Niagara's Little Garden Show

This posting is a repeat of the marilyncornwell blog posting for today.  It is repeated so that everyone can see the wonderful work being done at the Niagara College Greenhouses, in the horticultural program.

A Garden Show in Niagara I went to the Niagara College Greenhouse 'Student Open House' last Friday.  This was the day before they presented the open house so I got the preview and got to meet the students. Everyone was running around, getting things ready, and they were all having a good time of it.  The students took time out from organizing the displays to show me their work and explain the compositions and plants.  It is encouraging and delightful to see a new generation of workers who are engaged and enjoying their work.  They had displays showcasing recycling of materials, as in the humorous use of tires with grass.  There were tiny space gardens and vertical displays.  The horticultural program teaches the latest techniques so the hydroponic lettuces were as interesting looking as they were delicious looking. It was so enjoyable to see this kind of garden show compared to Canada Blooms this year.  It is small, creative, personal and alive. More on Canada Blooms tomorrow.

Spring's Around the Corner…Pussy Willows are Here

It's Coming Soon I'll be out in the garden to take some pictures of snow drops in the next few days.  Their heads are up high enough to make a lovely display of spring emerging.  I thought you might enjoy these later spring images as a reminder that Spring is just around the corner.  The first is the Magnolia tree out front taken through the rain on the car windshield.  The second is at the Vineland Research Station and is cherry blossoms. I picked up my order of pussy willow branches from the grower where Brian has his Lilycrest Gardens hybridizing field.  They will go into the empty pots to make the first spring display.   They process about a hundred thousand stems each year. There were three-tier racks filled with pots of pussy willows.  Each bundle neatly tied into 10 stems and then many bundles in a bucket.  And they are cut precisely to size. There were three sizes for the florist market. This is work, but worth it as a cash crop. I encourage you to buy a pot of daffodils, primula, hyacinths, or pussy willows and bring Spring into your home too. And support our Niagara growers who force the bulbs.

Powell Gardens…Rabitty on the Way to the Chapel

Rabbity on the Way to the Chapel

Great Gardens This is taken at Powell Gardens in Kansas City.  The garden has a well-known chapel that is perched on the edge of a small lake.  The chapel is designed by architect E. Fay Jones, the best-known disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright.  This building certainly lives up to the reputation of Prairie Style, principles of organic design and having a timeless quality. There are many gardens at Powell, and the route to the chapel had these funny furry friends along the way.

Cropping the Image and Filling the Frame

Cropping the Image The big home and garden show in Toronto came and went.   It is always fun to see what is trending in the gardens in terms of plants and patios.  Over time, the big floral displays have transitioned to big patio displays of outdoor eating and cooking areas.  I miss the beautiful gardens of the past with flowering trees and blooming gardens.  But I certainly enjoy the show and the floral design section is spectacular.  The theme this year was "Let's Play". Our photos today show the benefits of cropping and using up the entire frame to close in on the story one is telling in the picture.  The first at Huntington Garden in Pasadena, and the second a private garden in Grimsby.

Monet's Water Lilies

Water Lilies

Water Lilies One of the blue flowers, tropical water lilies have complex interiors with little match stick stamens.When one looks up Water Lilies, the first retrieval is about Claude Monet's water lilies paintings.  He did a series of 250 oil paintings and they are on display in museums all over the world.  These paintings are considered influential to many of the following generations of artists, and they are widely recognized and appreciated by the public.

Impressions of Spring

Impressions of Spring

Thinking of Spring The spring garden isn't showing yet.  I would like to see the snow drops that were poking out before Christmas and the heather that was in full bud, ready to bloom too. So I did a tulip study yesterday using French Kiss textures to create the different backgrounds for this pretty tulip.

The Ringling Gardens

Florida Gardens

Florida Gardens    There are some flowering trees that colour the landscape in the February gardens of Florida.  The Red Silk Floss tree is a large tree on the landscape with large flowers.  These pictures show the flowers on the grounds of the Ringling Gardens.  The flowers could be found along the paths - perhaps set there by the Ringling Gardens grounds crew.   I didn't see many Florida gardens with roses. They need to be heat tolerant and there's an epidemic of thrips that consume the plants.  It takes constant insecticidal treatments to maintain a rose garden in Florida these days.  This picture of the rose garden shows its immense size and makes one aware of the work to keep it so attractive.  An aspect of the Ringling Gardens were the sculptures and statues set along the pathways of the gardens - collected in Europe by the Ringlings.  There must be hundreds.  There is even a Dwarf Garden  - these are statues of dwarfs brought from Italy - a link with the circus theme. This little fellow isn't one of the dwarves, but does look a bit grumpy.  He's set against one the many Banyan trees on the property. The Ringling Gardens were restored just over 10 years ago, yet they look perfect today as though they have always been cared for.

Florida's Jungle Gardens

Jungle Garden

Jungle Garden      We wouldn't want to leave Florida without Flamingos and Parrots. This is the Sarasota Jungle Garden and it is a wonderful display of subtropical forest set amongst meandering paths that display birds and other animals.  As with the rescue aquarium, the source of the animal or bird is indicated, and most of the reptiles came to the Jungle Garden when 'got too big to take care of' or 'owner was moving'. This was the case for most of the Parrots too - I can imagine they can get too much to take care of - they want a lot of attention and can be very loud.  One of the unusual residents was a breed of rabbit known as the Belgium rabbit.  It was found nearby  - either lost or rejected. What an unusual pet to lose or reject: this is the largest breed of rabbit and weighs between 20 and 40 pounds. I don't think Baxter would be in charge of this guy.

The Intensity of Vanda

Vanda Orchid

Vanda Orchids   Of all the orchids, the Vanda has the richest most intense colour of purple in the large flowers.  It is thought to be the most highly evolved of the orchids.  We enjoy it for its fragrance as well as large exotic flowers. The Marie Selby Garden has an extensive orchid collection with unusual species on display in the conservatory.