Sunday, November 13, 2011

Longwood Gardens Mum Show

Longwood gardens was spectacular as always. Having been a gardener for this long, parts of their operation has sort of lost their charms. I've done enough plant forcing, design work and public displays to be familiar enough with how everything works behind the scenes. Still, I'm always impressed with the amount of planning and attention to detail that they are able to give their displays. I guess having 90 gardeners on staff doesn't hurt any either.


Longwood still remains as my favorite so far. The place is so elegant and classic in its design. I love how they incorporate research into formal designs and still have rooms filled with vegetables. They blend their seasonal material seamlessly with their standards. There is such attention to detail that I even find myself loving rooms that are filled with plants that I don't particularly like.

Still, many of their displays can be rather educational, even parts of their seasonal show.

Dozens of varieties of mum were grafted onto this single plant.

Good thing the varieties are well labeled.

 In general I'm fairly indifferent to mums. They put on a good fall display. I like the way they smell. I don't like how fragile they are. Mums will flower reliably in the park and they're easy enough to source but its also fairly reliable that some idiot will come through the park and use one as as an armrest.

Though, I imagine if I had a mum like this, I'd be more concerned about someone using it as a bed.

I've touched on Ozukuri before so I'm not going to bore you again. Everything looks amazing, just as expected. I honestly don't think the mums were my favorite part. Most of their supporting plants held more of my attention. The Hamelia, Solenostemon, and Codiaeum were probably my favorite display elements.

I think I'll also award Longwood for best use of Cycads.

 Hamelia as a standard. 


Look at that Coleus!

 I'm still not too sure on the golden winterberry...

 Even the bonsai were in on it.
 I think that's enough eye candy for now. Expect a part 2.

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