Philadelphia Flower Show

For me, Spring is the most anticipated time of the year. Winter really seems like it can go on forever, especially when it's March and it's still snowing. Luckily for us garden enthusiast in the Delaware Valley, there's the Philadelphia Flower Show right when we need it. The day that I got to go check it out, the weather was raw cold, rainy, and windy.

It was such a treat to see acres and acres of green plants, blooming plants, blossoming trees, manicured landscapes, faux gardens, world class floral designs, and even a greenhouse packed full of blooming orchids. I wandered around for hours. I did not want to miss any of it.

One of my all time favorite perennial garden flowers, the Peony. All of these images are from the Cornell Plantation's Botanical Collection, where I found a nice variety to explore. To me these flowers have always represented the true beginning of summer. The flowers are big, bold, and stately, yet delicate and ephemeral. They almost look like something from a dream, timeless, with a scent to match that of the most lovely and deepest memory...

I arrived at this bloom the same time as a native bee. This appears to be the same variety that I remember around the house I grew up in. Almost white at first glance, but the center is a soft yellow and the outermost petals are soft pink.

This last image is a Chinese Peony or Paeonia lactiflora. In Chinese medicine the roots of the peony are used to treat gastric and intestinal disorders.

All My Wishes In One Hand...

Walking up the road, camera in hand. Wildflowers blooming on the roadside and out of the ditches.

Forsynthia

A little tip that I read from the Upstate Gardener's Journal- starting around February forsythia branches can be cut, brought indoors, placed in water, and will bloom! It's a nice treat.