Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 - Miniatures I

You know I love the miniature entries in the Standard Flower Show at Philadelphia. But it's very hard to get good pictures through the plexiglas. And you can't take extra time to try to get a good shot because there is a long line to see them and you have to keep moving. Anyway...

This group is described as "A Moment in Time, a setting for an event somewhere in the world, prehistoric to 1900"

The white ribbon went to "The Dawn of Independence" by a high school. They said, "Step inside the room where it happened on July 4, 1776."

The judges liked the details but said the plant material obscured some of those details." I would add that there wasn't very much plant material.

There were two yellow ribbons. This one is "Memento Mori," by a father-daughter pair. "The eve of Pompeii's inescapable doom."

The judges said the background was expertly done but that there were too many components and it lacked focus.

The other yellow went to "The End of an Era," by a single individual. "During the late Cretaceous in a lush sub-tropical forest."

The judges liked the plant material but said the waterfall was poorly done."

There were also two red ribbons. One went to "Marco Polo's Silk Road Journey," by a single individual. "It's 1295. Marco Polo's caravan is returning to Vinice on the Silk Road from the court of Kubla Kahn."

The judges said the angled buildings created depth, but they didn't like the eagle (which isn't in the picture).

The other red went to "Sparks Fly in Ben Franklin's Garden," by two individuals. "A bright idea is aboout to strike, sparking a scientific revolution."

The judges really liked the lighting, but said the gazebo overwhelms the exhibit.

What you can't tell is that the daylight alternated with dark blue flashes like lightning. It was well done.

And the blue ribbon went to "Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibit Opening Day 1876," by two individuals. "The exotic plants, nourished by skillful cultivation inspire wonder and delight."

The judges said, "Exceptional plant material and exquisite craftmanship... Spectacular!"

I'm sharing two pictures of this one.

And it also had an upper level. There were 31 different species of plants used. Without a doubt, this one deserved first place.

I worked on all my projects today, had bell practice, and went to the grocery store. It rained hard outside with lights and booms!

See PFS 2026- Phoenix Rising

Crocus, Past and Present

When I first began my rock garden around 1995, I had a little more money, a big dream, and a fair amount of naivete. I planted a lot of things that just weren't destined to thrive on my sunny dry hill.

But one of the more reasonable expectations was for a lot of bulbs. However, the small rodents felt that I had simply filled their candy dish. Very few remain. Here are three that bloomed for a few years. The pictures are grainy because I only had a few shots that were very small and I tried to blow them up.

This one is called 'Blue Ice.' It was a favorite because of the blue outside and the white inside. Picture is from 2003.

I'm pretty sure these are 'Blue Ice,' still coming up in 2009. And I think I have a picture of a bud from 2013. I may have had one come up in 2024, but if so, it migrated downhill, so I'm not certain it's a 'Blue Ice.'



Here's another called 'Firefly' that I last saw in 2003. It was lavender with a yellow throat.

Here'a another from 2003. This is called 'Tricolor.' They are lilac, white and yellow. Haven't seen one since then.

One that has survived, at least minimally, is 'Zwanenburg Bronze.' I think one bloomed last year, and I see one this year. I like that they have a deeper color that shows up well on the hill. I'd be really happy to see this spread a bit. You know, crocus are known to do that, but mine can't seem to get with the program.

Last year, I reported finding a pale yellow crocus in the lawn down where the old house was. I think this has to be a remnant of some my mother gave me, maybe in the 1980s. I dug it up and moved it to the rock garden. Here it is! It's had two blooms this year.

And surprise! Three white crocus have now come up in the lawn down by that old garden. I've marked them so I can move them up here too.

In other news: I edited, I took apart the big puzzle, I started the taxes, I did my road loop (the temp was in the 60s and I couldn't stay inside all day!), I worked on a couple of projects.

Miles walked in 2026: 108.9

Road walk- 3 miles.

See So Early! Too Early?

100, Not 100

Took advantage of the beautiful weather to get in a little hike today. Went to the all-too-familiar Timber Creek trailhead on the NCT. Closest to my house.

It's way too early for any signs of spring. Best I can do is some signs of wildlife. At least one pileated woodpecker has been going nuts. Several dead or dying trees were totally shredded. I'm identifying the culprit by this distinctive pattern in one of the trees.

Evidence of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker presence with these parllel lines of holes in a piece of bark. Also a woodpecker. I saw a Downy woodpecker but got no picture. Only other wildlife was a squirrel.

The trail was almost completely clear of snow. There was some yet in the bottom of the "bowl" the trail passes.

