A Magical Christmas at Longwood Gardens

Christmas is a magical time--no more so than at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. The holiday would not be complete for me without our annual winter visit. This year was no exception. We spent time there earlier in December, raising my mood and putting me in the Christmas spirit. 

Following an established routine, on arrival we left the visitors' center and headed for the conservatory, anticipating some stunning displays. We were not disappointed as you can see from the scene that greeted us as we entered the building ...

The Conservatory, Longwood Gardens

 

A close-up shot of the tree in the previous picture

Plants with winter-interest, such as red-twig dogwood, winterberry holly, and poinsettia, dominated the main display. I have red-twig dogwood 'Arctic Fire' in my garden, but I'm ashamed to say that I have no winterberry. I plan to rectify this in 2022. I'm not too fond of poinsettia, except for the double one shown below. 

Winterberry holly Ilex verticallata 'Maryland beauty', Poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima, Redtwig dogwood Cornus stolonfera

While I don't care for single, red poinsettia, I do like this yellow one. It looks quite striking with the Kalanchoe.

'Golden Glo' poinsettia and Kalanchoe

My favorite display in the conservatory--no words needed

I always enjoy perusing the trees decorated by children. This year the children's tree exhibit was in the ballroom. 

Trees in the Children's Tree Display

An ornament made by a child. I love the sentiment of the angels bringing peace.

There are many plants to enjoy other than those typical of Christmas. Here are a few of my favorites, especially the orchids, from the 'hundreds' of photographs I took:

Bird of Paradise Strelitzia reginae

Hybrid grapefruit Citrus 'Oroblanco'

A hanging basket of orchids

Moth orchid Phalaenopsis hybrid

I've had no success growing one orchid, let alone a hanging basket full of them, so I need places like Longwood to give me my 'orchid fix.' There is a new orchid display area under construction. In the meantime, there were plenty to see and admire.

A few beauties from the orchid display

 

The Green Wall always intrigues me. I never fail to go find it, and not just because of its location by the restrooms.  How I would love to grow a living wall like this:

A very small part of the Green Wall that is on both sides of a long corridor.

Entering the Exhibition Hall we admired the table decorated for the Christmas meal. As with all the exhibits at Longwood, it is very different each year. 

 

My Christmas table wasn't so fancy.

Leaving the conservatory, we strolled around the grounds, enjoying the garden railway, warming our hands at a firepit, and watching a fountain show at the open air theatre. The trees were covered in lights, but as we were there earlier in the day, we didn't get to see all their festive glory. My friend, Christine, visited at nighttime and sent me the following pictures. Thank you, Christine.

A Longwood Christmas after dark

I hope Christmas 2021 was a magical time for those of you who celebrated it--as it was for me. For the new year, I wish all of you peace and happiness, dear gardening friends.

 Stay safe!

Pamela x

Guzmania 'Hope'

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A Gardener's Thanksgiving

The Bluebird of Happiness Visiting my Garden

My article, 'A Gardener's Gratitude List,' was published in the Pocono Record newspaper and in the Penn State Extension newsletter the week of Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. This is the blog posting I wrote at that time. The sentiments resonate with me more now, since we are still enduring effects of the Pandemic. It is my gardens that are getting me through these trying times. I can't say often enough how thankful I am for them. Here are just six reasons why:

1. The Beauty of the Seasons
I am thankful for year-round color, beginning with spring flowers then summer-blooming perennials. Of course, there is nothing more lovely than autumn in the Poconos, followed by the beauty of shrubs and trees in winter--such as the red twig dogwood in the snow.

Early June in my Cottage Garden

2. Thank a Plant
Plants are important to almost every aspect of our life including breathing and eating. My kitchen garden gives so much; I know my produce is free from chemicals. Fresh vegetable are 50% higher in nutrients than those that travel many miles to the supermarket. 

Bounty from my Kitchen Garden

3. Butterflies, Bees, and Hummingbirds
Besides being grateful for their beauty, I am thankful for the work of pollinators. Furthermore, I am thankful for beneficial insects that protect our vegetables from insect bullies.

