The 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter Flower Show

Winter 2018-9: It's Over but Not Really

We're firmly into 2019 and all of the holiday eating and drinking excesses are distant memories, expanded waistlines notwithstanding. There are plenty of gardening opportunities for Toronto gardeners now: many are poring over seed catalogues, going to lectures and planning for the veggie garden in a few months. I'm on my annual hiatus from December to March and so far I'm catching up on things for which I don't have the time for during the busy work season like reading and writing for pleasure. And for me, strangely, this means not reading about gardening.

With getting ready for Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations and overall procrastination, I put off seeing the local Allan Gardens Conservatory's Winter Flower Show, version 2018. Finally, I had the itch to see some seasonal (indoor) colour so I grabbed my camera and coffee and walked over to the Conservatory. I was fortunate to record the remnants of the Winter Flower Show yesterday as it was officially the last day of the Show.  (It's confusing to have a Winter Flower Show end on January 9 but I digress...)

The recent Winter Flower Show was similar to Christmas Flower Shows (that's what they were called until a few months ago) of the past: mass plantings of poinsettias, cyclamen, ornamental cabbage and azaleas with many "topiaries" mixed in. So if you're not sick of seeing poinsettias, this post should still be enjoyable!

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show massed poinsettias
and succulent topiaries

Massed poinsettias and succulent topiaries
at the  2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show

"Mistletoe" and three containers at the
2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show
massed cyclamen and ivy

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show massed
ornamental cabbage, cyclamen and ivy

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show massed red azaleas
and ornamental cabbage

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show pink cyclamen closeup 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show White double Amaryllis
(Hippeastrum) flower 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show white hellebore
flower closeup 

Floral "cottage" at the 2018 Allan
Gardens Conservatory Winter Flower Show 

Magnolia leaf topiary and model train
at the 2018 Allan Gardens
Conservatory Winter Flower Show

Magnolia leaf topiary at the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter Flower Show 

Massed cyclamen, dusty miller and ivy
at the  2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Massed white azaleas and ornamental kale
at the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Pink cyclamen at the 2018 Allan Gardens
Conservatory Winter Flower Show 

While the seasonal Show arrangements were nice and cute as usual, I never leave the Conservatory without visiting the Conservatory's "tropical" rooms or "(green)houses". Here are a few pictures of very non-hardy plants for us and, if you concentrate enough, you may even feel a little heat and humidity coming off your screen:

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show Brunfelsia grandiflora blooms

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show closeup of
Flowering maple (Abutilon) flower 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show magenta Phalaenopsis 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show pink Phalaenopsis topiary 

2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory Winter
Flower Show poinsettias and tropical plants

Black tropical Hibiscus rosa sinensis
hybrid bloom 2018 Allan Gardens
Conservatory Winter Flower Show 

Cattleya labiata semi alba orchid
at the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Massed Phalaenopsis topiary at
the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Massed tropical plants and ponisettias at
 the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

"Sweetheart" Cymbidium
at the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Red and white Guzmania bromeliad at
the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show

Pink Phalaenopsis topiary detail at the
2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show

Amazon Lily (Eucharis × grandiflora) blooms
at the 2018 Allan Gardens Conservatory
Winter Flower Show 

Seeing the wonderful tropical blooms and getting toasty and warm reminded me of the several family trips to the Caribbean. And, of course, such pleasant memories were annihilated once I left the Conservatory and walked back home, head down, into the biting January wind  originating from the Arctic.

While the Winter Flower Show has officially ended, Toronto's occasionally brutal winter has just begun.

  

Cloud pruning at a theme park? At Orlando's Universal Studios Resort, yes!

What if Dr. Seuss was your gardener? 

It's an occupational hazard of sorts: being interested in plants and landscape design has its drawbacks when travelling, You pay good money to get away, soak up some sun, do a bit of shopping, or experience some Wonders of the World and all you can see are...plants. How they are unlike the ones you see at home, how great or bad they are used in designs, how hard is it to get some seeds or cuttings past customs. Sympathetic spouses and family are priceless in this regard.

