Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Look Up - and Warm Up - at Annual NYBG Orchid Show

Photo credit: Doug Gordon, The New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden is flipping its orchid show upside down.

With 100 "chandeliers" bursting with a kaleidoscope of magenta purples, sweet cream yellows and hot pinks, this year's orchid blossoms not only steal the show on the ground but also in the air.

"You will probably get a stiff neck from looking up high," said Karen Daubmann, associate vice president for exhibitions and public engagement for The New York Botanical Garden. "There's one really huge chandelier - the rest are plays on chandeliers - there's all sorts of things up in the air when we would typically just be planting the ground plane."

Photo credit: Doug Gordon, The New York Botanical Garden
For the first time in this 13th annual show, the design theme will run throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. "We would often times have orchids hanging in the trees in those other houses, but this year we are doing hanging chandeliers, hanging baskets and hanging orchids all the way through," she said.

A giant star-shaped chandelier overflowing with hundreds of orchids is the centerpiece of this year's show. Pools of water mix with bright, natural light to reflect the cascading blossoms from above.

Daubmann said the show offers a tropical weekend getaway in the Bronx.

"This is the worst winter I can recall.  I don't ever remember being in 5 degrees. I don't remember mountains of snow and ice," she said. "Our pathways are clear, our conservatory is hot. If you don't remember what it feels like to have humidity on your skin and in your hair, this is the place to be. It's beautiful and it's nice to just immerse yourself in such a summery and tropical environment."

Extensive Collection, Orchid-Inspired Poems Highlight Tour
Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants, which includes more than 30,000 species. They range from miniatures with flowers less than 1/16 of an inch in diameter to giants more than 25 feet tall with flower spikes 10 feet long. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

The New York Botanical Garden has 6,085 orchids in its permanent collection.

"We have a really extensive orchid collection on site and we use many of those in the show, but we also buy in extra orchids to beef it up," said Daubmann. "I love the really fragrant orchids and really rare orchids, and I love when I can tell people the story behind them."

Selected poems by award-winning poet Deborah Landau are also on display throughout the show. The poetry - inspired by orchids - will be on display throughout the landscape and accompanied by a free cell phone audio tour. People are really drawn to the poetry in the landscape, said Daubmann.

"We work with great curators who do audio stops along with the poetry, so you can dial in and they  tell you about the poem and why its sited in that particular spot and why they picked it," she said. "It's really nice to hear someone's thoughts about poetry, and what they think about it and why it works."

Photo credit: Doug Gordon, The New York Botanical Garden
Cell phone tours have evolved over the years at the garden, according to Daubmann. "This year we have quite a focus on 'how-to.' So, 'how to grow orchids,' 'how to repot orchids,' 'how to get orchids to reflower' - you can dial in and hear the information from the curators," she said.

"So many people have questions about orchids. They are sort of a mysterious plant because people really want to grow them, and to know them, and to be successful with them, but sometimes they are the plant that people struggle with the most," she said. Daubmann said she hopes people will find success in growing orchids after attending this year's show.

In addition, the garden has added evening hours for Orchid Evenings, which Daubmann calls romantic date nights.

"A lot of people who work can't necessarily get to the garden between 10 in the morning and 6 at night. So we've added a lot of evening hours and people can come have a cocktail and enjoy live music and see the orchid show in a different way all lit up."

To take home a part of the show, the Shop in the Garden will be offering many special orchids for sale, including hard-to-find specimens for connoisseurs and easy-to-grow varieties for beginners. Daubmann said there is a lot of expertise available in the shop to help make your orchid purchase successful.

Cameras are welcome in the show. "People often bring cameras and take pictures and really enjoy being in a warm, humid environment," she said. "It's the perfect time of year to see orchids because they are so colorful, and often times very fragrant, and its a nice tropical environment."

Tickets are available for purchase in advance or at the door. For a list of available programs, including musical performances, dance lessons and orchid demonstrations, click here.

The show runs from February 28 through April 19, 2015.

To view my photos from the show, click here.
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Time to Prune Fruit Trees

Today the temperature made it into the 40s and I seized the opportunity to head outside and prune my pear trees.

Pear (and apple) trees can be pruned in late winter, usually after the coldest part of the season has passed. This year I waited longer than usual because Connecticut has experienced long stretches of temperatures ranging from 1-20 degrees Fahrenheit in February.

