The Orchid Nook at Longwood Gardens

Anyone who closely studies orchids will be fascinated at the flawless beauty that each one exhibits.  In the orchid collection at Longwood Gardens Conservatory the walls display perfection of form and beauty as each orchid grows among the maiden hair fans.  The delicate fronds of the fern showcases the purity of each blossom. I took a moment to gaze closely at an orchid of muted ecru tones.  It seemed pale and receding next to its flamboyant cousins.  But if you truly isolate your vision to glance at each nuance and curve, you become enthralled at the completeness of the understated orchids.

Longwood Gardens Tree Peonies

My trip last week found the Longwood Gardens in the in between stage.  Some springtime blooms were in full form while others were just thinking about peeking their heads up from the ground. One of my favorites were the tree peonies.  I adored the mix of colors, sizes and forms. As you will see in the photos below, there were about eight different tree peonies in bloom.  Some were just developing their buds and some as you will see were breath taking with all buds in full flower.  I will be posting other sets of pics soon.  I hope you are able to see the  Longwood Gardens at some point in the near future.

Roses, Roses, Roses

I would love to wake each morning to the smell of heirloom roses.  There are moments when I gaze closely at a perfect rose and all time seems to stand still.  Life is good, and all is right in my world.  I enjoyed experiencing that today at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA.  The rose garden is in bloom.  Need I say more? This recently established garden was designed and planted with care and forethought.  The paths are gentle to the eye and leads one to the perfect placement of each plant.  I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. Each pic reminds me of the scent and peacefulness of my garden visit.

I'm Eagerly Waiting for the Corpse Flower to Bloom

I have read on Flipboard that a rare Indonesian flower will be blooming in the next few days at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX.  What makes this so unique is that these flowers bloom only occasionally or not at all.  This plant bloomed four years ago and they have some stunning pictures of the HUGE flower.  The Corpse Flower's bloom lasts for approximately four days, so if you can make plans to see it, by all means go.  If you live far away like I do, the wonderful folks at Moody Gardens have provided a web cam that can be accessed online.  The link is http://www.moodygardens.com/rainforestwebcam/

As you can see in the photo below, the flower is very large and a beautiful Crimson color.  It is known also for its distinct odor that smells like rotting flesh.  Moody Gardens' have named this flower 'Morticia' and expect it to bloom on Friday 13th.  Let's watch the web cam to see if they are right.