I did find one fungus on a stick. It's probably amber jelly roll, Exidia recisa.

My goal was to walk 6 miles- on my way to increasing the mileage this spring. This is just proof that I made it to 8th St, the three-mile mark before I turned around.

So, this puts me over 100 miles for the year, but not 100 on the NCT. No worries; I'll get there.

Miles walked in 2026: 105.9
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 17.6

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. Timber Creek north to 8th St and back. 6 miles

BONUS SECTION: Today is Palm Sunday, my most favorite Sunday of the Christian calendar. I had a YouTube playlist with a lot of music specific for the day, but guess what? It's gone, of course. Very strange. My Christmas list is there, but this one and Easter are gone. I managed to recreate most of this one.

If you too like Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry, here's the link (I hope) to my list. Palm Sunday Music. There are 17 songs (one is repeated because I like both recordings, although neither is the one I had in the old playlist).

See 1.4 Miles, Two Counties

Anton Seder Puzzle Finished!

The 2000-piece puzzle is finished and not a moment too soon. I need that table to do the taxes, and I sure need to get cracking on that project! The puzzle was a gift from Omer. Very nice, Om! Puzzle, botany, hard enough to be a challenge.

This is an art work by the German artist Anton Seder (1850-1916). His work is considered Art Nouveau. I had not previously heard of him. Most of his work seems to be detailed panels of naturalistic themes. Here's the whole puzzle although the colors look richer in real life. It seems to be unnamed.

In general the theme of this piece is botany. It's stuffed with plants, some of them with Latin labels.

This is more like 50 or more tiny puzzles. I quit trying to count all the different spaces. Some are as small as 1x2 inches. There are about 10 of what I'd call major sections. Thus, this became a giant sorting puzzle. Ask yourself, "Is this maroon piece with strawberries on the edge like this maroon piece with gold leaves?" Once you got all the similar pieces together, it wasn't too hard to assemble them. Then you just needed to connect the sections.

Here is one of my favorite panels with a woodland scene.

Most were more stylized plants like these three parallel panels with lilies.

I liked this one a lot with the Prussian blue background and daisies.

This one was the hardest. There was so much tiny detail that even sorted it was hard to find the connections.

It won't get to stay up long because, as I said, I need the table.

I edited, I worked on some projects, I finished the puzzle.

See Leaving the Puzzle Behind

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026- Phoenix Rising.

I feel totally passive-agressive about this exhibit. It's one of the large ones, done by Laurel-Brook Gardens of Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The description talks about what can happen when nature regenerates after a fire.

I really, really loved the display- rustic, full of flowers in gleeful abandon. But this would really, really never happen without someone making it be so.

This angle shows some rusted farm machinery and the end of a bridge. Flowering cherry trees, redbud, daffodils and more are blooming.

Here's another beautiful angle with things that would never grow together.

Here's the other side of the path to the bridge. There is native wild black cherry, some dwarf crested iris (which you can't see clearly), balsam fir (although an ornamental variety) and daffodils which could conceivably have naturalized.

Now for some plant closeups. In this section there is the ornamental balsam, blue moss phlox, daffodils, and Mount Airy fothergilla (a garden cultivar of witch hazel). None are truly native.

Here is Dwarf Crested Iris which is native and grows wild some in Michigan but especially a bit to our south, so perectly suited for a Pennsylvania show. This is a high quality wild plant.

And last, this is is a Heuchera that I want. Technically Heuchera are native to North America, but they've been tinkered with so much that the cultivars aren't anything like the native plants. The variety is 'Topaz Jazz.' It's combined with a yellow yarrow (ornamental) and some yellow daffodils.

Here's what I find disturbing about this exhibit. It's not that they've combined all kinds of things that don't grow together or even that they've mixed ornamentals and natives. That's really standard procedure at the Flower Show. We want our fantasy plant fix!

What I object to is the implication in the description that this will happen all by itself if we'd just let the land heal. It's sort of "New Age" nonsense. I'm sure most of the people who visit have no idea this is nonsense, and I get that. I HOPE the exhibitors who appear to be garden professionals don't think this would happen.

My old farm machinery is surrounded by spotted knapweed, various uninteresting grasses, autumn olive and some ditch lilies. That's what has happened in about 60-70 years of letting the land go natural.

I worked on various projects today. Got a lot done. Way too much to do yet. I've been asked when I'll get back to Moose in Boots. I don't know. Many things much more pressing on my list right now.

See PFS 2026- American Landscapes