Philadelphia Flower Show 2019- The Four Seasons- Autumn

 
The exhibit for autumn, created by the American Institute for Floral Design was beyond impressive. It was exquisite.

The sign said, "Time of Sensing a Shift. Thousands of leaves falling to earth, and the sun takes a step back and autumn was awkward."

This first picture is a close-up detail of less than a square foot of the base.



So, I did correctly realize yesterday that the central sort of wispy construction in the center of the display is supposed to be a tree trunk because it's repeated again in autumn. (and also in winter- stay tuned for tomorrow). Only in spring was the tree "fallen."

Here's the overall shot of the display.


And up above, the canopy is almost clear of foliage.



Now I'm going to concentrate on the "forest" floor. Just think about how much time it must have taken to create this.



Look at all the different kinds of plant material. Orchids, locust pods, anthurium (those orange spathes like a peace lily with a central stalk), fungus, berries, dried hydrangea, leaves.



But if you sat on the floor and studied it (we did), there was even more to see. Pine cones, sweet gum pods, protea, more dried flowers (I see roses and maybe zinneas), lichen, roots, and woven or braided strands of leaves and stems.

Let's be clear on the fact that these aren't supposed to be realistic, but the colors are so rich it's fantastic.



This picture also shows lotus pods and a couple of things I can't identify. The only thing that wasn't real plants was the skeltonized leaves. I'm pretty sure those were purchased fakes (of course, I didn't dare pick one up to check. I suppose they might have learned some way to quickly skeletonize a whole bunch of leaves, but I think they were too perfect.)



This picture shows yet another kind of pod, and the way the green leaves were looped into the display. Think about how much time must have been spent creating this carpet. I'm wondering if they did it in sections over several weeks or months and then fitted them together and covered the seams with the orchids and added the other fresh flowers. I think the anthurium isn't dried.



This is the kind of display that sets the Philadelphia Flower Show apart. No one would invest this kind of money for a smaller show.

In other news: I worked on a short story in the morning. Woke up in the middle of the night with the idea just plop in my brain. Spent the rest of the night trying to get back to sleep and also working on refining the idea. It's probably halfway written- have to do things like this when the idea is fresh. Spent the afternoon sorting stuff (blech), and then went to bell choir practice. I'm thinking I'll be able to sleep pretty soon here.

	See Summer
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