Why I Oughta...

The EPCOT Center annual Flower and Garden Festival is headlined by character topiaries and food booths.  Those are both just lovely.  But, in each of the last few visits we've made down there during the festival, the star(s) of the show (for me) are the bedding annuals that the horticulture team at Disney plant in large, colorful masses all around the park.  Here, below are a few of my favorite views of annual flowers in/around the World Showcase. First is a trio of purple, red and white - all planted in their own colonies: Closer to the Butterfly room, they have this colorful combo: SunPatiens made a big splash: This bed below is mixed with a number of flowering annuals all about the same height: Of course, I couldn't include a roundup of the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival beds without a look at the UK Pavilion.  I included a similar look from 3 years ago ( 2021 Festival) where they planted a similar red/yellow/purple mixed bed .   These below are my fav...

One of the garden design components that I've been observing (and thinking about) over the years are garden walls.  I haven't built a garden wall (yet), but it is something I've been trying to figure out how to tuck into our yard in one-way-or-the-other.    The most-likely place has been the bed at the feet of the espalier'd Greenspire Linden trees (that now feature a mass of boxwoods) .   Or out front where the floating mulch/drainage issue remains out-in-front of our front porch bed .   I've collected some inspiration for walls in various public places including back in 2019 when Gabion-style walls were one of the big trends  and in the wild in Lisle .  And I've dreamed about a 'fountain wall' by our patio in back .   I also have found an example at Disney's Aulani Resort here .  Disney Parks are (for me) a good place to look around at built, landscape environments.  And on a recent trip I was drawn to a retaining wall i...

Over where Frontierland blends with New Orleans Square in Disneyland Park, you'll find a series of rectangular raised beds that are surrounded by low, wrought-iron fencing.  Inside those beds (at least...during the Summer) are the one-and-only Disneyland Rose.  They have a somewhat formal planting with a low boxwood hedge around the perimiter with the taller Disneyland Roses in the middle.  See below for some photos showing the park's namesake Floribunda roses: I have posted about 'in situ' Disneyland Roses before with a bed of them being planted out by the street here in 2019  along Harbor Boulevard.   The Disneyland Roses that we have at home aren't quite this tall, but with six now planted, I'm hoping that we'll get there...eventually.   I've covered other " Horticulture at Disney Parks " things here on the blog and these photos of the Disneyland Rose inside of Disneyland Park are now tagged there , too.  

One of the things that I've been chasing FOR YEARS in all three of our gardens (two of our own, one borrowed via my sister Vic/Equation Boy/Man when we lived there for two years) is a water feature.  I've longed after one in various forms.  Over the years, I've had two water features that managed to be planned, executed and maintained.  But, each of them lasted for just one season. The first one was this three-tiered acrylic fountain that I had near our garden in our first house in Elmhurst.  The birds loved it.  But, it dried out rapidly.  Then it cracked and was junk.   The second one was this small wine barrel water 'feature' that we had in the borrowed garden/patio .  It was an insert that wasn't quite the right size inside of a wine barrel planter from the hardware store.   I've talked about adding some water - for both the visuals but also the sounds - many times.  I included it on my 2022 to-do list and it was an item...

One step forward, one step back.  So it goes with indoor, container gardening it seems.  Just yesterday, I posted an update on my oldest Staghorn Fern and how it was putting on the first basal frond since I've owned it.  Today...showing a photo of a setback:  my Creeping Fig Vine Mickey Topiary took a hit. It seems that I let it dry out and the vine has gone dry across a huge amount of the face of the frame.  I THINK that I caught it just in time and watered it to keep the vine alive.  In part.   See below for the current state: You can see the dry parts of the vine with dead leaves.  But, also..what seems like a little bit of new, growth (the lighter green leaves).  I brought this inside back in October and it was THRIVING.  Look at this photo to see the post-Summer flush growth of Creeping Fig Vine .  I've been trying to keep the topiary watered in since the incident, but this really is a product of my plants being sent down...

We recently rode the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom and being all-in on Staghorn Ferns lately, it was a lovely surprise when I spotted a couple of them attached to tree trunks near the beginning of the ride.  I've looked at a bunch of POV videos on YouTube , but can't seem to find a clear look at the ferns and I wasn't able to whip my phone out fast enough to capture them.  But, trust me...they're there.  Once you leave the dock, look to the right side on a few of the bare palm tree trunks - about six-or-so-feet high from the waterline, you'll see a couple of Staghorn Ferns.   Although there isn't a similar site for Walt Disney World, the folks at Plants of Disneyland have documented four different Staghorn Ferns in Disneyland.  You can see the listing page here - screenshot below.   Source via Plants of Disneyland I'll be sure to have my phone out the NEXT TIME that we board the cruise. 

One of the things that I'm always struck by during our visits to the Disneyland Resort is the Disney horticulture .  I guess that I always look at a 'place's' horticulture, but when I'm at Disneyland, I always come away thinking how great of a job they do - AND - how foreign it is to me being a Zone 5b Northern climate gardener.   I've posted a bunch of photos over the years from our trips here on the blog including some photos of the Disneyland Roses , some crazy cubed shrubs near Small World  and a few times about some Belgian Fence espaliers that they have in the parks.  I first posted a photo of this Belgian Fence in January of 2019 .  Then, I posted about Disneyland's Belgian Fences later that same year.    Below, you'll see a new photo of what I think is the 'matching pair' to the espalier that I've posted about before.  This one is on the City Hall side of the train station - just as you go under the sign that reads:  "Here you l...

