Janustory - Day 8

Today's entry: Storm washed remains of ship contain unforeseen treasures. #janustory #wordcount8

How many times have we discovered unforeseen treasures in the garden? Living in a 1929 Sears kit house means my soil is filled with random bits of flotsam and jetsam that surface when working. I must wear gloves for the pieces of glass, broken china, clinkers, rusty nails and whatever else turns up. In winter, orchids can be unexpected jewels that remind us there are wonders around each corner of Mother Nature.

Whimsy in Plants: The Chicago Flower & Garden Show

I have the pleasure of once again working at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show.  I have so far managed not to buy too much from our fellow vendors, but I still have a couple of days to go. This year the gardens are smaller, but still are filled with interesting plants and intriguing gardening ideas.  The theme is sports, which gets expressed in a number of ways.  However, this is my favorite:

Alice?  Paging Alice!

A winning shot?

The Illinois Orchid Society's exhibit is entitled 'A Curious Croquet-Ground'.  Christy Webber, Aquascape, and Rich's Foxwillow Pines all do wonderful gardens, but I love the outsized imagination of this.  Maybe I have orchids on the brain, but I am very charmed by this garden. Where else but at a garden show can you do big, fantastic whimsy?  I find the garden show gives me a fresh look at how to work with plants and spaces, not to mention a burst of flowers to get me through the winter. There's still another weekend of the show, so if you can, stop by and soak in a little spring.

A Taste of the Tropics

March is plodding along, so a friend and I got a taste of the tropics a few days ago at the annual open house at Orchids by Hausermann in Villa Park.  Wow!!  I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not a huge orchid fan.  I love the unusual ones, not the cattleyas nor the phalaenopsis that you see everywhere. I've killed a couple that I bought on a whim at the orchid show at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  I don't do well with fussy plants. 

That is a lot of phalaenopsis, my friends.

However, put me in acres of greenhouses in March and I think it goes to my head.  I came home with a gardenia and a paphiopedilum.  Now that I have a sunny window, we'll see if I kill these.  The gardenia is a sentimental plant for me.  I had one in a corsage for a high school dance and somehow managed to keep one alive and blooming in my college dorm room.  We'll see what happens with this one.  The paph is a lady slipper-type orchid.  I have instructions.  I have promised it I will try very hard not to kill it.  So far the cats are not eating them, so here's hoping for survival!

All those plastic bottles hold hundreds of thousands of tiny baby orchids

A fountain of orchids

An unusual green one



A nifty white one

A stunning paphiopedilum!