Ruby-throated hummingbird on fuschia

Monarch butterfly on milkweed

4. Connecting with Friends and Neighbors
Like most of you, dear gardening friends, I need others who are willing to listen to my tales of garden successes and failures. I am blessed with friends who are prepared to dig beside me when I need help.

Gardeners from the local Women's Club gave my gardens a final grooming before an important event

 5. Health and Exercise
Gardening burns calories, reduces stress, and improves your overall physical and mental well-being. Gardening allows the brain to relax and releases the the tension caused by our addiction to technology - and all those Zoom meetings.

Gardening is good for your health.

6. Gardens Everywhere
I am thankful for public garden spaces that I visit for new ideas. The Philadelphia area, withing reach of the Poconos, has some of the best botanical gardens in the country. I managed to visit a few this year, including my favorite, Chanticleer.

Chanticleer -- my favorite public garden

These are just six reasons for being thankful. I can think of more, such as how gardening evokes memories, slows me down, and puts worries in perspective. You can read the full article HERE. It is even more relevant today.

What are you thankful for this holiday season?
Pamela x

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Innisfree Garden

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree"

-- W.B. Yeats, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" (1888)

On a cool, cloudy, October day, Duane and I visited beautiful Innisfree Garden at Millbrook, NY. We were on our way home from a brief get-away to New England--a wonderful trip with Innisfree as the perfect climax. This was the private garden of artist Walter Beck and his wife heiress Marion Burt Beck. They collaborated with landscape architect Lester Collins to create a garden with an Asian influence exemplified by the elements of water, stones, bridges, and plants. Walter Beck named the garden Innisfree after the island in an Irish loch immortalized by the poet, W.B. Yeats. From the moment we entered the grounds, we were in love with this serene place.

As we approached the garden, we drove through a gate next to a lovely stone building; then traveled down a long, narrow, winding lane

Along the way we passed a small lake where Duane spotted turtles sunning themselves on a log. He took this picture of them.

The centerpiece of Innisfree is the beautiful Tyrrel Lake, 40 acres in size. Water is pumped from this deep glacial lake into a hillside reservoir to feed the garden's water features.

I took pictures of the lake from several spots as we went around it. Every view is stunning.

 

There are bog gardens filled with water lilies. I would love to see them when the plants are blooming. The second one we saw had lotus that must be stunning in bloom.

Bog Gardens. You can see the leaves of lotus in the picture on the right.

As we walked beneath a sharp, vertical cliff, we saw mist rising above--small waterfalls flowed down the sheer cliff wall. The Mist Waterfall is one of the most dramatic sights at Innisfree. It looks very natural but its creation required an extremely elaborate construction.
 

The Mist Waterfall

Some of the plants include, on the right, foxglove and columbine. The light green foliage on the left is primula.

Lip Rock Waterfall

We climbed the Stone Steps by Tiptoe Rock then I rested near the Stone Slab Bridge

I believe this is the Water Sculpture with the Hillside Cave at the top

Five pear trees in the Meadow with one vertical rock

On the edge of the Meadow, bees were visiting Joe Pye

One of the terraces with pools and streams

 There are many magnificent trees at Innisfree including ginko, hemlock, and pine.

At first I thought this was a dawn redwood but its root's 'knees' show that it is a bald cypress. I wish my dawn redwood developed knees. Duane said that if it did he would paint faces on them.

I have shown only a few of the areas we visited. Innisfree is a large garden (185 acres) that feels very open yet provides intimate spots called cup gardens. I feel that we need to make several visits to assimilate it all. It didn't help that I wasn't wearing walking shoes--this was a spur-of-the-moment visit. Most definitely we will  return--I have to see Innisfree when the flowers are blooming.

Back at Astolat Gardens, my own dear venture, we have had more nasty storms with at least five inches of rain, plus very high winds. There has not been a frost yet but one is imminent. I plan to start putting the garden to bed over the coming week--never this late before.  

