National Public Gardens' Day

National Public Gardens' Day was the first weekend of May. We celebrated it by visiting three public gardens. The first garden was one that was new to us. We wanted to make a visit to a garden that we have never visited and that was within a reasonable driving distance. We decided to visit The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We fist checked out this garden online and got really excited about the gardens. Well, this Conservatory really lived up to what we saw online and more. I will give you a somewhat guided tour of our visit. We did get sidetracked by a huge plant sale, yes a plant sale that was being held right on the property. Can you believe it!! Restraint, restraint, restraint…. The only drawback to our visit there was the parking situation, which is pretty much by meter, and that being only for a couple of hours at a time. So my husband had meter duty. He dropped me off and told me to either wait in front of the Conservatory, or browse at the plant sale. Well, it was off to the plant sale for me. That was the first of four trips back and forth to the car for him. The last trip was in a down pour. Of course, we did not want to carry an umbrella around during the day, so he ran off to the car in the rain and I waited around the corner of the Conservatory with our prize possession from the plant sale, a beautiful new Witch Hazel called Orange Peel.

Here are some of the highlights from the Phipps Conservatory.

As you enter the building, you will see the Gift Shop to your left and the Café to your right. I had plenty of time to browse the Gift Shop as my husband tended to the car, but did not purchase anything. I like to buy a ball cap for my husband from each of the conservatories that we visit. Phipps did not have any in stock. Bummer! I know how much he enjoys wearing these caps. I focused my attention on the plant sale instead. We did eat lunch in the Café where there is a sustainable focus from the food to the flatware and cups.

The Welcome Center is on this level. This is where you purchase your tickets. It is the first LEED certified building in a public garden according to their website. It is beautiful and an indication of what was to come.

The tour of the conservatory starts on the second level. You enter by elevator, or stairs. The first room that you enter is the Palm Court. There are many species of palms in this Victorian inspired room. Among the lush foliage are Chihuly glass art pieces. I love Chihuly glass artwork! I have seen it on display integrated into the Franklin Park Conservatory, the Columbus Museum of Ar, and the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Here are some pictures as you enter the Palm Court:

The leaves and trunk of Mexican Breadfruit


Large Palm leaf

A right turn takes you into the Serpentine Room. This room takes you on a winding path of seasonal display along a path bordered by a curved brick wall. Here are some pictures that will help you enjoy the walk:

Trunk of an Indian Laurel
Ficus microcarpa



Sunflower bud
Helianthus annuus
"Lemon Summer

Annuals


Mealy Cup Sage
"Indigo Spires"

Take a look at some of the plants in the Fern Room.

Silver Dollar Maidenhair Fern

Love those black stems!

The Fern Room leads to the Orchid Room.

Staghorn Fern

Zamia



Foxtail Fern
Asparagus densiflorus
"Myersii"

Into the Orchid Room. This Orchid Room is the best permanent orchid display room that I have seen. We were so impressed and took a lot of pictures.

Doritaenopsis
Frank Sarris

Phragmipedium
After-Glo




Phragmipedium
Andean Fire "Michelle Lee"


Phragmipedium
Memoria Dick Clements










A Passion Flower vine

I will continue the tour of Phipps in my next blog post. Next stop a Butterfly Forest.

Follow That Smell!

It's well worth it! On April 23rd, a remarkable plant called Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan arum, was in bloom on the campus of The Ohio State University. Its flower is referred to as the Corpse Flower because it smells horrible, hold your nose horrible. This smell lures flies and carrion beetles that collect pollen. Well, what would make anyone want to see, or smell this flower? According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, this plant is from the Indonesian Rain Forest and is over 5 feet tall. The plant has a dark purple flower that is 3 feet wide and its bloom only last a couple of days and then withers. During those few days the smell is at its worst. According to the article, this plant is on the verge of extinction because of habitat destruction. Researchers are hand pollinating this plant to help keep it alive so it can some day be returned to its habitat. Ohio State held open times for the curious. My husband was one of them. Armed with a camera, off to Ohio State he went, hoping to see the full glory of this large flower. Well, he got there a few days after it bloomed and the flower was already in decline, but still very impressive. Ohio State provided a web cam, so when my husband arrived he called me and I captured a still from the web cam with him in the picture. Click here for a time lapse of this flower courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch.

Below are some of the pictures that my husband took.

Informational signs provided by The Ohio State University's Biological Sciences Greenhouse

A still picture of my husband and the Arum (the flower was almost closed)

(captured via web cam)

A leaf of the plant

Check out the sheer size of this plant!

The flower just a few days after it bloomed

This section of the plant was cut out so material could be removed for pollination and allow visitors to get a good look inside.

A closer look inside the spadix

Approximately a week and a half after the plant bloomed

(captured via web cam)

Central Ohio Daffodil Show

Last weekend, Franklin Park Conservatory hosted the Central Ohio Daffodil Show. Daffodils are our favorite spring flower, so we had to go. As soon as we entered the room, we were in daffodil heaven. The range of colors, sizes, and forms was just breathtaking.

Every winter I try to learn a little more about these wonder bulbs while the winter is waning and the anticipation of spring is on my mind. I pull out my book Daffodils for North American Gardens by Brent and Becky Heath of Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. There are lots of pictures which are a must for a winter starved gardener in Ohio, but there is so much information that helps me keep learning. The Daffodil Society provided great printed resources at the show, as well as very helpful society members who answered all kinds of questions. I am working on learning to identify the flowers by using the Royal Horticultural Society System of Classification. There are 13 divisions. The Division number indicates the form of the flower and the letters indicate the flower color. The daffodil Menehay is in Division 11(Split Corona) A(Collar Daffodil) Y(yellow)-O(orange). Below is an entry card for this daffodil.

Menehay 11A Y-O

Petit Four 4W-PPY

Denali 1W-W


Pearson 2YYW-W


Trumpet Warrior --1YW-WWY


Ombersley 1Y-Y



Fencourt Jewel 8W-P

I'm learning!

Spring at its Best

While my husband was pruning the Weeping Mulberry Tree in our yard this weekend, he made a discovery.

I was soon summoned to the backyard to check out a nest right smack in the middle of the Mulberry tree.

This tree is always so much fun to prune. Yeah!! If you don’t get to it before it leafs out, forget it. It becomes so dense with branches that it is impossible to find your way around. So, with a little coaxing and a pair of loppers in hand, my husband went out to tackle this fun job. This tree is really a fun tree if kept in check. We have seen a group of these at the Cleveland Botanical Garden They are in their Children’s garden and form a tent like structure which makes great child play.

Once my husband began to prune the tree, he noticed that there was a lot of squawking from two robins in another tree. He soon put things together. A finely woven nest was spotted with four beautiful blue eggs in it. Well that got our curiosity up.

Now we will sit and monitor the nest. As of today, mom seemed to be sitting very still for extended periods of time.

I don’t know if my movement, while looking out the window, made mom fly away for a time, or if she just needed a break. We are not sure just how long these eggs have been in the nest and are a little worried that we have now removed some of the cover for mom and her eggs.

According to Wild Birds Unlimited, the male robin is the one that sings, but both male and female make alarm sounds. This must have been what my husband heard. Robins eat insects and berries. Check out these amazing facts: Robins can eat up to 14 feet of earthworms in a day!” Their life cycle is usually around one and a half years. Most of the nest is built by the female in about five to six days. The number of eggs in our nest is typical and mom incubates these eggs for approximately 12 to 14 days. It takes about 10 days for the babies to get all of their feathers. They leave the nest in 14 to 16 days. More to come later...