Many reasons to prune a fruit tree.
Pruning Pears

I prune out branches that will allow for more air and light to reach the center of the tree. This helps for better fruit production. You want enough space between branches for this, so any branches too close together need to be pruned (see "not enough space between branches" above). Any branches that cross each other are also pruned. Sometimes I remove one and keep the other, depending on where they are in the tree (see "crossing branch" in the graphic above).

It's important to prune to the collar of the tree when pruning a branch off. Don't cut in the middle. Don't leave a stub.

The easiest pruning one can do is removing water sprouts from the tree. These are branches that grow straight up and would not be strong enough to support fruit (see "water sprout" above). They are easy to identify and help give a timid gardener more confidence when pruning the tree. I removed many of these today.

Competing leaders (shown above) is when there are too many branches at the top of the tree. Usually one bad cut in the tree's past will make this a problem.

If the tree has suckers, which are straggly branches growing at the base of the tree, remove those. They take away energy from the tree. Awkward growing branches that dip too low should be pruned out as well.

Of course, anything that is broken or damaged should be removed, not just in late winter, but any time of year. Make sure your tools are sharp and use an alcohol wipe to disinfect the blades when moving from tree to tree.

After I'm finished pruning my pear trees, I take the branches to the garage and dry them for a few months. When they have dried I trim them down into 3 to 6 inch pieces and give them to my house rabbits as a treat. I do not apply any pesticides to my trees, which makes them safe rabbit treats. (Apple twigs and branches are also safe rabbit treats.)

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Think 'Threes' When it Comes to Winter Interest

Supreme Landscapes utilized shrubs for winter
interest in their display for the Connecticut
Flower and Garden Show. 
HARTFORD, Conn. - Imagine looking outside your window in the middle of winter and seeing coral winterberries glistening off the reflecting snow.

That's the picture Allison Kaminski painted during her lecture on winter interest in the garden during the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show Thursday. Kaminski is a gardening consultant for Supreme Landscapes LLC of Bristol, Conn., a company she and her husband, Matt, own.

"There are coral-colored winterberries now ["Winter Gold"] which literally look like a shell on a stem. You think of the Caribbean when you look at it because it's that Bermuda coral color," she said. "It's crazy to see that outside your window in the winter."

Winterberries - commonly known for their red berries that attract birds - like damp soil, something to keep in mind when scouting a spot for it. The plants can be spaced as far apart as 20 feet to get good berry production, Kaminski said.

Color, Texture, Contrast Figure in to Winter Display
There are three main categories of plants to consider for winter interest: perennials, evergreens and woody shrubs.

Perennials include sedums, echinacea and rudbeckia whose seed heads can be left standing for winter interest. Hellebores keep their leaves during the winter. "You don't see them now under the snow, but they are one of the first to bloom in the spring."

Kaminski said gardeners should not cut down ornamental grasses in the fall because water can get into the hollow stems and rot the plant over the winter. "Leave them up for curly q displays and wispiness."

Evergreens are where you can add your textures in to your winter garden, said Kaminski. "Don't just think of your standard blue spruce," she said. Hollies provide red berries throughout the winter.

A woody shrub to consider is the red twig dogwood. "You can intermingle them anywhere," she said. "To keep the stems red, you want to cut them down every two years or so. You want to keep young, fresh growth on there." Kerria japonica, another woody shrub, is also a favorite because of its fluorescent green stems.

When deciding on plants that will look good for your winter garden, consider where it will fit in in your garden and how many you want in the garden, said Kaminski. "You have to watch to make sure its hardy to our zone up here," said

"You can't buy a paperbark maple that's going to grow 20 feet and put it a foot away from your house just because it has nice bark," she said. "Paperbark maple is by far one of the nicest trees I could recommend for a winter garden," she said, but give it room to grow.

When choosing a plant that will display winter interest in the garden, Kaminski said gardeners should focus on color, texture and contrast. Three more factors to consider include choosing a plant that will keep its flower or fruit during the winter, the foliage of the plant, and bark or stems that add contrast to the background.

"People think crabapples are old fashioned but they are good for birds and there is fruit on them all year long," she said. "Crabapples handle trimming very well, so it's easy to maintain them to a height of 10 feet."

One combination Kaminski recommends and grows in her own garden contains white birch, weeping white pine and red winterberry. "The texture of the white bark compliments the red berries. The white pine softens the look."

Allison Kaminski will be presenting "Winter Interest in Your Garden" Saturday and Sunday at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show
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Flower Show is Cure for Cabin Fever

The flower garland was cut Thursday marking the beginning of the
Connecticut Flower and Garden Show in Hartford.
HARTFORD, Conn. - Spring arrived early for winter-weary Connecticut residents.