We (family and I) escaped from Toronto last weekend and stayed in comparatively "scorching" Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios theme park.

 (I can't think of a better word than "escape" as frigid air from the Arctic flowed into the Great Lakes area resulting in minus 40 degree C. windchill while we were away. I had images of the mass of polar air chasing our plane travelling south!)

We haven't been to Orlando since 2011 and were looking forward to warmer temperatures and greener environments. The mornings were cool but by noon, the sun warmed us up and I enjoyed exposing my sunlight-deprived arms to a bit of direct light without worrying about hypothermia.

Universal Studios' main draw for us was the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" as we've read and seen all the books and movies. Short of being on the actual filming locations, the re-creations here of Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts Express train and Hogwarts Castle were excellent. If you can handle the crowds, hour wait time for rides and way overpriced Butterbeer and student robes, you have to visit.

Hogwarts Castle
Harry Potter Wizarding World
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

Of course, there is much more to see and experience: dozens vomit-inducing (for me) roller coaster and motion-simulated rides, lots of shows, and thank goodness, a couple of Starbucks. But getting back to the plants...

Being a zone 5 gardener, I know nothing about the wonderful and "exotic" trees, shrubs, palms and cycads thriving in zones 8-10 Florida. I love their forms and the fact that I can see green in February without being in a conservatory or greenhouse if I was back in Toronto. I'm sure, though, that 99.9% of Universal's visitors find the plantings irrelevant which is fair since they're here for the rides and attractions and not on a botanical garden visit. I became part of that 0.1% (even this is extremely generous) as I snapped pictures of flowers and shrubs! (My wife is used to this and is very patient, bless her.)

Eventually, we made our way to the "Islands of Adventure" section and I started to see, well, topiaries and lots of them. Trees shaped into upside flower pots or cupcakes seemed, to me, strange given the action-oriented setting. If anything, they hide the signage.

Topiaries in Marvel Super Hero Island
at Universal Studios, Orlando

A little further down, we entered "Seuss Landing" and then things became very interesting, horticulturally.

Seuss Landing entrance
at Universal Studios, Orlando

You've might have read "The Lorax"  so you'll recognize these Truffula Trees:

Seuss Landing's Truffula Trees
at Universal Studios, Orlando

I felt a little like Alice through the Looking Glass in the picture below. I wasn't posing, honest. I was merely taking in the bight yellow-orange Truffula 'bloom" against the brilliant Orlando sky.

Truffula Trees in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

The bright colours and non-linear shapes really appealed to me. Things seemed whimsical, trippy, and absolutely asymmetrical, just like the illustrations in a Dr. Seuss book. I don't know why, then, I found these "cloud pruned" trees somewhat incongruous given the setting. They echo the Truffula Trees but I thought immediately of "niwaki", the Japanese practice of pruning or sculpting trees and shrubs in ways to coax their inherent spirit out.

Here's a good link for more information about niwaki: http://www.japanese-gardens-and-niwaki.com/niwaki.htm

Cloud pruning in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Seuss Landing cloud pruning
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Example of Niwaki in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Since niwaki embodies a high form of gardening (art?)  in Japan and involves years of practice to master, do the gardeners at Universal possess the same spirit? Do the "mow, blow and go" landscaping crews in your neighbourhood have the same sensibilities? (Ok, the last question was rhetorical!)

Spiral juniper topiary in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

I've seen similar spiral-pruned junipers, ad nauseum, in front of McMansions so it was initially strange to see them here. But it soon made sense: the more contorted the forms, the better.

I made the observation that the same plants (or at least, the same forms) can make sense, design-wise, in seemingly completely different settings. Seuss Landing in Orlando is as far from a formal English garden culturally as can be but the topiaries add whimsy and deliberate eccentricity to both spaces. The topiaries make sense functionally in both locations.

Seuss Landing topiary
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Topiary in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Dr. Seuss-inspired topiaries made me smile.  Not sure if the upper fellow is sitting or standing? Of course, children visiting don't ask such a mundane question--they just find him/her/it funny!

