2011 Chicago Flower and Garden Show Part 2--The Expected and the Unexpected

One of the things I expect, and enjoy, at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show is the use of tropical plants in landscape settings. This is something that can be done here in Chicagoland, I suppose, if you don't care if the plants die come the first frost, or if you are willing to dig them up to overwinter indoors. But the exhibitors do it to make a for a colorful and visually appealing show. Here are some of my favorite examples from this year:

Three views of the Meditation Garden, which included rows of braided Pachira aquatica with a Buddha sculpture at the far end. I also loved the rows of tall planted urns.

Display using Guzmania, Neoregelia, Asparagus, and Echeveria in a landscape with a bridge. This also something that could be done indoors, I suppose, if you have a conservatory.

Philodendron, Chlorophytum, and Hypoestes

Urns with Sansevieria, Calathea, Alocasia, Cordyline, and other tropical plants

Begonia

Anthurium and Guzmania among the pines

Okay, those were expected. Here is what I don't expect to see at the show:

Chickens! I know urban farming and chicken-keeping are all the rage, but I don't think I've ever seen livestock at the garden show before.

Koi (not totally unexpected in an exhibit promoting water features, I suppose) and a Turtle, which I found enchanting. I'm kind of weird that way. I always notice the plants at the zoo, and the animals at botanic gardens and garden shows.

Garden sculpture is not unexpected at a garden show, but I found this exhibit more captivating than many such displays that I've seen:

Bird Sculptures (but no chickens) in the exhibit called Silent Poetry: The Confluence of Stone and Plants, which also included the Anthurium pictured above.

Overall, I find it interesting that the three of the exhibits I enjoyed the most (the vertical gardens from the last post, the meditation garden, and the sculpture garden above) had nothing to do with the sports theme.

2011 Chicago Flower and Garden Show Part 1--First Impressions and Particular Favorites

I always manage to have a good time at the annual Flower and Garden Show, even if it doesn't always live up to my expectations. I had found last year's show a major improvement over 2009, and I had hopes that the trend would continue this year.

When I entered the show last Friday, and realized that the theme was "The Sport of Gardening," I was a bit concerned. I'm not at all into sports, and I thought it was a bit of a stretch to extend sports metaphors to plants, flowers and gardening techniques. So I pretty much ignored the theme, and just enjoyed the show for what it was.

I did think this was kind of cute, though:

Croquet display complete with giant mallets and balls of white Phalaenopsis orchids, from the Illinois Orchid Society

I've noticed that every year, there is some kind of vertical gardening display, and I always respond to those in a strongly positive way. I posted a photograph of a vertical garden done by the Arthritis Foundation in one of my garden show posts last year, and this year, I probably took more pictures of the "Growing Vertical" exhibit, designed by Growing Power Inc., than of anything else in the show. For one thing, vertical displays tend to have a cool urban gardening vibe to them, which makes them a great fit for Chicago. For another, the exhibitors tend to make good use of tropical houseplants or succulents in them. I live way out in the sprawling suburbs, so space-saving techniques aren't a necessity for me. But I am a city girl at heart and there is something about a small, efficient and unexpected garden that thrills me, and of course, I am houseplant lover first and foremost.

One of several ladder-shaped vertical gardens, set in a field that included orange flowered Kalachoe blossfeldiana mixed inwith conventional outdoor plants.

More vertical plantings, which included Epipremnum, Calathea, Scindapsis, Hoya, and various ferns.

One thing I was particularly happy about this year was that the Horticultural Competition seems to be making a strong comeback. It had returned last year with a few entries after not being held the previous two, if I recall correctly. Displaying plants by grown by local plant enthusiasts and gardening societies makes the show rise above being a mere commercial venue for gardening services. In fact, in keeping with the theme, it makes the show more than just a spectator sport.

Above: Two of the competition tables.

An entrant in the miniature garden category, which includes a miniature baseball diamond.

Two of the entrants in the Design-a-Window Box Competition

Part 2 of 2011 Chicago Flower and Garden Show will be coming soon. Expect the unexpected!

New Plants: From the Chicago Flower and Garden Show

Last Friday, my husband and I made our traditional trip to see the Chicago Flower and Garden Show. I will be posting about my overall impressions of the show, and a couple of features I particularly enjoyed, in the next couple of days. In the meanwhile, here are the plants I purchased at the show.

From the top left, according to their accompanying tags: Monadenium aff. schubei; Aloe harlanii; Crassula 'Buddha's Temple;' and front and center, Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice.'

A closer look at Monadenium aff. schubei. I love the color. This is my first plant of this genus, and I'm looking forward to learning how to grow it.

This plant was labeled Aloe harlanii. I am more familiar with the name Aloe harlana, and even more familiar with the idea that plants sold as such are usually Aloe hemmingii. It's a pretty plant though.

Crassula hybrid. This 'Buddha's Temple' is quite different from the 'Buddha's Temple' I purchased at the show last year (from the same seller), as can be seen in the shot below:
Two Crassula, old on the left, new to the right

Dyckia 'Burgundy Ice,' a very nice succulent Bromeliad.

