Phipps Spring Flower Show 2013- Secret Garden

Entrance into the Serpentine Garden

I feel ashamed how long it has been since I last posted a new blog entry but that is what happens when you are finishing up the last semester of a doctoral program. So this post is a little late since the the Spring Flower Show finished over a month ago and the Summer Flower Show is now in full bloom.

Garden gate in the Palm Court

Broderie Room

The theme for the 2013 Phipps Spring Flower Show was the Secret Garden, based on the beloved book. I admit I haven't read the book but I have seen the movie and have always wanted to have my own secret garden someday. I want my own small space of organized chaos full of flowers, trees and garden art to have in my future home.

Water spicket in the edible garden

Topiaries and winding path

Overall the spring flower show was a nice relaxing stroll for the afternoon, giving me a small sense of escape from my busy schedule. The flowers were pretty typical of the spring flower shows in the past with the regular display of tulips. But it is hard to feel disappointed when seeing an array of such cheery flowers.

Orange tulips, one of my favorites

Red tulips

I love the orange flowers with the ivy against the brick wall

goddess sculpture

Hopefully you enjoyed these photos, sorry it wasn't very informative but I will have more up soon!

Spring Around The World: Phipps Flower Show 2012

Last week I visited the Spring Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory where the theme was a Trip around the World. Each room depicted a different country showcasing spring flowers and  highlighting some unique pieces of each culture.

Flags were displayed in the Palm Court when you first walked in showing some of the countries included in the flower show.

 A huge Dutch tulip display with a moving windmill was one of my favorite rooms due to the variety of tulips and other flowers included. Of course my favorites were the orange tulips which I took many pictures of, one of which you can see below.

 

Dutch Display

Pretty Pink Tulips

Triumph Tulip in orange. Tulipa. 'Anne Schilder'

 A close second favorite was the Great Britain display.It was set up in the Sunken Garden ans included a British red phone booth filled with white flowers and the Union Jack depicted by red, white and blue blooms.

Red phone booth filled with white snapdragons and surrounded by tulips.

I like the contrast of the white delicate tulips against the red frame of the booth.

One half of the Union Jack created by the flowers in the sunken garden. 

France was also represented during the Spring Flower Show. Of course the display was in none other than the Broderie Room which is the wedding or love room at Phipps Conservatory.

The Broderie Room was filled with pink, white and green flowers.

Little touches like this bike were placed around the room to feel like you were outside in Paris.

Official wishing well.

Variety of plants and flowers filled the bed along the back wall.

 Other countries such as Greece, China and the Polynesia Islands were also represented in the exhibit along with the permanent India display and Orchid room. Pictures from the rest of the rooms will be up soon but since this post is getting long I will end it now.

The show closes soon so hopefully you will be able to go and see it and experience all the wonderful spring flowers.

Hawaiian Jewelry Made From Nature

At the 2012 Philadelphia Flower Show there was a whole display of accessories made out of flowers and other natural elements. Hair combs, necklaces, charm bracelets and handbags were all on display and they attracted lots of attention. Although all of the pieces were made out of unusual materials, they were still functional and wearable. A card accompanied each item with the raw elements so that you could decipher what was in each piece. The above necklace is made from hydrangea, ivy, reed, rhododendron sea pod, juniper berry, grapevine and wax flower.

The hair combs below mostly feature orchids in keeping with the Hawaiian theme.

This comb used real leaves to look like an orchid.

This comb used seeds as the main element.

Charm Bracelet.  Made from:  ivy vine, lemon leaf, protea, daffodil petal, black bean, pine nut, setaria, paperwhite petals, fern and an acorn.

The green 'beads' in this necklace are actually made from almonds and the 'fringe' is sago palm.

The theme for the handbags was to make an evening bag that was inspired by the ocean.

Palm tree bark was used to make the look of the waves.

The blue balls are all white peppercorns that have been colored.

Maybe you will be inspired go out and collect something from your yard to make yourself a unique fashion piece.

Hawaiian Wave

One of the first large installments at the Philadelphia Flower show this year was a giant wave made out of plastic, lights and of course flowers. As you walked underneath it you noticed how moving pictures were interspersed with rows of white orchids and anthuriums (Flamingo Flowers). The display called 'Wave' was created by Valley Forge Flowers and won an award for the beautiful orchids that they showed.

Walking under the wave.

White orchids that won an award.

Stripes of flowers.

The curve of the structure gave the illusion of movement.

There were lots of large installments and displays that I will post about soon.

Terrariums and Tulips

 I had the pleasure this week to visit the 2012 Philadelphia Flower Show where the theme was Hawaii! Large landscapes and installations featured native flora such as birds of paradise, palm trees and of course orchids. I spent hours walking through the convention center with my mom looking at all of the displays and some of vendors, taking close to 400 pictures. I'll have more than enough topics to share over the next month.

Some of the first things that I saw when walking into the convention center hall were the small individual plants and terrariums. Terrariums are probably one of my favorite forms of displaying plants and flowers and I was not disappointed by the entries at the flower show. I think that not only do you have to a well maintained and thriving plant but an interesting container in which to display it.The terrariums were grouped on the size of the containers and number of plants each housed. I tend to prefer larger structures with multiple plants.
Here are some pictures of some my favorites; I couldn't get the best angle on some of them because of the large crowd.

The group of large containers with multiple plants.

I really like the uniqueness of this terrarium.

Such an interesting container!

Smaller container with a single flower variety.

Right next to the terrariums were rows of brightly colored pots of tulips. Nothing says spring is here more than a beautiful bunch of tulips, unless of course it is the daffodils right beside them. However, I must admit to preferring the arrays of colorful tulips and thus took numerous pictures as opposed to only one daffodil shot.
Enjoy!

Some of the beautiful tulip entries.

Tulipa Acuminata

Tulipa 'Pinocchio'

Tulipa 'Tom Pouce'

Tulipa 'Foxtrot': Blue Ribbon Winner

Narcissus 'Accent': My lone daffodil picture. I like the unique coloring.