Fantasy Flowers
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Annual Flowers, annuals, Container Gardening, Dark Plants, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Perennials for summer, Studio Garden, Succulents, Succulents in Containers
Bye, Bye Boring… Hello Blackbird! Euphorbia Euphoria in Pots
Euphorbia hybrid ‘Blackbird’: Here on the Studio Balcony in an Oxblood Pot with Senecio mandraliscae and Sedum ‘Sunset Cloud’ Oh my, would you look at this smoldering, velvety loveliness! What a dark, gorgeous beauty! From the moment I saw this stunning spurge, my heart went a flutter and all I could think was, “Bye, bye boring […]
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Asian Natives, Early Spring Garden Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Fragrance, Peonies, Shrubs for early spring blossoms, Tree Peonies, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Return of the Black Dragon…
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Wu Long Peng Sheng’  (Tree Peony, “Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower”) The Black Dragon has returned to my garden, and this year he was generous, holding many splendid flowers. I have but a few tree peonies in my garden, and I hope to continue adding to the collection. The tree peonies bloom […]
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Asian Natives, Cutting Garden, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Peonies, Perennial Close-Ups, Shade Gardening, shrubs, Shrubs for early spring blossoms, Trees, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower …
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Wu Long Peng Sheng’: Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower Wu Long Peng Sheng. Translated from Chinese, the name means, ‘Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower’. I haven’t seen the black dragon, but I keep looking. Maybe he’s hiding in the fern covered ledges; waiting to pounce if I pick this beautiful, magenta […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds, Dining Outdoors, Early spring flowering plants, Early Spring Garden Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flowering Trees, Foliage, Garden Design, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Nature, North American Trees, Plant Spotlight, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Springtime’s Shimmering Silverbells: Halesia tetraptera in Full Bloom…
Carolina Silverbell (Halesia tetraptera) Carolina Silverbell Blossoms Attract Bumble Bees and Hummingbirds Looking up from the Terrace Dining Table, Into Thousands of Tiny White Bells Halesia tetraptera When it comes to the springtime show in my garden, Carolina Silverbell really knows how to steal the stage. Smothered in […]
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Bulbs, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Conservatory, Container Gardening, Fantasy Flowers, Glamorous Gardens, Green House Gardens, Indoor Gardening, Inspirational Gardens, Lyman Conservatory, Massachusetts, New England, Old Fashioned Flowers, Plant Spotlight, Smith College Botanical Garden, Spring Blooming Bulbs, Spring Flowering Bulbs, The Seasons, Vernal Equinox
A Warm Welcome to Spring: Blossoming Beauty at the Smith College Bulb Show…
Tulipa ‘Blue Spectacle’ Narcissus, tulips, hyacinth, freesia, iris and clivia; from the brash and bold to the delicate and ethereal, all of spring’s finest ladies were on display this week at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Bulb Show at Smith College’s Lyman Conservatory —where thousands of bulbs are carefully arranged and artfully displayed with flowering […]
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Academy Awards Show, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Oscars
If They Were Flowers: Ode to the Oscars Presenting The Gardener’s Eden’s Second Annual Academy Award Horticouture Fashion Review…
Dress by Aechmea tillandsioides (Bromeliaceae) As Worn by Radiant, New Mother Penelope Cruz (Gucci) with Javier Bardem. Photo: Matt Sayles/AP via Yahoo Last year, at the time of the Academy Awards, I was conservatory-sitting for out-of-town friends. The day after the show, while tending to the exotic beauties contained within the tiny greenhouse, all I […]
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Decorating Ideas, Early Spring Garden Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flower arrangements, Flowering Shrubs and Trees for Forced Flowers, Forcing Branches in Winter, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Plant Spotlight
Seasonal Prelude: The Scent of Spring…
Forced Blossoms: The Intoxicating Scent of Narcissus ‘Grand Soleil d’Or’ Remember the fragrance of spring; warm air carrying the sweet perfume of new blossoms on the breeze? Distracted by day dreams of earth-scented pathways; chilly melt-water gurgling up from stone? Â Finding yourself stalking the swollen buds of witch hazel, viburnum, azalea and other fragrant, flowering […]
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Conservatory, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, orchids, Plant Spotlight
What’s Love Got to Do With It ? Confessions of Lust, Longing & Orchid Obsession…
It Always Starts so Innocently… Water Droplets on a Pure White Phalenopsis When I say ‘Valentine’s Day’, do you think red, long stemmed roses? Many people do. After all, roses certainly are lovely and romantic. But sexy? When I think about Valentine’s Day —and that naughty, naked, imp Cupid: flitting about and firing off poison […]
