Tropical Plants
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Exotic Plants, Fragrance, Tropical Plants
Sweetly Fragrant Lady of the Evening: Delighting in Angel’s Trumpet Datura
 She Flies by Night Upon Perfumed Clouds: Angel’s Trumpet Datura (Datura meteloides ‘Evening Fragrance’) At nature’s golden hour —as the sun begins her daily, departing dance along my hilltop— evening creatures and shadow-spirits begin to stir. I love strolling through the garden with a glass of wine at this time of day; watching as backlit flower […]
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Costa Rica, Exotic Plants, Tropical Plants
A Trio of Central American Beauties: Hot House Queens from the Tropics . . .
Native to the tropical Americas, Heliconia vellerigera’s (cultivar pictured: H. vellerigera ‘She Kong’), yellow blossoms are accented by  fuzzy, red bracts that remind me of the glamorous, fluffy shrugs worn by Hollywood starlets. An important food-source for hummingbirds, the Heliconias require constant moisture, warmth, partial to full sunlight and rich soil. Flower gardening in the […]
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Begonias, Costa Rica, Tropical Plants
Tip-Toe Through the Tree-Tops: Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica …
Selvatura Park, Santa Elena, Costa Rica: Suspended Bridges Span Verdant Valleys & Lush Canopies of Mist-Covered Tree Tops When describing a great adventure, sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to begin. Such was the case when I returned from my recent travels in Costa Rica. Because I truly fell in love with one particular […]
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Costa Rica, Travel, Tropical Plants
Field Notes from Costa Rica …
Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica Where in the world is Michaela? Yes, it’s been a long time since my last blog post, of this I am well aware. But, if you have been following The Gardener’s Eden page on Facebook, you’ll know that I’ve been hiking all over beautiful Costa Rica. With warm, moist air and lush, […]
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Books, Bowls, cactus, Container Gardening, Decorating Ideas, Decorating the Garden, Exotic Plants, Ferncliff, Garden Art, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Indoor Gardening, Inspirational Gardens, Plant Propagation, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Plants for Texture, Pots, rock garden plants, scree gardens, Studio Garden, Succulents, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Urns and Vessels
Dusting Off, Cleaning Out, Taking Stock & Getting Ready for Gardening Season… Plus Another Giveaway!
The bright gold of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is a cheerful welcome in a chair beside my front door. I like using natural baskets as decorative covers for inexpensive, recycled plastic flower pots. I do a similar thing with plants placed outside in summer, using everything from wooden crates and baskets to tin cans and flea market […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Butterflies and Moths, Extending the Growing Season, flowering shrubs, Garden Visits, Gardening Inspiration, Honeybee Friendly Gardening, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Inspirational Gardens, New England, organic gardening, Organic Insect Control, Summer flowering shrubs, Tropical Plants, Wind Breaks
On Magic Wings: A Visit to the Beautiful Butterfly Conservatory & Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden…
Postman (Heliconius melpomene) – Native to Central and South America Spring may be fast approaching, but yesterday’s cold and wintry temperatures left me craving a bit of warmth, moisture and color. I love visiting conservatories at this time of year, and fortunately, I live near several, wonderful gardens-beneath-glass. One of my favorite wintertime ‘vacation’ spots […]
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Container Gardening, Exotic Plants, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Tropical Plants
Falling for Bold, Beautiful Bromeliads: Glorious Guzmania ‘Passion’ & ‘Luna’
Guzmania ‘Passion’ Guzmania ‘Luna’ and Guzmania ‘Passion’ – Could There Be a More Lovely Pair? Guzmania ‘Luna’ So here we are, nearing the end of January. It’s mid-winter, and after many major snow-storms, the garden outside is now fast asleep beneath a heavy white blanket. Yes, it’s still beautiful, but the winter landscape is definitely […]
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Conservatory, Container Gardening, Exotic Plants, Ferncliff, Foliage, Garden Rooms, Green House Gardens, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Insects/Entomology, Organic Disease Control, organic gardening, Organic Insect Control, Studio Garden, Succulents, Succulents in Containers, The Seasons, Tropical Plants, Winter, Woody Plants
Indoor Eden: Trouble in Paradise… Aphids & Scale Attack the Studio Oasis!
