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Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA.
Although I usually go to see the plants, and mainly those in and around the conservatory, occasionally I wonder the grounds at Longwood as well, and I always wonder what it would have been like to live on the estate. While specimens like this Dogwood tree in fruit are spectacular in their own right, there is much more to the place than the cultivated portions.
Here is a virtual tour of just a few of the highlights.
A lovely Italian style portico off the pump house at the main fountain garden, one of a few enormous fountain systems on the property built in the early 1900's. The portico includes built in benches, were you might sit and rest from the sun, while considering the peace of the trees and birds.
Also part of the Main Fountain Garden, these fellows are getting on in years. Currently they are not in use pending restoration, but the surrounding fountains are still in operation. This garden includes colored lights, used in flashing patterns set to music during their Festival of Fountains. According to the Longwood website, the most powerful jet in this garden reaches a height of 130 feet.
Imagine having a picnic here on the grass, complete with a bottle of Chianti and gentle violin notes on the breeze. Perhaps after you might retire to the portico to relax against the benches and discuss the day's events, or the upcoming evening.
Among several architectural and foliage wonders, the conservatory includes a large ballroom, lavishly appointed with (walnut?) parquet floor, fabric paneled walls, marble trims and etched glass ceiling (above), not to mention its breathtaking views of the conservatory (below). The conservatory also houses an Aeolian Pipe Organ, with the console instrumentation in the ballroom itself and the pipes behind one wall of the ballroom. The wall has openings into the pipe chambers, hence the fabric wall coverings. It is...nothing short of spectacular. The custom-built monster consists of over 10,000 pipes and is the largest of its kind ever constructed. It is currently being restored. You can see the pipes but they do not play it. Personally, I would love nothing more than to hear it played, and can't wait for the opportunity.
Perhaps after attending the ball, you may take a stroll through the Conservatory...
...And then out into the grounds. While pausing to admire the Chinese anemone (A. tomentosa), you might look up to discover you have left behind your European vacation, only to find yourself in a fairy tale.
Rapunzel would have been proud of this tower. The Chimes Tower houses the Longwood estate's Carillon, which was also fairly recently restored. For more information on the history and construction of the organ and carillon, check this page.Perhaps, though, you may find this tower is not Rapunzel's home, but home to the mythological beings. Whatever am I on about? Well, the place seems to be infested with nymphs (see below).
I suppose hemlock trees attract them.
My sister and I recently visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA. According to the garden's website, the place has a slightly unusual history. The property started as a club, progressed to a convalescent home then eventually a private residence, from where it passed by will to the city's possession in 1968, with the stipulation for it to be developed into a botanical gardens. In 1981 this was finally realized. (see LGBG website for more details)
All that's lovely, but what does it mean? The garden and its collection is young and still in development. They have, however, done quite a nice job with the modest grounds. I would also point out, they have a lovely library on premises, which is open to the public and full of books and periodicals on plants, gardening, and birds. Not to mention a fantastic place to escape from the heat. Richmond might as well be Savannah for the weather they get there.
But I digress. Here are some highlights of their collection.
One of the first areas you pass through in the garden is an herb garden display, showcasing some well known as well as less known plants of medicinal interest. Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) for example, at left. Hawthorn species are native to the United States, and the berries were/are used to prepare a heart tonic, but due to my lack of experience in the matter I couldn't tell you if all species are used or only certain ones. There are ~200 species. Washington Hawthorn, despite what the name suggests, does not originate from the Pacific Northwest. According to the USDA PLANTS profile, this species is found all over the Eastern half of North America, from Florida into Canada.
They do have a modest conservatory, with a few orchids of mainly rather ordinary selections from the view of an enthusiast. Enough, though, to be educational to the novice, however. I thought this Paph. Lynleigh Koopowitz was rather attractive.
While they may have little in terms of unusual orchid species, they did, however have this nicely executed glass sculpture of a 'ghost orchid' (Dendrophylax lindenii, a.k.a. Polyrrhiza lindenii). This endangered leafless species is native to the Southwestern reaches of Florida. The plants have been under propagation for several years now, and laboratory-propagated stock are often found for sale on eBay. If you by one, please make sure it is laboratory-propagated.