The Serenity Garden from the garden room window. The asters were flattened by the storms and the flagpole lies on the grass. The golden leaves of hosta and climbing hydrangea are pretty but wont be here much longer.

 

I brought the houseplants inside. I placed some of them in the French window facing west and some in the south-facing dining-room window.

The cactus on the right had quintuplets this summer--see below

Look at the five baby cacti.

A last view of the pond and herbaceous border before leaves fall and we put it to bed.

Fall arrived at Astolat at last

Although this posting is not a full review of my October garden, I am still linking with Sarah, Down by the Sea, in Dorset, England for her Through the Garden Gate meme. To see my October blooms, please click HERE.

I can't believe tomorrow will be the first day of November--this year is passing faster than any other. They say the years pass quicker as you get older--well, that seems true since I am now an octogenarian. Thank you dear friends for the birthday wishes. My wonderful husband and children gave me a surprise party that I will never forget. It is gardening that keeps me young--I recommend it.

Have a great November!

Love, 

Pamela x
 

Innisfree

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Celebrating the Flowers of Autumn

For someone like me who hates an untidy home or garden, October can be a frustrating month. All those fallen leaves for goodness sake--they litter the lawn and are trodden into the house. Not to mention the messy flowerbeds with all that dead and dying stuff. This year, however, I am determined to relax and enjoy the season, delighting in the vibrant colors of flowers and foliage--after tidying my flowerbeds a little, of course. Mother Nature helped my new attitude by sending a wonderful spell of warm weather for the first two weeks of the month. I've been spending time just sitting out there delighting in the autumn hues. I do believe, though, that the leaves are less vibrant this year due to higher than average temperatures, but blooms are lasting longer. When a cold front came through this week, I feared the rain and wind would damage my plants, so I gathered some of the flowers to enjoy indoors.

Vases of flowers brighten every room

 Here are some of the blooms that I picked. Arranged by color, they are labeled clockwise from top left:

Phlox paniculata  'Bright Eyes'; Zinnia 'Purple prince'; Hydrangea 'Limelight'; Zinnia 'Jazzy'; Rosa 'Knockout Pink; Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink'; Celosia; and Spirea 'Golden Mound'

Euphorbia; Zinnia 'White wedding'; Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'; Yarrow 'The pearl';

Nasturtium 'Empress of India'; Lantana 'Bloomify red'; Zinnia 'Jazzy mix'; Fuschia hybrid; Zinnia 'Double Zinnia Salmon'

Mums; Tall black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia maxima; Marigolds; Agastache 'Blue Fortune'; Salvia 'Amistad' Perennial Geranium 'Rozanne'; Coreopsis 'Redshift'

Cockscomb Celosia; Nasturtium 'Empress of India'; Pinapple sage Salvia elegans; Rosa 'Knockout red'; Lantana 'Bloomify Red'

I took these pictures on the 15th which is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I realize I am really late, but will link anyway, hoping that Carol will forgive me. Please go to her blog at May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming around the world. I already took a peek--some stunning gardens this month, including Carol's!

There are still lots of pollinators buzzing around (and some interesting spiders)

A few flowers I missed:

Morning Glory Ipomoea. Once you plant this vine you will never be without it.

The viburnum leaves are a lovely red and the shrub is blooming?!!

Two miniature roses. The left one is 'Joseph's Coat of Many Colors.' I think the one on the right is 'Toy Clown'

I planted pansies in pots and along borders

And here are a couple of plants that are especially stunning right now:

Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink'

Left: Friendship sage Salvia 'Amistad'                    Right: Pinapple sage Salvia elegans

This posting is a celebration of the October flowers in my garden. My next one will probably be about foliage as we are planning a trip to New England for a few days to celebrate trees in their autumn glory. I don't believe there is anywhere like this country for the colors of fall. 

Whatever the season in your part of the world, enjoy, dear gardeners.

Love,

Pamela x

 

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