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Bulbs, Butterflies and Moths, Color in the Garden, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flower arrangements, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Great Growers and Nurseries, Home, Indoor Table Arrangements, Perennials for summer, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Summer Flowering Bulbs, Summer Flowering Combinations, Summer Flowering Perennials
A Warm Wash of Fragrance: Dreaming Of Lilies and Sultry Summer Evenings…
Dreaming of Warm Summer Nights and a Garden Filled with Softly Blushing Lilies… Asiatic, Oriental, Trumpet, Species or Hybrid: I’ve yet to meet a lily without falling in love. And while my weekend may be filled with practical matters —shoveling, clearing hoop-houses of snow, cleaning grow lights and sorting seed packets— there’s sure to be […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Black Plants, Butterflies and Moths, Chartreuse, Color in the Garden, companion planting, Dark Plants, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Ferns, Foliage, Fragrance, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Rooms, Gardening Inspiration, Glamorous Gardens, Gothic Garden, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Native Plants, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for Autumn, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Plants for Texture, Purple and Maroon Foliage, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Shade Gardening, The Seasons, Woodland plants
Fashionably Late & Dressed in Maroon: Sweetly-Scented, Autumn Fairy Candles Light Up the Shadowy, Secret Garden…
Actaea simplex/Cimicifuga simplex ‘Hillside Black Beauty {also known variously as Fairy Candles, Black Snake Root & Black Cohosh} Actaea simlex ‘Hillside Black Beauty’, here in the Secret Garden with Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’, Lamium maculatum, Helleborus x hybridus ‘Royal Heritage Strain’, Paeonia mouton x lutea ‘High Noon’, Stewartia pseudocamilla, and a background of bronzing Matteuccia […]
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Asian Natives, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Foliage, Garden Design, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for summer, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Summer Flowering Perennials, Woodland plants
Star of Secret Gardens & Shady Dells, Kirengeshoma Palmata: Late Summer’s Graceful, Golden-Yellow Waxbells…
Kirengeshoma palmata (Yellow waxbells) in the Walled Gardens at Ferncliff As the last wisps of fog melted in morning’s brilliant sunlight, I slipped outside through the Secret Garden, eager to gather my tools and begin the day. But there, rising from the damp shadowy walls, stood graceful Kirengeshoma palmata in a sunny spotlight; swollen-yellow buds sparkling […]
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Fantasy Flowers, Flower arrangements, Fragrance, Fresh Cut Flowers, Glamorous Gardens, Gothic Garden, History in the Garden, Old Fashioned Flowers, Perennial Close-Ups, Plant Spotlight, Victorian Flowers
Time Standing Still: The Immortal Beauty of Duchesse de Nemours and the Pleasure of Peonies in June…
Creamy white Paeonia lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ picks up some blush from pink-tinged ‘Mother’s Choice’ and an unidentified rose-red cultivar. Vase by Aletha Soulé. Paeonia lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ © 2010 Michaela at TGE Oh, Victorie Augusta Antonia de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha -better known as the Duchesse de Nemours– you must have been an extraordinary woman to […]
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Conservatory, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Glamorous Gardens, Green House Gardens, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Rare Plants, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants
Ode to the Oscars: If They Were Flowers Botanical Stars Shine on the First Annual ‘Conservatory Awards’ Red Carpet…
Dress by Agapanthus, ‘Lily of the Nile’ © Michaela TGE As worn by ethereal Rachel McAdams © Steve Gratnitz/Wireimage via Yahoo.com The great Bard Shakespeare once wrote that “all the world’s a stage”. Well, the thought certainly crossed my mind today as I worked, surrounded by hundreds of surreal beauties inhabiting a small greenhouse temporarily […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Berries, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds, Butterflies and Moths, Color in the Garden, Dried Flowers, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Foliage, Fresh Cut Flowers, Garden Design, Hardy shrubs, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Hydrangea, Late Autumn Garden, Old Fashioned Flowers, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Raindrops, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for ornamental fruit, The Seasons, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Autumn Brilliance Part Two – Plants for Spectacular Fall Color…
Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Issai’ (Purple Beautyberry) Could a gardener be diagnosed with OCD if she compulsively checks her ornamental shrubs for changing berry color? Can a collector’s passion for a particularly beautiful cultivar cross the line, where she becomes a stalker of plants? Sometimes I fear I’ve gone too far; slipped off the raft; teetered past […]
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