The plants are all from Ted's Greenhouse in Tinley Park, IL, which always has a nice, and busy, booth at the Garden Show.

A Vicarious Trip Home

One of the things I miss most about living in New York is visiting the New York Botanical Gardens. I used to hop on the train at least twice a month, every month, to visit what I considered to be my special place.

One of my last visits before I moved to Illinois was to the NYBG's annual orchid show, in March of 2003. And even though my camera was of a far lower quality than the one I use now, and the photos are low resolution, the pictures I took at that show remain some of my favorites:

Epiphytic orchids (Dendrobiums and Oncidiums, I think) displayed in the branches of a live Ficus benjamina. I love this display technique, and often wonder if it would be possible to grow them in the home that way.

Miniature Oncidium hybrids

The tag for the yellow flowering plant reads Epidendrum ballerina 'Tropica'

Phalaenopsis varieties interplanted with Philodendron 'Autumn'

Not orchids, (though you can see some Phalaenopsis leaves to the bottom right) but I was really drawn to this stunning cluster of Tillandsia ionantha. I didn't know it, but I was a budding Bromeliadmaniac even then.

This year's Orchid Show started last Saturday, and I'm sorry I won't be there to see it. But I was very happy to see this preview video on YouTube.




It was almost like going home, even for just a minute.

Blooming Sans--I Won't Miss It This Time

The last time I wrote about one of my Sansevieria, it was because my Sansevieria francisii had flowered without my knowing it, and all I had left as evidence was a spent flower stalk and two seed pods.

My Sanseveria hargesiana also flowered earlier this year, and I missed that as well. It is not that I'm unobservant; I just have a few succulent plants tucked in out-of-the-way places. I don't check on them daily, or even weekly, since they don't need water all that often. It isn't the best cultural practice, but that's what happens sometimes when you're a crazy plant lady. A sane person would know that if you can't check on them easily, you probably have too many. Ah well, sanity is not all it is cracked up to be.

But I'm not going to miss the show this time. Look at what I spotted on my S. hargesiana earlier this week:

Sansevieria hargesiana flower stalk. The buds are not yet open, but they are getting close.

Picture of the whole plant, for reference. The leaves are a bit elongated, due to some time spent previously in a low light situation.

It has been months since I've been able to get a good picture of my cats with any of my plants. But when I put this plant on the floor in the hallway, so that I could photograph it, both of my little monsters had to check it out.

Luke checks the integrity of my potting mix (commercial mix amended with perlite and turface)...

while Peppermint checks to see if the planter is terra cotta or plastic. (It's terra cotta)

Having the cats in the pictures also gives a good idea of the size of this plant, which I've had for ten years or so. It's a big one.

Well, Thank Goodness That's Over!

And by "that" I mean February 2011. I don't know why February was chosen to be the one with 28 days, (yes, I know I can look it up, and I will) but I sure do appreciate it. I don't think I could stand two or three more days of such a horrible month. I've written before, at length, about how much I hate winter weather, and this February was a doozy in that respect. This year was Chicago's snowiest February ever. And that doesn't cover the sleet, freezing rain, and other nastiness. But I've come to take that sort of thing in stride. After all, as long as I've got my health...

Yeah, right. The day after I made my last post here on February 7, I came down with what I thought would be a minor cold. I was feeling somewhat rundown on Thursday, and was sick enough to take it a little bit easy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But I rallied enough on Monday the 14th to have a nice Valentine's Day dinner out with my husband. I still had some symptoms, but felt well enough for the next two days. Then that Thursday, a feeling of fatigue hit me like a freight train, followed by what was to become the worst cold I've had in my adult life. I was sick in bed for the rest of the month. I've had the flu in the past, and even that wasn't as bad. Today, I'm still not 100%, but I feel confident that the worst is over.

Things got a bit neglected here among the leaves. Some plants went a bit too long between waterings. The whitefly infestation hit my four hibiscus plants again, badly enough that I've decided not to play around. They are gone, and I'll do my best to replace them this spring and summer. As far as some of my other plants are concerned, I have a bit of damage control ahead of me.

I did get something done before all this hit. In addition to making the new terrarium, and renovating the old ones, I managed to get one of my favorite plants, my 11 year old Zamioculcas zamiifolia, into a new spot, where I could see it and appreciate it more:

Zamioculcas zamiifolia up on a pedestal. In its previous location, it was the victim of naughty kitty Luke, who was trying to get outside by opening the window the ZZ was near. The result is claw holes on several leaflets.

I moved the Monstera deliciosa, which used to be displayed in that spot, to a new location upstairs. I've been having a little trouble with it, and may write about that in future posts, but I expect it to come out fine with a little TLC. It had better. I grew it from a seed and there are few plants in my collection that are dearer to my heart.

In closing this little tale of woe, I want to say that I missed writing for this blog, I'm happy to be back, and here's to a more prolific March.