An unapologetic plant geek shares advice and opinions on gardening, the contrived and the natural landscape, as well as occasional topics from the other side of the gate.

December 23, 2013

Longwood Gardens in August - Pt. IV

     This is the last post in my Longwood Gardens series, and I meant to have this posted sooner, but holiday hoopla has a way of sucking time out of your life. I really look forward to the quieter time after Christmas spent with friends and family, compared to the chaos before. But that's a subject for another post.

     After I left the Conservatory I headed to the Student Exhibition Garden which is designed and maintained by students in Longwood's Professional Gardener Program. There were four gardens on display and they were all remarkable, but the first garden blew me away. Maybe it was all that red and the fact that the centerpiece was the elusive-to-me monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana), an expensive tree I've killed twice.
Student Exhibition Garden (2)

Student Exhibition Garden (5)

Student Exhibition Garden (11)

Student Exhibition Garden (8)

Student Exhibition Garden (10)

Student Exhibition Garden (12)

     After seeing the gardens above it was a nice break to walk through the more sedate vegetable garden, particularly since the next stop was another riot of color, The Idea Garden.
Vegetable Garden

Idea Garden (3)

Idea Garden (2)

Idea Garden (1)

Idea Garden (6)

     I'm not sure what one admirer of the Idea Garden thought about all the color, but they seemed to be enjoying the day regardless.
Idea Garden (7)

     I will finish my Longwood series with a shot of their Main Fountain Garden, it seems an approprate finale. If you want to see all of my photos, you can click here for my Flickr set.
Main Fountain Garden

     Speaking of photos, get your top ten together. After Christmas I will be posting my favorites of the year, which has kind of become a tradition here. Until then, merry Christmas if you celebrate, happy holidays if you don't.

9 comments:

  1. Les, Your pictures make me want to visit Longwood Gardens again. Such a spectacular place. Vikki in VA

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  2. Les, Your beautiful pictures make me want to visit Longwood Gardens again. Thank your for so many inspiring photos throughout the year. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Vikki in VA

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  3. Thank you so much for your great images of this incredible place! Must see this someday!

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  4. What a tonic for the eyes Les. I'm already hankering for spring and winter has just begun. I love these photos

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  5. That was a fabulous blast of summer, thank you Les...and Merry Christmas!

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  6. I know Araucaria araucana by the name monkey tail. I was given a starter tree in a 4" pot. It's been there for a couple of years. Since I know it will grow too large for my PNW garden and I was going to give it away. If you want it Less, its yours. I love finding homes for plants I can't accommodate.

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  7. Thanks for the photos, I love Longwood and I'm long overdue for a visit there.

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  8. Happy holidays!!! Looks like a gorgeous garden full of ideas. I love the Elephant's Ear known as Black Magic. It adds a nice contrast to all the green with it's Purplish leaves.

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  9. I love to visit gardens like this but could not live with that much color and pizzazz on a daily basis!

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