Sunday, November 15, 2009

The dragon topiary is the most popular part of the Chrysanthemum exhibit in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory



 


After days of rain, I needed to see some cheerful plants. I like Brookside because there's always an interesting display in the conservatories and there are also always some unusual oddball plants sitting around in pots or sometimes just elements of the permanent collections that are doing their thing when you happen to visit

Yesterday the Strelitzia were flowering cheerfully against the gloomy gray of the sky. The Blue ginger, Dichorisandra thyrsiflora, actually a member of the Commelinaceae has gotten quite large and was coveredwith flowers. I first saw this plant in Hawai and would love to plant is in Florida. Unfortunately I'm pretty sureit wouldn't be happy during the 6 month dry season.

The mums were good: all shapes forms, colors, big baskets, disbuds, new varieties. Still, I liked the dragon best. There is a photograph of the same dragon as they did it in 2001; that time his head was floral, this time, that striking aggregate production. This one's better.




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