At 10 a.m. Thursday, a larger than usual line of people stretched across the Convention Center lobby awaiting access to the 34th Annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show. This year's seminar slate includes gardening notables Roger Swain (pictured above), Mar Jennings, Ken Druse and Karen Bussolini.

On the display garden floor, landscape designers ran with the "Spirit of Spring" theme. "We all have cabin fever by this point," said Kevin Rescildo of Pondering CreationsSpring inspiration took the form of green roofs, copper tree water features, tag sale finds and reclaimed gates from an asylum.

Hellebores, air plants, pussy willow bouquets and fairy gardening accessories were popular items for sale in many garden exhibit booths. (For more photos of the show, click here.)

Designers Embrace Spring
Meet the major design contributors to this year's 34th Annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show:

Creative Contour's green roof caused a lot of buzz. Click to enlarge.
Creative Contour Landscape Design of Middletown, Conn., won Best of Show in the landscape competition. The display included a dining table that was incorporated into the water feature.

Jennifer Noyes
"That table was a blast to make," said Steve Frank, who accompanied owner Jennifer Noyes at the show Thursday. Frank assembled a pump to run water through a table leg, creating the water table.

Noyes said the design process comes naturally to her. "I like everything that looks visually stimulating," she said.

What caught the most attention in the display was the living roof. "It's awesome and it will last 100 years," said Noyes. "Shingles only last for 20." The back portion of the display showed how the roof would appear in the winter.

The logs surrounding the display didn't come easily though. "I threw out my back cutting the logs in the snow," she said. "I was freezing."


Pondering Creations' display included more color this year. Click to enlarge.
Kevin Rescildo
Pondering Creations of Terryville, Conn., took home second place in the competition. Owner Kevin Rescildo not only incorporated a kaleidoscope of colors, but also an artifact from the past. The gate on display is from reclaimed fencing from the Bellevue Insane Asylum in New York, he said. And it blends nicely with the signs of spring.


"There's a lot more flowers in this year's display than last year's," he said. "We were trying to go for a lot of color this year, including different colored witch hazels. We brought in some interesting stuff."

All the plants featured in the display garden will grow in Connecticut and gives a glimpse of what spring will look like in a month and a half to two months. In nature, "everything will bloom within three weeks of each other," he said, "but everything [here] was timed to bloom for this week. It took a lot of planning and a lot of work."


This copper tree fountain in the foreground of an azumaya caught lots of attention.
Robert Townsend
Aqua Scapes LLC of Portland, Conn., surprised attendees with a copper tree water fountain.

Owner Robert Townsend said the prop was originally ordered for a client overseas but he was so impressed with the concept that he ordered an additional one for himself.

"I decided to make it a part of the show. I was so blown away with it ... I saw the quality and the beauty of it," he said. "I shipped it in from overseas to make it a highlight of the display."

A new aspect of water features is fountain-scaping," Townsend said, which he incorporated into his display. Inside the pond were koi fish and aquatic plants.

The display garden also included an azumaya, a large wooden Japanese building. "I never built one before," he said. "In the future I would make one out of eastern redwood or cedar" so it lasts longer.

Three collaborators made this display extraordinary. Click to enlarge.
Nancy DuBrule and David Barvenik
Comets to Koi of Branford, Conn., collaborated with Natureworks of Northford, Conn., and Plantsman & Co. of Shelton, Conn., to create a relaxing backyard habitat.

In late October, Steve Stone of Comets to Koi contacted Nancy DuBrule of Natureworks for help in choosing plants for the display. The plants were originally chosen while dormant, but after deciding on a last-minute color palette change, she returned to the greenhouses before Connecticut's first major snowstorm in January. 

"It was the hardest year to force plants because we did not have sunshine," she said.

Stone dug up four huge shrubs in the snow to be used in the display. Stone, who DuBrule called "the fish whisperer," made sure the pond, water wheel and display were waterproof.

"We had somewhat of a plan," she said. For the children visiting the show, DuBrule made sure to include a fairy corner in the display. "I knew the kids would appreciate it," she said. "It was a wonderful collaboration. We finished at 6 p.m. last night," she said.

David Barvenik of Plantsman & Co. cut and constructed the carved birdbath and the rocks surrounding the pond. "I like working with rocks," he said. "Once you start playing with rocks, it breaks you, or you break it."