Pots in the Studio – Kalanchoe ‘Tessa’ (About to Bloom) Shares Space with Other Succulents (Mustard pot: Crassula ovata ‘Minimus’, Senecio macroglossus ‘Variegata’. Green pot: Kalanchoe mangini and Crassula ovata) By now, it should be fairly obvious that I take as much pleasure in my garden during the winter months as I do during the […]
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Cooking, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Gourmet Garden, Green House Gardens, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Kitchen, New England, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Recipes, The Seasons, Trees for Fruit, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast…
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast Oh yes. I know what you’re thinking. What is she doing, lounging about in the afternoon with a plate of French Toast? Oh the sloth, the sloth! It’s just nothing but wickedness {smirk}. OK. Yes, Santa Baby, I have been a little —how shall we say— […]
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Artful Garden Objects, Celebrations, Conservatory, Decorating Ideas, Ferns, Foliage, Fun in the Garden, Garden Design, Garden projects for kids, Gardening Inspiration, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Gothic Garden, Holiday Decorating, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Inspirational Gardens, Moss, Terrariums, The Seasons, Tropical Plants, Wardian Cases, Winter
Have Yourself a Merry Little Terrarium…
Nutcracker Suite Terrarium: An H. Potter Holds a Moon Rise and a Collection of Christmas Toys Gathered Beneath the Tree (Lycopodium obscurum aka Ground Pine Club Moss). Designed and created by Michaela at TGE Nutcracker Suite Terrarium: H. Potter Wardian Case Filled with Lycopodium obscurum “Tree”, Sheet Moss “Carpet” and Miniatures. Terrarium vignette designed and created by […]
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Children and Gardening, Container Gardening, Garden Rooms, Garden Science, Gifts for Gardeners, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Pets and Gardens, Poisonous Plants, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, Succulents, Succulents in Containers, Terrariums, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Winter
Dangerous Beauty: Poisonous Plant Information for Homes with Small Children & Pets…
Outside, Looking In: Dreamy —But Poisonous— Kalanchoe mangini Sits High Up in a Bedroom Window Like many cold-climate gardeners, now that the growing year has ended —and my outdoor garden pursuits are limited to vegetables in raised beds beneath hoop-houses— I find myself catering to a large Indoor Eden of overwintering plants. Throughout the cold […]
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Artful Garden Objects, Dried Flowers, Flower arrangements, Flower Seeds, Foliage, Garden Art, Glamorous Gardens, Holiday Decorating, Home, Hydrangea, Indoor Table Arrangements, The Seasons, Tropical Plants, Winter
The Gilded Table: Shimmering Gold Garden Remnants Make Holiday Dinner Settings a Little Bit Glamorous…
The Gilded Table – Golden Sago Palm Leaves by Candlelight Gilded Pine Cones Golden Sago Palm Leaves Shimmer and Glow by Candlelight Candle lit dinners, cocktails by the fire and evenings spent with good friends; it seems like I will be spending less time in wellingtons and more time in high heels this month! Yes, […]
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Garden Rooms, Glamorous Gardens, Gothic Garden, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens, Shade Gardening, Terrariums, The Seasons, Tropical Plants, Urns and Vessels, Wardian Cases
Indoor Eden: The Secret Garden Room…
Where does the Secret Garden lead? The Garden Room, of course… Brrrrrrr… There’s a chill in the air this morning! Low temps hovered around 34 degrees fahrenheit last night, and in spite of the bright sunshine, it sure feels like fall now. Jack Frost hasn’t yet made his inaugural, autumn visit to the garden, but […]
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Annual Flowers, Books, Building, Conservatory, Green House Gardens, Indoor Gardening, Inspirational Gardens, Terrariums, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Winter Garden
Dreaming of a Horticultural Harem Overflowing with Hot House Hotties…
Hot, Hot Hibiscus © 2010 Michaela at The Gardener’s Eden Earlier this week in my post, “Ode to the Oscars”, comparing Oscar gowns to hot house flowers, I briefly mentioned that I am “conservatory sitting” for friends.  The owners of this small commercial greenhouse/nursery will be returning from the UK early next week, and sadly, […]
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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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Conservatory, Dark Plants, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Terrariums, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants
Hello, I Love You. Won’t You Tell Me Your Name?
Peperomia caperata ‘Raspberry Ripple’ Look at this dark, smoldering beauty ! Have I introduced you to my latest crush? The mysterious, maroon-hued Peperomia caperata ‘Raspberry Ripple’ ? No ? Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve been so distracted, I think I forgot. Shame on my recent preoccupation with mundane, practical things like snow removal. Well, here she is […]
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Bowls, Conservatory, Ferncliff, Ferns, Gardening Inspiration, Gifts for Gardeners, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Lighting, Moss, Plants for shade, Plants for Texture, Terrariums, Tropical Plants
Lush Foliage for Low-Light Rooms : Terrarium Bowls Continued …
A pedestal-bowl terrarium filled with Adiantum, (Maidenhair fern), Calathea lanceolata and Selanginella kraussiana, (Club moss), warms up a modern metallic vanity in the powder room… Grey. Grey. Grey. Today the sky is one big, dull, expanse of monochromatic ash. On days like this, with thick, low clouds and no sunshine to be found, low-light rooms […]
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Artful Garden Objects, Bowls, Conservatory, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Gardening Inspiration, Gifts for Gardeners, Green House Gardens, Holiday Decorating, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Planting Techniques, Plants for Texture, Pots and Pottery, Terrariums, Tropical Plants, Urns and Vessels, Vases
Bringing Nature’s Beauty Indoors: Terrariums Part Two…
A tiny Phalaenopsis orchid , (‘The White Moth’) , displayed in an open terrarium lined with pea stone/charcoal mix, and filled with a bed of bark, sphagnum and sheet moss… Last week in ‘Terrariums Part One‘, I went over basic instructions demonstrating how terrariums are constructed, and introducing terrarium-newcomers to the beautiful, fascinating world of miniature […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Pots, Shade Gardening, Tropical Plants
Hello Lover…
Cape Primrose, (Streptocarpus ‘Black Panther’) in the Secret Garden at Ferncliff I love a little flirtation in the garden. Yesterday, my cape primrose ‘Black Panther’ reminded me of just how much fun it is to be teased and surprised. I was dutifully weeding the Secret Garden path when I noticed something dark and mysterious peeking […]
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Great Growers and Nurseries, Plant hunting, Rare Plants, Tropical Plants
The Old School House Plantery …… Vermont Growers with an Internet Following for Rare Garden, Greenhouse and House Plants…
Aisles of unusual and rare plants at the Old School House Plantery, Brattleboro, Vermont. Impatiens zombensis (click to enlarge photo) During the recent, prolonged rainy period in Vermont, John and Diane Miller of The Old Schoolhouse Plantery in West Brattleboro, kindly invited me over to have a look inside their greenhouse. I pass by the […]
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