Clothed with Nature

One of the perks of being back at school and being a Pitt student is that I have free access to the Museums and Phipps Conservatory. Yesterday I went and visited the summer flower show at Phipps where the theme is Living Harmoniously with Nature. Throughout the exhibit different areas showed how you can live green; using plants and trees from furniture, decoration and even clothing! In the South Conservatory a feast was set up with a mannequin party guests dressed in the latest fashions comprised of leaves and flowers.  Edible plants and vegetables were growing along the edges of the rooms to show how useful gardens can also be decorative. Below are some pictures from this room. I'll post more about the other exhibit display the next few days.

View of the feast as you walk in.

The orange leaves give the illusion of a fur collar and cuffs.

The texture of the leaves around the waste give the look of rousing.

A dog made out of moss

 

For more information about Phipps Conservatory and of this exhibit visit http://phipps.conservatory.org/

Katie's Wedding Flowers

So on Saturday night my friend Katie got married in the beautiful Landis Valley Museum. I must begin by saying that this was one of my favorite weddings that I have ever attended. It was in a great location, the set up was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous and the whole thing was very Christ centered. The flowers were all very natural and set around the ceremony and reception in really interesting containers. Giant hydrangea were added to the grapevine and white lights that surrounded the trellis the couple was married under. The father of the bride did all the decorative flowers, which is a huge money saver but also added to the more personal feel of the wedding. Katie carried a huge bouquet of sunflowers and wildflowers made up the boutonnieres and bridesmaids bouquets. I took a  lot of pictures that night but here are a few of my favorites.

Ceremony set up in the Firehouse

Different bottles make great vases

Snap dragons

 Buckets of flowers were placed at the end of every other row of chairs along the aisles. By using the same type of flowers in each container a look of abundance is created.

Baby's Breath

Beautiful Katie walking in with her sunflower bouquet.

Centerpieces at my table.

 Using a mix of buckets, fun containers and old books really gave this reception a personal feel; capturing the personalities of the bride and groom. I was told all of the different containers were found at a local farmer's market in Lancaster; I always love being able to help support the local economy.

I love the small green bottle; the mother of the bride actually let me take it home!

Head table

Wildflower Bridesmaid Bouquet

Katie's Bouquet with the K.

One of the groomsmen boutonnieres

Watering cans make a great way to display flowers

Another cute watering can on the guest book table

 Hope you thought of some new way to display flowers and create centerpieces!

Hurricane Preparation

Hurricane Irene is rapidly approaching the Eastern seaboard and is expected to hit Cape May, new Jersey on Saturday night, and travel up along the coast effecting Philly and New York. Being 13 miles outside of Philly my parents are going to be getting a lot of rain and strong winds up to 40-60mph!
This means that everything on the porch and in the yard needs to come in out of the rain or be tied down so it won't blow away.


Here are some things to do before the rain comes (so you aren't outside trying to bring in a lawn chair while carrying an umbrella).

1. Take down all of your hanging plants and bird feeders!
2. Bring in any container plants/gardens from the yard and porch to inside the house or a strong shed.
3. Don't forget about your lawn ornaments and garden art that is fragile or won't sustain strong winds.
4. Pick any vegetables that are ripe or almost ripe, especially tomatoes (squished tomatoes on your neighbors lawn won't make you any friends)
 5. Stake any young plants, trees or flowers that won't be able to stand up in the heavy wind and rain
6. Bring in Chinese lantern or hanging votive candles you might have placed outside or around your deck.
7. Put all lawn furniture in a shed or basement; if you don't room to store your patio table flip it upside down with a trash can with a sand bag inside of it on top.
8. Put a lid or secure a tarp over your compost pile, especially if it is almost full to the top (again you don't want rotten food all over your yard).

Plants from the porch brought inside for protection.

Don't forget a tarp so not to ruin the wood floors!

What have you done to prepare for the hurricane?

Discovery Garden

The other day I was helping my mom set up her preschool classroom which is located on our church property in Wayne. This past year they have added in a discovery garden on part of the back property; adding onto the meditation garden that has been in place but overgrown for years. Not only has the addition of the discovery garden made a part of the property usable again but it has been a great teaching tool for children about nature and animals.
Here are some pictures of the garden and some of the new plants that have gone in.

Arbor entrance

Child sized bench to relax in the garden

Cute signs mark the different areas of the garden

Bear sculpture out of a stump

Two turtle sculptures on either side of the path entrance

Close up of a turtle

Christmas Ferns, newly planted with markers

Original meditation garden

Looking through 2 arches to the gazebo

Plethora of Tomatoes

Last night I went over to my sister's house for a yummy, authentic Mexican dinner. Before we started cooking we went outside to collect some tomatoes from the garden in their small yard. Walking from the back door off the kitchen there is a small porch that looks down to the backyard where a sea of tomatoes are growing. My sister and her husband are growing every type of tomato you can imagine; plum, grape, cherry and beefsteak. My niece had lots of fun helping us pick the ripe tomatoes, even at three she can tell a good one from a bad one. Needless to say we got more than enough tomatoes for dinner along with some jalapenos and a zucchini! Next year they say they are going to grow some other types of vegetables and reduce their number of tomato plants due to the over abundance.
Here are some pictures I took while we picked some tomatoes!

The view from the back porch showing the tomato and zucchini plants.

Some orange marigolds show add some color to the green plants.

Grape tomatoes ready to be picked!

My brother in law showing my niece the zucchini that was ready.

Lots of basil. When it goes to seed it has a great vertical height.

More tomatoes!

Some jalapeno peppers!

My niece with all of the tomatoes that we picked.

What sort of veggies (I know tomatoes are a fruit) do you grow in your home garden?

Melissa's Wedding Flowers

On Saturday the 20th my childhood friend Melissa got married in the Philadelphia area to her now husband Caleb. The decorations were mainly flowers and candles used around the church and the reception hall. The bridesmaids carried hot pink and white flowers that really popped against their turquoise dresses. Melissa's bridal bouquet was composed of white and light pink flowers with lots of greens. More hot pink flowers were used in vases as decorations to add some bright splashes of color.
Here are some pictures enjoy!

Set up of the church; hot pink roses in glass containers with candles and lanterns.

My table, light pink rose petals surround a fish bowl with floating candles.

Pink flowers within a lantern make up some of the other table centerpieces.

Bridesmaid's bouquet

Bridal bouquet

Roses from the church brought over the reception set on the cake table; this is the extra sheet cake in addition to the three tier wedding cake.

What are some of your favorite flowers that you have seen at weddings?

Chanticleer, Gardens of Green

Friday afternoon I walked around Chanticleer Gardens with my parents which is located right in our town of Radnor, PA. Since it is the end of summer most of the flowering plants are on their way out and the different shades and textures of green plants really stood out.  To learn more check out the website at http://www.chanticleergarden.org/visitors.html
Here are some pictures of some of my favorite things I saw.

Interesting potted plant with white leaves along the courtyard of the house

Sunflower tree

Great lawn, the chairs were painted to look like giraffe

Trail through bamboo in the Asian garden

Potted plants are used to fill in gaps along the walkway

Field of yellow lilies

 What local gardens do you have around where you live?