For the display, pink granite was chosen, a coarse grain rock. "I picked up all the rocks in January and sculpted them," he said. Everything was assembled in his backyard before it was brought to the Convention Center.

"It all has to be gone by Monday," DuBrule said of the backyard habitat.

A rustic hideaway greeted attendees as they entered the exhibit floor. Click to enlarge.
Allison Kaminski
Supreme Landscapes, LLC of Bristol, Conn., featured a rustic hideaway that greeted attendees when they entered the show. 

"We wanted to bring spring to us. The display starts right on the cusp of winter and we wanted to make it as realistic as possible," said Allison Kaminski, gardening consultant. "We wanted to choose a lot of plants that would resemble a northeast landscape."

Kaminski's husband, Matt, drew up the plan and assembled all the stone work by hand. "He built the stairs going up. It's all one of a kind and made right here," she said. 

The plants chosen in the display were selected due to their availability at local nurseries. "They are all reliable, hardy common plants," she said. 


There's plenty to look at in this display from Encore Landscaping. Click to enlarge.
Diane Tapp
Encore Landscaping of Enfield, Conn., participated in the display garden section for the first time this year. 

"I had a sense I was going to try to do a Victorian garden," said owner Diane Tapp. "I've been thinking about it for year," she said. "It's been percolating." She created a garden room viewed through windows and pillars, the main structural elements that were acquired through tag sales. ("I'm a big tag saler," she admitted.) "I like the flow," she said. "I was happy that I was able to get so many things into a small space."

Tapp's plant choices concentrated on those that would look good into early spring, she said. "I tried to find things that would be a little different," she said. Her display gave a sneak peek into her design process. "For my client, I want my end product to be their garden, their design. We talk and I look out their windows and look at their decor."


A huge waterfall made by Landscapes Unlimited.

Landscapes Unlimited of Plantsville, Conn., created a massive waterfall using hollow high-density-fiber reinforced concrete.

Jeff Krupinski, owner, said it took about four days to assemble the piece. The company primarily concentrates on hardscaping. "We like messing around with big machinery," he joked. His inspiration reaches way back to his childhood.

"As a kid, I always thought of the pirate treasure hidden behind the waterfall."

In the past two years, Landscapes Unlimited has installed six similar features in Connecticut. "The results have been flawless. They remain unscathed by the weather."

The Connecticut Flower and Garden Show runs through Sunday, Feb. 22. For more information, visit the website at ctflowershow.com.

For last year's coverage, click here.
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Photo Gallery of the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show - Page 1

Photographic highlights from the show. Photos copyright McGuinness Photography.

To return to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show story, click here.

Even a fairy can find a home in Pondering Creations' garden display.
The gates in Pondering Creations's display were reclaimed
from an asylum.
"Sir Peacock" by Woodward Greenhouses.

Getting ready to cut the floral rope Thursday before opening.
Many designers incorporated hellebores in their designs. Shown here in the
Comets to Koi display.

An antique tractor makes a delivery of daffodils at the Stix N Stones display.

Encore Landscaping's display was all about the details.

Violets on a windowsill were part of Encore Landscaping's display.

Giant mushrooms were part of this Victorian-themed garden by Encore Landscaping.

Country Flower Farms of Middlefield, Conn., were jam-packed with plants and trinkets.

Earthworm Technologies is new to the show this year, promoting his BloomPucks.
A fairy garden display in the Natureworks booth.

Page 1 of 2. Click here for Page 2.
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Photo Gallery of the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show - Page 2

Photographic highlights from the show. Photos copyright McGuinness Photography.

To return to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show story, click here.

One of the windows in Encore Landscaping's display.

Relaxing atmosphere at Encore Landscaping's display.

The handmade azumaya at Aqua Scapes offset a water display.
The back of Creative Contours' living roof showed how it would look in winter.

Witch hazel blooms with tulips at Supreme Landscapes' display.

Winter and early spring interest at Supreme Landscapes' display.

A tiny fairy corner was included in the Comets to Koi display.

Creative Contours took home Best in Show Thursday for their display.
This display won second place in its division in the Federated Garden Clubs
of Connecticut, Inc. competition.

This display won first place in its division in the Federated Garden Clubs
of Connecticut, Inc. competition.

This display won second place in its division in the Federated Garden Clubs 
of Connecticut, Inc. competition.

