A Little More Longwood

The gardens were so very beautiful 2 weekends ago, that I thought I'd share a few more images from the Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood Gardens, south of Pensylvannia.

Chrysanthemum Festivals

November's flower is the Chrysanthemum, and Longwood Gardens, south of Philadelphia has a masterful display of trained chrysanthemums.  The most spectacular is the Thousand Blossom Tree - shown in the photos here.  Each flower has a metal stake and loop frame around it to keep it in place.  

Those Winter Displays

I visited Plantworld this last week. They have a fabulous array of winter greens for urns and decorative displays. There were so many Grandiflora Magnolia leaves on display! Here's the autumn reason why I so love this tree!

I was at Plantworld yesterday. They have decorative winter greens for urns and planters – beautiful conifers, berries on branches, fruits and pine cones. This year they have a host of magnolia leaves. Paul Zammit was their horticultural director until last year, and his specialty is planter design. It looks like his legacy and interest continues in the abundance of beautiful materials.

I was pleased to find gigantic Osage Orange fruit to photograph. These trees were planted across America as cattle farmers moved west. They formed a thorny barrier within a few years, keeping animals in. The fruit is a wonder to the eyes.

Fruits of Autumn

I've noticed the beautiful mushrooms at the St. Lawrence Market and the Dufferin Street Organic Farmers Market. The oyster mushrooms have been amazing with vibrant colour and form. Here are some of the images.

Autumn Colour Gardens

Fall is the time when a garden's colours are the biggest and the brightest - it's all in the trees. Japanese Maples, Flowering Dogwoods, Gingkos...these are a few of the small garden trees with spectacular colour. I went to Shari Ezyk's garden last week and caught sight of what's possible with artful planting.