Garden

[gardenman]

@tototwo 

You'd probably like "Gardener's World" on Britbox. Monty Don is the main host, but it's the best gardening show you'll find on TV these days. They get a bit preachy on plastic and peat, but the gardening info is fantastic. Translating things from a British garden to an American garden isn't too hard. It's an old school type of garden program.

Erica Glasener always struck me as something of an angel on Earth. She was always so calm, serene, seemed genuinely nice and sweet. Those long dresses and the big hat just gave her a very calming look and feel. I was always very impressed by her.

[tototwo]

You're right, @gardenman.  I never thought of Erica as an "angel on Earth", but it was very calming to watch her float around all those elegant gardens.  Ethereal, wasn't it?

I'll check for Monty Don on YouTube.  Otherwise, we'd have to buy a subscription to Britbox.  Thanks for the info.

[gardenman]

@tototwo 

A long dress in a garden isn't always the best idea as the hem of Erica's dresses would often be quite wet by the time her tour of a garden was ending, but it was her look and it suited her.

Britbox is a pretty neat streaming service for gardening fans. Britbox airs most of the British garden/flower shows live also. The Chelsea Flower Show and others all get live airtime on Britbox which is pretty neat. I think they were live from Chelsea for five days last year. I no longer go to the Philadelphia Flower Show, so what I save by not going there, pretty much pays for Britbox for a year and I get to see multiple flower shows and more that way. Britbox costs me about $72 a year but the Philly Flower Show costs $48 for a single ticket, then there's parking, bridge tolls, gas, and I spend way too much in the vendor area, so subscribing to Britbox saves me a ton of money. I get my fill of gardening stuff and I save money in the long run.

[CritterKeeper]

Many, many years ago, I planted "Queen of the Night"  (almost black) tulips next to bright yellow tulips.  It was stunning. I loved the contrast. If was different and eye-catching. 

[tototwo]

@gardenman--I don't live anywhere near Chelsea or Philly, so going to one of those shows is out of the question anyway.   However, I'm on the committee that plans and designs our state garden show every year.  Not as big.... but at least I get to go free because I work there.  Ha.  It's kind of my dream to go to the Philly show just once - and I don't care about the price!

[gardenman]

@tototwo 

The Philly Flower Show is very impressive, but absurdly impractical if you're looking for ideas to translate into your own garden. The display gardens are beautiful, but they'll have crocuses, daffodils, mums, dahlias and more all flowering at the same time. It's not a real-world type of garden that's typically on display.

I've long dreamt of a real-world garden show that ran throughout the growing season and took place outdoors and didn't rely on forced plants. Kind of a Longwood Gardens type setup but with each garden area owned by a different landscaper, landscape architect, plant supplier, etc. Have some large gardens, some small gardens. Have landscaping for estates and small homes. Have patio gardens and balcony/terrace gardens. Have something for everyone.

Award prizes each month of the growing season for the garden that was best that month in the various categories. Limit plant replacement so they aren't stuffing in fresh plants every week. Make it a real-world garden show so visitors can lift what they see and use it in their own real-world gardens. So much of what you see in a typical flower show is forced and artificial that if you tried to replicate it in your home garden you'd fail miserably.

In a perfect world, my real-world garden show would be like an amusement park for gardeners of every type. There would be a sale area where plants, landscaping supplies, gardening supplies would be available. (Probably just outside the main gates so you don't have to attend the show to shop.) The gardens would consume a couple of hundred acres with an outdoor food court type setup for refreshment with some cover if the weather turned bad. A tram or slow-moving train-like vehicle of some sort would be available for those incapable or unwilling to walk through the gardens. Some gardens would let visitors walk through them while others could be sealed off so they could only be viewed from outside. Each garden plot could be owned by the displayer so they don't have to start from scratch each year. 

I think a nearly year-round garden show like that could be pretty impressive, make a lot of money over the long haul, sell a lot of products for those participating, and draw large crowds throughout the growing season. Reopen the facility nights for the Christmas holiday with holiday decorating/lights could draw even more crowds.

The initial setup and operating costs would be quite high, but over the long haul, I think it could be a big winner and could spread out across the country in different regions highlighting the possibilities in each region of the country. Garden/Flower shows are popular but unrealistic. Why not make one that's realistic and lasts the whole growing season? 

[PA Mom-mom]

@gardenman  I think your first reference, Longwood Gardens, is about the closest you are going to get to your ideal.The Philly flower show has become impossible to view for ordinary visitors. After many years of faithful attendance, I have given up. There are several auxiliaries in my area who organize garden tours for charity, which are pretty informative.

[gardenman]

@PA Mom-mom 

I probably went to the Philadelphia Flower Show fifteen to twenty years in a row before giving up on it. It just got to the point where the crowds, the expense, and the utter lunacy became too much. Many of the display gardens might as well be floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade. They're that impractical in the real world.

Longwood is probably closest to what I envision, but Longwood still does wholesale plant swaps that are impractical for typical gardeners. If you look under the mulch at Longwood you'll often find plants still in pots to make swapping them out easier. I'd like to see "real" display gardens created without the fakery and tricks. Let visitors see how the designs and plants function over a full gardening season. You can make a garden that's full of azaleas and rhododendrums that's absolutely breathtaking for a few weeks, but what happens after that? How does that garden look in July, August, September? 

The rest of us live in the real world, not fantasy garden land. A garden/flower show that gave us real world gardens that we could see over the course of a full growing season would be impressive. 

[proudlyfromNJ]

@gardenman  Have you been to Winterthur in Delaware?

[gardenman]

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@proudlyfromNJ wrote:

@gardenman  Have you been to Winterthur in Delaware?

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No. I've been by it a bunch of times on route 52 on my way to Longwood, but I've never stopped in. I typically take i-95 to the route 52 exit then take that to route 1 and Longwood, so I've gone past it a bunch. I've got a couple of arthritic ankles that limit the amount of time I can be on them, so by the time I get through Longwood, they're pretty much spent.

I did stop one day, maybe fifteen years ago to go through, but they were closed that day for some reason. I think they were closed to repave the parking lot, but I could be wrong about that. It's been a while.

On the rare occasions my ankles weren't cooked by the time I got through at Longwood, I'd often stop at the hospital thrift store at the intersection of 52 and route 1. They'd often have very nice and unusual stuff at good prices and anything you bought benefitted a local hospital. There used to be a small greenhouse near the thrift store that had some pretty neat plants from time to time also. 

I haven't even been to Longwood for a while now. I used to have their Good Neighbor pass which made it free to visit as often as you'd like. The pass used to be something like $50 for the year which made it a bargain. They've changed their membership stuff since the last time I was a member. It's still a good deal though if you're a frequent visitor.