Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 - Cool Colors

Cool and WET was what we had for weather here today. Lots and lots of rain. I hunkered down and got quite a lot done, even though it's never enough.

Anyway, here is the rest of the color wheel from the Philadelphia Flower Show.

For green, I chose this landscaped field from an exhibit by the Merchison Farm of New Jersey. Martha Brooks Hutcheson was one of the first female landscape architects, and she liked ecological plantings and traditional lines. The farm was her home.

This is part of an advertising display where the letters of the logo were filled with plant material. I think this is mostly dyed asparagus fern, so not exactly natural, but very, very blue! And very effective.

For something more natural, check out this lovely stone pathway lined with hyacinth.

Love this kale! It's Brassica oleracia 'Redbor.' I'd put this in my salad in a heartbeat, but I'd also love to look at it.

There are still lots of Flower Show pictures I can use to fill rainy days. There are several plants I want to share for sure. One is such a hot purple it couldn't really be included here. Stay tuned.

I have to do something besides sit in my chair for a while. My back gets sore!

See PFS 2026- Warm Colors

Purple Parade

 After I looked at the pictures, I decided this is an interesting collection. Individually, most people would call all of these purple (maybe with some fading off to maroon, but if you had to pick one of the 6 basic colors, most people would pigeonhole them into purple).

The first one is PURPLE purple. This is Jewel Baby Iris, and it's the first time it's bloomed in a while. So far this year, I've had two blossoms. It's about 4 inches tall.

We all call these purple lilacs- just the old farmstead standby. But compared to the Jewel Baby they look pink.

The Sempervivum sp. 'Arachnoidea' looks really nice. The one I used to have was smaller and green. It's long dead. This one came from Betsy, and it's certainly pushing purple. EDITED: This is not arachnoidea at all. It's the variety 'King George,' growing right where my plant records say it should be. I did not realize it also has some slight webbing.

Its friend is Sedum reflexum, what I call "blue spruce sedum." I've had this forever from a freebie pile. It spreads easily and sprawls all over but never looks all that great. Well! I guess I now know what it needs to look better. In two places where a clump is crowded between rocks it has made this nifty "fountain spray." I like these together.

Found the Sedum 'Cherry Tart!' This is another of the Sunsparkler hybrids. I actually ordered this and got a tiny, tiny sprig for $7 plus shipping. I really wasn't expecting to see it this spring. And then, I wasn't sure where I put it. But I at least got it labeled, even if it didn't get in the notebooks. This is going to be gorgeous when it starts to spread. You might almost call this red compared to some of the purples. Keep in mind this is clump is about 2" on a side. But, it's no smaller than when I planted it, and it's alive.

Just for reference, these are true purple; I think we'd all agree. Plain old common violets, but they fill in open spaces nicely.

And for today's final purple, here's Sedum 'Ezawe' again. I showed you this earlier, and thought it looked more blue then, but maybe not. Today it seems purple. I do like the plants that display multiple colors depending on the time of year, the light, etc. As a reminder, I wasn't sure this one was going to make it, but it seems very happy so far this year.

Today was packed full. I worked on some volunteer stuff. I did 108 miles of campsites. I was interviewed by "Senior Games" for a podcast. It will be out in a couple of weeks, and I'll post a link when I get it. I managed to work for an hour in the rock garden.

I'm tired, but that's the way I like to end the day.

See Sedum Scramble

Philadelphia Flower Show 2019 - Purple

 
Purple is a sneaky color. It slips off into blue on one end, and magenta/pink on the other. At least one of these flowers looks definitely pink by comparison, but taken on it's own, seems more fuchsia/magenta to me. Anyway... there are a lot of flowers in this span of purpleish at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show

These miniature iris, mixed with hyacinth sure look like spring, whether you see them as blue or purple.



These dainty little flowers are on a Pelargonium sidoides, basically a geranium, just a different genus in the same family. Very deep purple.



This luscious thing took a blue ribbon. It's a Loropetalum chinense, or a Chinese Fringe Tree.



Don't forget Gynura aurantiaca, the Purple Passion or Velvet plant. It's a pretty common houseplant, and those velvety purple leaves are why. I've killed a couple- it really doesn't like having its soil get dry.



Here's another true purple, Angelonia, sometimes called summer snapdragon, not to be confused with the annual snapdragons. This one is 'Balarchpur' Archangel Purple.



Now for another dark, dark purple and exotic. This is an orchid, Prosthechea cochleata. It's the national flower of Belize, where it is known as the black orchid.



Now, we'll come back to "is it purple or is it pink?" Behind the delphiniums it sure looks pink. At any rate, it's a beautiful Azalea, which is much easier to grow.



And finally, I'll take you back for another orchid, but the focus on the picture of its label is so bad I can't read it at all. I can only tell you it's gorgeous and won a blue ribbon.


This ends the Flower Show color wheel. But as long as nothing else is exciting to see, I'll show you a few more things. I never get tired of looking at interesting plants.

In other news: I did some writing, and some sorting and odds and ends, and took a 4-mile walk. So much for today.

	See Blue
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Purple Flowers

 
There are lots and lots of shades of purple in the flower world. On top of that, some plants have purple leaves and/or stems.

At Stan Hywet they even went for the grand slam and gave you a plant with purple stems, leaves and flowers. This is Penstemon or Beardtongue 'Dark Towers.' A pretty stunning plant for the sun garden.



You know I love the succulents. Here's a little sedum called 'Bertram Anderson' with purple leaves that I covet. The flowers are red and it would be hardy where I live.



Sometimes it's hard to tell where purple fades off into pink in flowers. But this day lily is nothing but purple. I think it's quite an interesting plant color. It's not really a pastel, but not a dark purple either. The green throats are novel too. It was not labeled as to the exact variety. I actually liked one called Ice Caves. The blooms were way past prime, but it was white with an ice green throat.



Finally, here's a common but beautiful plant with deep purple foliage, usually called Wandering Jew. They are members of the Tradescantia family, and some are variegated. This one is possibly T. pallida. It works great in pots for trailing, or in borders.

	See Yellow Flowers
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Philadelphia Flower Show 2015- Color

 
One of the things I need most at this time of year is color, and the Philadelphia Flower Show always provides me with lots of that. Tonight here's a color wheel for you. OK. it's a strip, but you get the idea. Here, the snow has disappeared in a flash, but no green yet.

Red (ish)

Orange


Yellow


Green


Blue


Purple

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Purple and Silver

 


Well, now I have to confess, as you can see, that I have not mowed the lawn since coming home from hiking. No one cares, out here in the country, except me. But I can justify it by finding beauty in the weeds. This is some kind of witch grass. I'm not going to get more specific than that, 'cause I "don't do" grass. (I'll stick to sedges for complicated IDs.) It's fluffy and purple. But look what happens to it in the early sunlight with dew on it...


Now it is magical- a treasure of silver.


Maybe it is precious, sparkling gems, with crystal spikes.