Philadelphia Flower Show 2019 - Yellow

 
Yellow is one of my two favorite colors, and I sure enjoyed the sunny displays at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show.

This is one part of a huge commercial exhibit by Flowers by David. Not so much in this particular arrangement, but they combined the yellow with salmon pink, which sounds awful to me, but it really looked beautiful together.



Back to the World Cup exhibits. This is just part of one of the arrangements by Russia, but I like how light and airy it looks- like sunshine.



Pocket Gardens was another category of competitions in the Standard Flower Show. They were supposed to be on the theme of healing herbs. This one tied for the blue ribbon. It's called "Celestial Garden of Healing." The judges used words like "clever... detail... unusual herbs."



Here's another piece from the Czech World Cup entry. I like how natural it looks. I can imagine a trellis at the end of a porch.



Back to the pocket gardens, with the other first place entry. This one was my favorite pocket garden. I liked how everything tied together. It's called "Cascading Sunlight." Judges used words like "exuberant... exciting... powerful."

Today, I'll bring you an orchid. Can you believe I'm not so crazy about orchids? They get so much attention from the whole world... maybe I just like the underdogs because they get less recognition. But this one sure is yellow! It's a Cattlianthe Blazing Sun.



Here, it was gray all day, but just a bit ago, that yellow ball in the sky showed up. I didn't walk at all again today. A friend called and wanted to go to lunch so I did that and some errands. Worked on tape notes this morning, and stuff for the North Star magazine after I got home.

The new motor on the furnace pump is really noisy. Bummer. Debating whether to complain about it. For what it cost one might expect it to be quieter.

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2019 - Orange

 
Let's just go through the colors at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. Next up is orange.

I'll start with an interesting cactus in bloom. It's a Parodia, a genus of cactus native to South America. (Doesn't seem to fit that genus to me, but I'm no cactus expert.)



This is the winner in one of the miniature contests, the theme of which was "Up, Up and Away." Plant materials are a Ginger blossom, and Curly Ting-ting, a dried grass.



Next up is one of the displays from a commercial exhibit called Happy Together. It's supposed to explore relationships between plants and people. It had one section for each color with neon tubes. I'm not sure I understand this one but it sure is orange.



Tulips are always wonderful to see in early spring. They never disappoint.



And I love the variety and colors of Begonias. You may see a whole day of them.



Can't let you go without one more kind of tulip.



Finally, this is from the World Cup exhibit by Korea.



The furnace is fixed. Can't say I mind. It didn't get below 58 in the house, but it's nice to have indoor spaces be indoorsy. I finished the book I needed to read, and wrote in the morning. Didn't accomplish much else. The forecast was rain, so I didn't walk. Should have... no rain.

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2019 - Red or Bright Pink

 
Just pretty pictures from the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show today. I'm tired, and need to do an easy post. Even though red and pink aren't my favorites, I love bold color, so they get to participate. I'll just tell you the plant or exhibit. Many of them I don't know the exact variety anyway.

This is a Clivia, relative of the Amaryllis.



Next up is a portion of one of the World Cup displays, from the Czech Republic.



I loved these tulips!



And the Croton, much seen as a tropical house plant. But it really has spectacular leaves.



Next we have a Cyclamen, but this is particularly nice because of the large and ruffled petals.



More red tulips, pure red this time.



And finally, this is beginning to fade into pastels, but I'm sticking it in this group anyway. This is part of the World Cup display from Finland. Notice the marshmallows!



In other news: I tightened up and added to "Screaming Monkeys," and cleaned up the previously written "Wish You Were Here." Tomorrow, I'll be back to making notes from the next tape. I walked 5 miles, did shopping and errands, and went to bell practice. The furnace is on the fritz, and it's not going to be a cheap fix. Sigh. I'm thinking bed and a book soon.

I'm starting to feel slightly guilty at not bringing you local joys, but it's March. Flower show pictures are much better for a while. Color!

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2019 - Pressed Plants

 
Today I bring you flat flowers from the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. There were so many entries in the two categories that I only took pictures of a very few that I liked best. Most of my favorites also won ribbons.

The first group is "A Long and Winding Road." The picture is supposed to include a pathway or road, leading to woods, pond, house, or horizon, dotted with plants along the way.

Keep in mind as you look at these that every single bit of the picture is made of pressed plant material. There is no painted background or other art media.









The second group was called "Groovy Garden, an imaginative framed piece" There were fewer of these I liked, or maybe I couldn't get close enough to really look. There were a lot of people mobbing the area at the time.





Tomorrow, I think I'll switch to just some bright colors instead of one of the contests.

In other news: I finally finished writing the chapter called "Screaming Monkeys." I feel good about that but there's still a long way to go. I did another 5-mile walk and picked up a basket full of winter pop/beer cans. Have seen robins and bluebirds, and heard sandhill cranes. I'm nearly done with the book I need to read. Have to finish that one and one more in time to write my column before next Monday. Still didn't clean anything up, but at least I'm not making the mess worse.

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2019- More Miniature Settings

 
Here are the rest of the winning miniature settings. I have mixed feelings about the blue ribbon winner. On the one hand the modeling is good, but the level of detail that I would expect just isn't there. Of course, it's got railroad track, so I have to like that. It's on a larger scale than these displays usually are. The track is G scale, which allows for larger models that are much easier to make look lifelike. Actually I was surprised that it was allowed, but I don't know the actual rules, and I guess it's fine.

The thing that bothered me about it at first is that it didn't seem to follow the intent of the story. As written on the card, the weeds and moss and grass take over the forgotten areas of the city. But I looked the book up, and in the story a little boy actually discovers this and begins helping the plants, transforming the city into a garden. So the model actually fits with the book even though they got the description wrong. Apparently the judges knew the story.

The book is "The Curious Garden." 18 species of plants were used.

Judges comments: "Wow! Right on track."



Here's a detail.



Second place was a three-way tie! There was a huge disparity between the first and the next two entries. I'm amazed they were all awarded second. Perhaps the judges liked the novelty of the the two. Here's the best one. It's based on "The Glory of the Garden" by Kipling. Only 11 species of plant. Try to ignore the reflections.

Judges comment: "Gloriously redefined."



And a detail.



The next second place went to "Tea Time" from Alice in Wonderland. You'll see what I mean about the quality of the model. Only 9 species of plant.

Judges said: "Go ask Alice? Horticulture secondary to the overall scene."



A detail.



The other second place entry was "Hansel and Gretel." The pictures aren't good. Too many reflections. But perhaps you can see that the modeling is coarser as well. 17 species of plant. I'm also confused about why the judges couldn't find Hansel, unless they were trying to be funny. See the detail.

Judges said: "Incredible edible setting. Where is Hansel?"



The detail with Hansel in a cage.



I'm really unsure why "The Secret Garden" came in behind those last two. The judges didn't like that the display was sunk below eye level. I will admit that it made it difficult to see to model. But the modeling was much superior. There are 24 species of plant.

Judges said: "A beautiful refuge. Perhaps a little too secret."



Here's a detail. But you can tell that it's hard to see the front edge of the display.



In other news: I wrote more in the chapter I'm working on. It's coming along well. May be finished tomorrow, but the book is not yet half done. I walked five miles. Chilly but not bad. I read some more in the book I need to get through. I picked up a couple of things, but that isn't anything like what the piles need to make them go away.

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