There is a picturesque pavilion, no doubt frequently rented for weddings, surrounded by a variety of roses in varietal blocks. The most unusual to me was this Polyantha rose, 'Orange Morsdag'. I don't recall reading about Polyantha roses before, but if this one is certainly worth note with its adorable multitude of blossoms reminiscent of the Old English style. Googling it I find the shape of flowers varies among Polyantha roses, though floriferous nature and compact size is common, and they vary in their hardiness. Investigate varieties of interest before planting them in your landscape. There were many other things of interest in the garden, including a nice variety of Japanese Maples and other trees, carnivorous plants, and woodland perennials. Overall, worth the visit when you're in the Richmond area.
I did a couple things this weekend. One was to attempt to sell plants at the Old Town Village Marketplace in Fairfax, where a large crowd was anticipated for the Fairfax community fair. It didn't work out very well because the large crowd at the fair didn't know we were in that building. This was another lesson learned in selecting a venue and why I shouldn't do a show last minute - I wore myself out preparing. Oh well. On Nov. 1st I'll be selling again at the DC Craft Mafia show in Bethesda. Come out & see me!
The more exciting news was a trip to US Botanical Gardens adjacent to the Capitol Building to genuflect at the plants. It was a very nice day for it. The NCOS show was this weekend too, but for the first time in years I skipped it, so I can't report on it for you.
In one room they trotted out a number of succulents and put up cards with a list of their traditional uses. As you might expect this display included several aloes with their well known uses. However, some had some interesting details I'd never heard of before. For example, this A. ferox apparently is used to make snuff. ??? Thats a new one by me!
I also took a moment to muse about how a clone name can identify the origin of a plant. This Paph. Transvaal 'Orchid Loft' is a fairly obvious example, in that the original plant must have been owned by Orchid Loft at the time it was awarded.
This Phal. Valentinii 'Harford' is a little more subtle, but anyone familiar with The Little Greenhouse will recognize Harford as their location and a name they use quite frequently with their clones. Incidentally, if you've never been to Little Greenhouse, which is North of Baltimore, make the time to visit the next time you're in the area. It's a charming greenhouse with lots of little goodies tucked away all over the place.
I think I should pick some names to tack to all my plants. I'll have to think about that one.
There were lots of other interesting things there as well. For example, this Globba winitii, which is in the ginger family. I used to have an alba form of this species. They're pretty easy to grow as long as the bulbs don't stay too wet during the winter months.
Finally, I'll leave you with a photo of a nice cactus-mounted Oncidium onustum (a.k.a. Zelenkoa onustum). I don't remember seeing the plant there last time I visited, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. In any case, its nicely bloomed out!
I got back in town late Monday night from the trip to FL for the Redlands Orchid Festival in South Florida. It was a good show, but somehow we totally passed the actual show tent. Its kinda small - they don't have displays at this show, only individual plants for awards. But there are something like 60 vendors form 16 countries. Whew! lots to look at! There was a fair amount of sort of average stuff, but also a fair number of good deals and unusual or high quality stuff. Cool t-shirts too!
The festival is held at the Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead. The park has a nice collection of normal and unusual fruit trees and plants. Unfortunately, many of them are not labeled or only have a common name label. The two photos above are from the fruit and spice park. On the left is Pachira aquatica (Guiana chestnut [on label at park], Malabar chestnut, money tree) and on the right is some banana with no ID. They had a nice little Musa forest, including a few dwarf trees, but I don't know their names.
We stayed at the Grove Inn while in the area. They also have many edible plants on their property, including sapote, mango, natal plum, barbados cherry, and passifloras. Its a great little place with a comfortable courtyard (photo at left) with several tables and chairs where we ate breakfast every morning, then chilled with the cats and watched the plentiful anoles skittering around. Below left is a little dude claiming a chair leg as his own. On the right is a house gecko that we found hiding out behind a pink loofah. We really loved this place and I'm already thinking up excuses to go back! I very much prefer the bed & breakfast atmosphere to the ordinary hotel.
One of our other stops was Butterfly World. It was surprisingly expensive to get into this place given its relatively small size, but it did have a moderate collection of tropical passifloras (which is mainly why we went) and a big containment area filled with exotic species of butterflies. At left is a photo of a yellow and black critter resting on my hand. While there I procured seeds from several different passifloras. Maybe later this summer I'll have plants to share with everyone!
