vegetable bin of my refrigerator?
What looks like small onions or shallots is really a bag of Spring-Flowering bulbs, leftovers from my Autumn plantings.
While you’re looking for Christmas trees and poinsettias in big box stores or garden nurseries, take a moment to check if there are any leftover Autumn bulbs on clearance. Often a business will slash prices of out of season plants to the point of almost giving them away. I mimic frosty cold by storing unplanted bulbs as the Gardening-Know-How site suggests:
The highest chilling temperature is around 40 degrees F. (4 C.), so chilling bulbs in the refrigerator is ideal. Just be sure not to store them near any fruit, as the released ethylene gas reduces bloom. Store the bulbs in the refrigerator in a ventilated mesh bag.
~ Gardening Know How/How to Chill Flowering Bulbs
The article has many fine tips on how to select, chill and plant the bulbs in Spring. I have about three months to come up with good ideas for forcing these beauties. The bright flowers and colors will certainly be an antidote for the doleful greys of late-winter skies.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
In February 2016, I posted about these amazing anthurium hanging baskets I photographed in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory. When I visited the gift shop on my way out, I found single plants for sale at an amazing price and took one home with me. I’ve grown the anthurium in a terracotta pot as a floor plant since then, and although it has done well, it has never wanted to stand upright. After propping it up for years, I decided to let it do what it seemed to be destined to do well and planted it in a hanging basket.
““Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ~ Dr. Seuss
The anthurium always looked interesting in its floor pot, but as a hanging basket plant it is unique and will never look common. A good lesson for me to follow too: Always be who I am, and not what others think I should be!
““Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. Some have been the chief of sinners and some have come at the very last of their days but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them trusting to the same support. It will bear me over as it has for them.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon
This photograph, taken amid the glorious trees of Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is part of Sunday Trees.
Somewhere within the glorious colors on the petals of this variety of orchid, there must be the shade…Razzle Dazzle Rose, today’s Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola color. These orchid photographs were taken in the Longwood Garden’s Conservatory, March 2017.
In our last excursion to Longwood Gardens we noticed this shrubby bush growing in the conservatory. The marker beneath it identified the plant as Leptospermum laevigatumas, or as it is better known, Australian Tea Tree.
Essential oil from the Melaleuca alternifoliae species of tea tree, is a well-known remedy for many kinds of skin conditions, ( Always diluted with a carrier oil or products such as Witch Hazel) and also a good addition to organic cleaning recipes. Care must be taken when using tea tree oil, as with any essential oil. Mayo Clinic Tea Tree Oil Warnings
Caution: If you have cats, many essential oils can build up in their system and become toxic. Tea tree oil is one of these oils. More information on essential oils that are dangerous if you have pets can be found here: 30 Essential Oils Toxic to Pets
As with all essential oils care must be taken when using tea tree oil.
“Pure tea tree oil should not be ingested, and should be kept out of the reach of children; several cases of tea tree oil poisoning have been recorded. The oil can also cause contact dermatitis.” ~ Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
Reader’s Digest has a good article and list of some of the uses of tea tree oil: Tea Tree Oil Uses
I always admire the staghorn ferns in the fern passage at Longwood Gardens. I’ve grown one of these beautiful plants for about six months in an ordinary garden pot. After a recent visit to the gardens, I was inspired to mount and display it properly.
Staghorn ferns do not need a lot of compost. I used soil amended with vermiculite and perlite to lighten the weight.
I planned on displaying my fern on my living room wall, but didn’t want to use a natural basket or piece of wood due to possible water stains. I found a good alternative in a wire basket that I had on hand. My first step was to line the bottom with coffee filters to keep the soil in bounds.
The root system is not large in comparison to the rest of the plant. It fit perfectly in the small narrow basket.
I planted the fern at an angle, allowing the fronds to cascade over the sides.
Chair leg pads were a good choice to keep the basket off of the wall. These are self-stick and only took a moment to apply.
I was pleased with the display after it was hung on the wall. I will update the progress as the fern grows.
Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is having its yearly Chrysanthemum Festival. As always, the conservatory is filled with beautiful flowers and amazing feats of training the chrysanthemums to grow into unique shapes.
Here’s a close-up of one of the techniques they use.
There are shapes of all kinds to marvel over and enjoy. Most of these are created with only one chrysanthemum plant. Amazing!
Whatever the season, Longwood Gardens has something outstanding to enjoy.
They are beautiful planted in abundance, but I prefer to zoom in on a smaller group and enjoy the beauty of the sun’s rays shimmering through each petal.