This display won first place in the table artistry division in the Federated Garden
Clubs
of Connecticut, Inc. competition.
Page 2 of 2. Click here for Page 1.
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The Gardener's February Calendar

A bluebird attract to the heated birdbath this winter.
Snow, snow and more snow. That has been the theme for the last couple of weeks. Somewhere under all those snow drifts is my garden. It's just hard to remember that right now! There's plenty to do inside while we wait for the snow to melt.

Birding
A female bluebird in the garden.
I've been spending a lot of time looking out my window at all the different birds that visit the feeders at this time of year. It's made me think about what plants I could grow to attract more birds to my garden not only in the winter, but throughout the rest of the year as well. Growing trees like crab apples and bushes like winterberry will help attract bluebirds to the garden in the winter months. Flowers that go to seed, like echinacea, attract goldfinches in the late summer and fall.

It's important to keep an available source of water for the birds as well since may natural sources of water freeze.

Seeds
Organize all the seed packets according to planting date. Figure out what your estimated last frost date is. (This website will help.) Then count backward from that week. This is your growing season. So when a packet of seeds says to start them inside eight weeks before the last average frost, for example, count back eight weeks from your last frost date. If you haven't ordered all your seeds yet, now is the time to do so before they sell out. 

You can start seeds of pansies, snapdragons, geraniums, ageratum and petunias now.


See you in the spring, little owl.
Force Flowers
Go outside and trim branches of forsythia, witch hazel and pussy willows. Bring them inside and put them in a vase of water. Within a week they will bloom. Instant spirit lifter.

Dream Big
Now's the time where seed catalogs, garden magazines and Pinterest come in handy. I've been saving pictures from magazines and printing images from the web to create my inspiration board. These are the photos of plants or garden scenes I wish to replicate in my garden. I used to keep these images squirreled away, but now I glue them to mattboard (you can use a foam board or poster board, too) and keep it out where I can see it. My reasoning? How can I replicate these ideas if I forget about them? With an inspiration board, I'm constantly reminded of what my goals are.

Fruit trees

Toward the end of this month is a good time to trim pear and apple trees. The general guideline is to wait until the coldest part of the winter has passed before trimming, but before the spring warmup kicks in. Make sure your pruning shears are sharp and clean before you go outside and tackle this project. Still nervous? Here's how I pruned my pear tree.

Houseplants
With the snow covering everything, my attention goes back to houseplants, such as African violets or orchids that need repotting. You can fertilize houseplants that show signs of new growth now as well. I recently purchased Dr. Earth's Liquid Solution Concentrate (3-3-3) for this purpose.

Remember: spring is coming. The snow will melt. Onward!

I live in Central Connecticut and garden in Zone 6b.

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Any Way You Slice Them, Apples Have Rich History

Book Review

Apples of New England: A User's Guide
By Russell Steven Powell

When it comes to the apple, author Russell Steven Powell can help you get down to the core. Apples of New England: A User's Guide takes the reader on a journey of America's favorite fruit, from when it was appreciated only for cider to the rise in popularity of fresh-eating apples. Powell shows that there's more to the apple than what is offered year-round in the grocery store.

The ancestral roots of the apples of today trace back to England. When the first colonists came to settle in America, they brought the apple with them. It was the breeding of early apples grown in the New England with native crabapples that helped form some of the earliest varieties, such as Northern Spy and Rhode Island Greening.

Apples weren't originally valued for their fresh-eating qualities; they were grown to be made into cider. Interestingly enough, cider used to be more popular than beer is today, but took a reputation nose-dive during the Prohibition movement.

This book is useful for those seeking a definitive source for which apples to grow in a home garden as well as those who who appreciate the story behind what it is they grow in their garden. If you enjoyed Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire, you will like Powell's in-depth journalistic history of apples in the New England region, including background on the two men who helped shape the region's perception of apples in the 1800s, John Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed") and Henry David Thoreau.

In-depth descriptions of apples grown in New England make up a good portion of the book, with notes on their histories, origins, flavor scale and more. The last section of apple identification consists of more than 200 varieties of rare apples that have unusual histories or are still growing somewhere in New England today.

Powell touches upon the culture of growing apples in the region, using New England orchard owners as sources for topics such as weather-inflicted defining harvest moments and the rise of popular pick-your-own stations.

The author knows his apples, serving as the executive director of the nonprofit New England Apple Association and working in the apple industry for 20 years. He authors two blogs, New England Apples and America's Apple.

Apples of New England: A User's Guide retails for $19.95 and is published by The Countryman Press.


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