Curved palms in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Bent palms in Seuss Landing
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

Even the palms look like Truffula Trees. Apparently, they were re-used perfectly here after being damaged by Hurricane Andrew.

My thoughts drifted between the formal topiaries in Europe, to the niwaki and cloud pruning traditions in Japan, to my cherished memories of reading Dr. Seuss to my kids so long ago.

Completely unexpected and unanticipated. The garden muses had visited me again!

Below are some flowers blooming here and there throughout Universal. I'm sure they're common as nails to Floridians but I appreciate them nevertheless.

Tibouchina urvilleana edwardsii
(Glory Flower)
at Universal Studios Orlando

Yellow tropical hibiscus
(Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Thunbergia grandiflora (Blue Sky vine)
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Red Powder Puff tree (Calliandra haematocephala)
at Universal Studios, Orlando

Pale pink azaleas
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

Pink azaleas
at Universal Studios, Orlando 

I wanted to end this post by providing two links that I think you'll find interesting.

The first is another blogger's post that I stumbled upon. Apparently, someone else found the plantings at Universal worth writing about! I'm relieved to discover that I wasn't the only one with this strange affliction of looking at plants at theme parks.

Here's Beth's post:

My Florida Trip, Part 1: Horticultural Beauty at Universal Studios Theme Park?

The second link leads to a fascinating article about the design process behind Seuss Landing's creation from concept to construction. 

Creativity and Science Collide Inside Seuss Landing

The Royal Botanical Gardens: a spring visit

Tulips, peonies, and wisteria from a warmer time...

Well, not this spring (yet) but from 2009. Going through my archives, I realized I never posted about my visit with Linda (my better half) to the RBG about five years ago. For the currently flower-deprived readers out there, I'm sure you'll appreciate the following pictures of spring blooms from warmer days in the past. (Who knows, we might even see similar sights around town in May but I wouldn't bet the farm on this given the severity of winter 2013-2014.)

Royal Botanical Gardens pale pink tulips 

The Royal Botanical Gardens is the

 "largest botanical garden in Canada, a National Historic Site, and registered charitable organization with a mandate to bring together people, plants and nature" and "located at the western tip of Lake Ontario. Four distinct formal gardens are contained with 1100 hectares of nature reserve, nestled into the slopes of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve." 

(Sources: http://www.rbg.ca/aboutus and http://www.rbg.ca/gardensandtrails respectively)

My visit didn't cover the entire 110 hectares--just a quiet afternoon on a pleasant May day. The RBG is only about 30-45 minutes from Toronto located near Burlington. It's very well-known for its herbaceous perennials display (especially peonies), tulips at the Rock Garden and the mature specimens in the Arboretum.

I think a visit is long overdue!

(p.s. I apologize in advance for not providing the correct cultivars for the peonies and tulips. If you can help, just send me an e-mail. Thanks!)

Royal Botanical Gardens
dark purple wine tree peony 

Royal Botanical Gardens pink tree peony

Royal Botanical Gardens purple tree peony 

Royal Botanical Gardens massed tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens orange tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens pale orange tulips

Royal Botanical Gardens
Japanese wisteria
(Wisteria floribunda "Lawrence")

Royal Botanical Gardens
doublefile Viburnum plicatum "Lanarth"

Royal Botanical Gardens
doublefile Viburnum plicatum "Lanarth" blooms 

Royal Botanical Gardens
 purple lilac Syringa vulgaris

Royal Botanical Gardens
Syringa vulgaris purple lilac 

Royal Botanical Gardens
tulips in Rock garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
pink and red tulips in the Rock Garden

Royal Botanical Gardens red tulips 

Royal Botanical Gardens yellow tulips red streaks

Royal Botanical Gardens
 clipped boxwoods Laking  knot garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
clipped boxwood knot garden at
the Laking Garden 

Royal Botanical Gardens
Laking Garden knot garden
 with topiary and thyme