Over the years, I've posted about various places that I've found gardening inspiration around the world.  There's the big one - Luxembourg Gardens in Paris - that maybe had the BIGGEST impact on me.  But there's also all of the things I've taken in around Japan including the pretty great Gotenyama Garden and all of their street trees . And, the boxwood hedges outside of the FedEx HQ that have an almost cloud-like form . And the Jacques Wirtz hedges that I've never seen in real life, but love online .  The fountain/pond at the cut flower garden inside the Morton Arboretum .   And, of course, there's Disney Parks. I've posted about their roses, trees and plants many times .  And I've added Disneyland Roses and a Belgian Fence espalier based on what I picked up there.   One of the things that I recently noticed was the color combinations in some of their annual beds.  Let's start with this bed showing off a really great Pooh Bear topiary (he's...

Look at those cube trees.  These are in Disneyland's Fantasyland right on the same path to the It's a Small World ride that the Belgian Fence espalier setup (on the little riser/stage) and the Mary Blair-inspired garbage cans .   These cube trees are right across the main path. Based on this post from Plants of Disneyland , I think these might be Fern Pine or Podocarpus gracilior and add quite a bit of visual interest to the background of this spot - and, of course, provide plenty of screening for people watching the parade. I've documented a few different plants/trees/flowers from Disneyland and Walt Disney World over the years here on the blog and summed it all up in this post.    With the recent posts in the past week or two, I guess I need to update that post - or write another now. Full list of posts (at that time) about Disneyland horticulture .   Here's a look at some of the Disneyland Roses in their native environment .  A Belg...

Back in January, I posted a photo showing off a Belgian Fence espalier that I fell in love with during a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim .  During a recent trip to Southern California, we ended up going back to the park and I found that same espalier.  I wanted to see if it had changed at all during the six months since we had seen each other last.   That's it in the photo above during the end of July.  And while there's some thickening-up of the branches, it is mostly the same as we last saw it.  Due to their climate, one would think that there isn't much seasonal differences, right?  They certainly get some growth in Spring and Summer, but Winter dormancy in Los Angeles isn't quite like what it is here in Zone 5B. Seeing this again, only enhanced - in my own mind - my desire to bring a Belgian Fence to our property.  It is #2 on my 2019 To-do List , but here we are in (almost) mid-August and I haven't even acquired the trees.  That isn...

Having now recently posted about seeing *in real life* the Disneyland Roses in Anaheim and one of the espalier'd trees/shrubs in Fantasyland, I've now think it is worth creating a curated post about all the trees/plants that I've cared enough about in Disney Parks to post about here on the blog.  Consider this my "Growing in Disney Parks" roundup.  Before I get to the posts I've created, in searching about some of the trees, I came across this site: Plants of Disneyland .  Pretty incredible stuff - including a nice look at the Belgian Fence espalier that I posted about last week.    Here's the archives related to plants inside of and around Disney Parks on the blog: 1.  Disneyland Roses .  In a bed near the Disneyland Resort Gateway along Harbor Blvd in Anaheim.  2.  A Belgian Fence Espalier at Disneyland .  Turns out it is made out of Firethorn.    3.  A beautiful Life Oak tree at Epcot in the World Showc...

I've written about the pair of Greenspire Linden trees that we have in our backyard that I espalier'd in the late Summer of 2017, right after we moved in a few times here on the blog - with the most recent being in May of last year where I showed the tree's buds about to burst open to life .  Here's a post from September of 2017 that I showed the espalier system that I used (wires and posts) and why I chose to put them a little bit further away from the fence than one would normally. Those two espalier'd trees are done in what is known as the "cordon" style.  Or, maybe, a "Double Cordon" or "Triple Cordon" because we have (currently) four rows of branches. Cordon is just one of the styles that are popular with the others being Candelabra and something called the "Belgian Fence". Here's a breakdown of some of the most common versions of espalier from "State by State Gardening" below.  Link to the imag...

I don't know exactly what I was doing - maybe waiting for Nat or trying to find some shade.  Or both.  But, I found myself face-to-face with a tree that had this plaque right underneath it on the entrance side of the World Showcase at the Epcot Center on our most recent trip.  This is right behind the Refreshment Port and that little body of water you see in the background is the pond/lake/lagoon that is normally done up with the flower quilt during the Flower and Garden show.   But, back to that tree.  And the plaque.  Here's a close-up of it: It is a Quercus virginiana - a Live Oak.  The plaque at Epcot reads: Native to Southeast United States This stately tree measures its lifetime in centuries.  A massive tree, the "Live Oak" can reach a height of 60 feet with 100-foot spread.  The wood is very strong and hard, making it one of the heaviest of North American trees.   Those of you paying attention know th...

It isn't everyday that you come across the Epcot Germany train laying on it's side, right?  Is this a metaphor for Epcot in general?  Or at least for Future World?  

If you ever come across Milk Thistle, don't - as I did - reach down and try to feel the leaves.  They sure look interesting, don't they?  Well...they're covered in little, super-sharp thorns.  Lesson learned. This was one of a bunch of plants/flowers that they had set up in a little medicinal garden during Epcot's Flower and Garden show. They also had pineapples!  Yeah...look at this little cute tree/plant that has a big pineapple coming out of the top of the thing: You can spot the Milk Thistle in the upper right corner of this photo for placement in the medicinal garden.

This beautifully-crafted Mater was one a few topiaries that we had not checked out/viewed before on our other trips to the Flower and Garden Show.  He is over by Test Track and tucked into a little pocket that includes a nice playground for little ones.  The Bird played and played there and we had to drag her out screaming so we could go on Soarin'.