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| Hallway to the Orchid Room |
A few more plants I enjoyed from our walk through at Longwood Garden's Conservatory a month ago. The main
Christmas show was dazzling, of course, but it was also nice to have a break from all the red and taken in a few other choice plants.
The hallway above is draped in Cinnamon Wattle (
Acacia leprosa), which is native to Australia and in the pea family.
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| The big hanging baskets above are full of the African violet relative, Streptocarpus 'Concord Blue' |
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| Passion flower (Passiflora) blooming near the fruit tunnels |
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| Luscious but deadly, a hanging tropical Pitcher plant, Nepenthes x mixta var. superba |
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This Pitcher plant from the East Indian family, Nepenthes x mixta var. superba, grows in a small hanging basket
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| One of my favorite plantings was in the Mediterranean Garden room of the conservatory. |
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| Aloe nyeriensis and Furcraes foetida 'Mediopicta' |
The spiked and golden striped Mauritius hemp
Furcraes foetida 'Mediopicta' on the right, with the red hot poker like blooms of
Aloe nyeriensis from Kenya on the left. These are both such beautiful plants, and work so well together in this setting.
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| Just on the other side of the room is this Melianthus major in all its glory. |
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| Also in the Mediterranean room was this red, variegated Bougainvillea in flower over an arbor. |
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| This chartreuse elephant ear caught my eye in the Tropical Terrace, though I did not find a name. |
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| And in the Orchid Room, a wealth of riches... |
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| White orchid display by the antique window |
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| A wall of color in the Orchid room |
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| Their living orchid wreath is always one of my favorites... see another one here. |
Other photos from this visit at the very end of December: Longwood's
outdoor gardens in winter.
Dear Julie,
ReplyDeleteThe "chartreuse elephant ear" is called in Brazil by the indian name of "inhame" (something like "een ee aa me" in english, and yes, it's hard to pronounce in portuguese too :)It is a discorea (there are almost 30 types of discorea) The roots of ALL discoreas are richer in vitamins and nutrients than potatos or sweet-potatos. But SOME of them have poisonous LEAVES... The roots go well in soups, consomés with meet or chicken. You can also fry or bake them. It's possible to make bred with its flour (Ok, I've never seen a bred of inhame, because is more common in the northern brazilian cities...) The adult plant in tropical regions can reach almost 3 m (more than 9 feet). But this wonderful plant can be live in colder regions, like here (our climate is similar to Georgia or Virginia, for an example). Inhame can be planted in Europe and North America too (USA for sure, and errr, maybe Southern Canada)and it's very easy to take care of it: full or partial sun, a little water and nothing more.
Here, in the brazilian Pampa - state of Rio Grande do Sul - we use inhame only to adorn our gardens, but in another parts of Brazil, discorea is a important kind of food.
Greetings from Porto Alegre (Southern Brazil)
Thanks Joao! They are the height of popularity for ornamental use in the US. I did not realize they could be eaten! Perhaps we will catch-up in that respect in the future.
DeleteJulie
Everything is so lush!! - especially love the Streptocarpus 'Concord Blue' and the inhmae lesson above : )
ReplyDeleteThere are so many wonderful planting combinations in your photos. I particularly like the streptocarpus "Concord Blue". They look wonderful in baskets.
ReplyDeleteThe living orchid wreath is so great- what fun! The orangeries and conservatories are so delightful this time of year. I have also really enjoyed your previous posts documenting your gardens throughout the seasons. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen! I am working like mad to get all the garden posts done before spring has sprung. It is educating to me and encouraging to see everything flow through the growing season.
DeleteJulie
Love the Melianthus...they are such beautiful plants, especially the newly-unfolding leaves :-)
ReplyDeleteI photographed a strange plant I saw growing in Taiwan when I visited there last year. Now I know it's the Tropical Pitcher plant! I can't see the leaves well in your photo, but the bloom is exactly the same, so that must be what it is. There are so many beautiful plants in the conservatory; I love all those orchids!
ReplyDeleteDeb,
DeleteThe leaves are a basic fleshy, long oval shape, like that of orchids. Glad to have helped with an ID! And glad to hear that it is growing in Taiwan, as I have personal connections from there.
Julie
I love the look of that walkway to the orchids. It is so simple and soft.
ReplyDeleteThe big hanging baskets above are full of the African violet relative, Streptocarpus 'Concord Blue'
ReplyDeleteI love those huge blue balls ...
Thank you for the photo
This week, the first signs of spring are present with us, I wish you the same evolution
Dear Julie, How wonderful to see such lushness this time of the year! Can't wait to visit Longwood with you in April! P.x
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteWow Julie how beautiful and lush..that first picture was amazing...
ReplyDeleteAlthough you highlight many lovely flowers and combinations of plants it struck me that most tropical or conservatory plants also have really beautiful foliage. I saw Aloe nyeriensis when I was in the States, in the botanic garden in Phoenix and in North California, I'd love to have it here but I think our winters would be too cold. Thanks for sharing your walk through this conservatory. Christina
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful looking conservatory. I do like those hanging baskets of streptocarpus - quite magnificant
ReplyDelete