got soil?: Spring Goeth All In White (and Yellow, and Red, and Blue, and Purple...)

11 April 2009

Spring Goeth All In White (and Yellow, and Red, and Blue, and Purple...)

Spring has sprung! Quite rapidly, too. I can't figure out where the time goes but when you're living, studying, and working in a place like Longwood, it's easy for it speed on by. It seems as if things are changing daily and if you stop to blink, you risk missing something amazing!

Academics are over, now let the fun begin!

With classes more or less over, we've been turned out into the gardens for work rotations. In a way, I miss some of the classes - our Principles of Horticulture class in particular. It was taught by our fearless leader, Jeff, who is a wealth of knowledge about all things horticultural and a true planstman. He was very patient with me each week as I asked about various plants to grow here.

"Hey, Jeff, can we grow Sparaxis here?"
"Nope"
"Jeff, can we grow Geranium maderense here?"
"Nope"
"Hi Jeff, can we grow Phormium here?"
"Uh, no."
"OK, Jeff, what about Salvia?"
"Sure."
"Really?"

We had lots of fun in his class and I hope he enjoyed teaching us as much as we enjoyed learning from him. He even took us to the lab at the college where he works and let us play with microscopes and pollen. We hunted Prothallus in the Conservatory, conducted growth regulator experiments on a crop of Chrysanthemums, learned all about propagation (a fancy term for "the birds and the bees"), coaxed flowers into showing us their - ahem - sexual parts (if you're under 18, please stop reading here and go find a comic book or something), and had more than a few laughs in class and during the outdoor portion of the final (trust me when I say you had to have been there).

Our fearless leader, Obi-Wan Jabco

Playing with pollen

Shhhhh! Be very, very quiet! We're hunting Prothallus!

Jeff bags one.

Our mum crop (looks like some of them are thirsty!)

Demonstrating the fine art of disbudding

After the mum experiment was complete, we had to make room in the student greenhouse for the Sr. class to sow their crops, so some of the mums were tossed onto the compost heap.

Literally.

Now that we're out in the gardens, we get to see just how quickly things take place and all the magic that goes on behind the scenes to make Longwood the world-class display garden that it is. I'm assigned to Outdoor Display in the Center Section, which encompasses - you guessed it - the central portion of the garden, from the Visitor's Center to the DuPont House, and from Pierce's Woods to the Open Air Theatre (a map of the grounds can be found here). Quite a bit of territory, and lots to do, but it's not all work and no play. There are fun times, too, and who on earth could complain about going to work every morning in such a beautiful place!?

The first week was hell as my body adjusted to this foreign thing called "labor" but now that I can make it up the stairs without crawling, it's much better. I even got to spend a few days working in the Conservatory when they needed extra hands.

It's been amazing to be able to watch the season change from winter to spring, and see the subtle differences as the willows blush chartreuse, the woods take on a rosy cast as the Red Maples come into flower, the Magnolia soulangianas are a riot of whites and pinkish-lavenders, and the Cherry trees at the end of the Flower Garden Walk seemed to fluff out overnight. The tulips are popping, the Narcissus and Forsythias are jousting to see who will claim the title of Sunniest Bloom, the Syberian Squill are romping with the Chionodoxa in the Oak Knoll and the morning chorus is a symphony of Robins, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, and who knows what else I haven't been able to identify yet. Spring is here in a big way!

The Exhibition Hall in March, with Orchid Extravaganza in full swing.

Tulipa linifolia in the Mediterranean Garden

Spring in the Conservatory also means the arrival of the rare and ephemeral Himalayan Blue Poppy, Meconopsis 'Lingholm'. These are purchased as rooted cuttings and shipped from Alaska, then put in the freezer as soon as they arrive in October. Then they're brought out to the greenhouse and grown on until they're ready to make their entrance in the Orangery in March.

Woodland Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis sylvatica) grown here at Longwood.

The blooms of Aloe capitata

Ipheion uniflorum 'Wisley Blue'

Longwood also has a native wildflower meadow. It isn't much to look at in winter, but it was treated to a prescribed burn a few weeks ago and since we've had a couple of good rain showers since, it's already greened up and ready to go. Stay tuned for a season-by-season photo study of the meadow!

Pierce's Woods gets into spring with sweeps of Winter Aconite and purple Crocus. In Greek and Roman mythology, Medea tried to kill Theseus by putting aconite in his wine to poison him.

This is for you, Mom!

I met this little guy working in the Conservatory one day. We decided he was an IPM employee and let him hang out.

One of my favorites, Geranium maderense (no, it won't grow outside here!)

Balled and burlapped Dogwoods, waiting to be potted up

And the final product, underplanted with a succession of pink and white Tulips

Cushman training turns interesting

I went to the Carriage Shed for mulch one day and found one of the guys head-first in the pile...

...then I remembered it was April Fool's Day!

Last week I experienced that cultural and culinary delight that is the Philly Cheesesteak with a group of plant geeks who were entourage to Fergus Garrett, head gardener at Great Dixter, who came over for a speaking engagement. We went to the home of the cheeseteak, Pat's - a South Philly fixture since 1930!

There are rules for ordering!?

I obeyed the rules because I didn't want to make a misteak!

The Entourage

April saw the end of Orchid Extravaganza and the beginning of Spring Blooms displays. There was a frenzy of activity in the Conservatory as the controversial Orchid Mobile was dismantled

We had to hoist these metal frames...

...onto these super heavy wenches...

...and hang these huge Hydrangea baskets

A few finishing touches with the Easter Lily boxes and Viola! Spring officially arrives in the Exhibition Hall!

Meanwhile, my buddy and I planted these Osteospermum 'Silver Spark' in the Orangery. People loved them so much, I didn't have the heart to tell them they're used as freeway daisies in LA!

Spring sees an assortment of critters emerging to forage. Notice these strange tree-dwellers

Let's stop and admire the Pansies. See how far they go? See how many there are?

I deadheaded them. Every. Single. One.
Alone! Till my fingers bled! Feel free to admire them a bit longer...

Just waiting for the water to come on in the Square Fountain Garden.

Tulips popping in the Flower Garden Walk

And a few Hyacinth

The Daffodils aren't about to be outdone

To keep the deer from snacking on the bulbs, we erect an electrified fence every night. Too bad it doesn't keep out the squirrels and rabbits!

Meet Izzy. Izzy supervises all the work done in the Flower Garden Walk and Theatre Gardens.

Sometimes he falls asleep on the job

Or pretends to watch from behind the Fescue

And if you don't do something that meets his expectations - like filling his kibble dish - he will use your leg as a scratching post (good thing I wore the double front jeans that day!)