Spring Conservatory Display 2011

Our Spring Conservatory Display opens to the public on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Orchids steal the show as usual but look for Begonias and other spring flowers and colorful tropical plants from all colors of the rainbow. Fairy Houses are a hot gardening trend and 33 custom made in house styles will be set in the flower-filled indoor garden.

Miltonia Orchid has a face reminiscent of a pansy and its cheeriness on this springy day really grabs your attention.

This red-leaved Cordyline (sometimes called cabbage palm, though it's not a palm) is native to New Zealand but it's spiky foliage is becoming very popular here as a container plant.

Pastel Ranunculus with crape-paper-like flowers are set with dark red cyclamen for a beautiful composition. Ranunculus are a classic spring only annual with gorgeous flowers. It's hard to believe they are first cousin to our wild buttercups so their other common name Persian Buttercup doesn't belie.

The intricacies of some orchid's flowers make them look unreal. This one is on our tree of cork and I couldn't reach its name.

Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis) are a great orchid for beginners and new hybrids are giving them more colors and patterns than their ever popular white standard. This is a the new cultivar 'Mei Dar Blackberry.'

Pink Ranunculus with pink-flowered and silvered leaved Cyclamen create a very harmonious combination. The silvery Dusty Miller in between also color echos the cyclamen leaves to make them stand out even more.

Autumn Carnation Encore Azalea is in full bloom and is one of 10 of these popular repeat-flowering azaleas considered hardy through zone 6. We will be planting these 10 hardiest cultivars outdoors in the gardens for the first time this year.

The slipper orchids like this Paphiopedilum are always popular and intriguing.

Colm. Calatante 'Solar Flare' is the label on this interesting orchid in shades of orange.

Golden yellow Ranunculus are as welcome as the sunshine today. These are Persian buttercups for sure.

The stunning fan shaped leaves of Bismarckia nobilis palm are surely a study in texture and form. Their chalky blue coloration makes them a stand out among palms.

This unique orchid is a cross between two Genera and is why the "X" is seen before the Genus of its botanical name: X Degarmoara 'Jay Yamada Kauai'.

The translucency of this orchid makes it look completely different when back-lit. Many orchids are stunning that way so be sure to look at them from many angles.

This Cattleya 'Binosa' with purpled lips and green petals and sepals is another of the 1,000's of the variations in the Orchid Family. Over 25,000 species have been cataloged and many more hybrids and cultivar selections make it the most diverse plant family on Earth. Come enjoy its splendor along with many other flowers and foliage to help chase away the winter blues. On display March 12th through Easter Sunday with an ever changing display as various orchids are rotated in from the greenhouses as they come into bloom. Don't forget to see the small bulbs that are the outdoor harbingers of spring and listen to the new bird arrivals in the garden too. The Eastern Meadowlarks finally sang this morning, a couple weeks later than normal. Spring is almost here!

Feather Your "Nest"

For the first time since the Powell Gardens conservatory opened to the public nearly 14 years ago in February 1997, our display inside it will focus outward! The massive floor to ceiling expanses of glass designed by Faye Jones - Maurice Jennings offer uninterrupted garden views outward and allow maximum light inward. Our "Feather Your Nest" display inside the conservatory features four "vignettes" of garden rooms for you to sit and look outward to the Terrace Gardens and their birdlife. The vignettes are by Perennial Gifts & Good Earth Gifts (the Visitor Center's and Harvest Garden's gift shops respectively); Downtown Kansas City's Retro Inferno; Brookside's Pear Tree Antiques; and Crossroads' Webster House. Come experience these beautiful garden rooms and watch the birds at our feeders right outside the glass. Pick up some great ideas of garden room decor from our generous vendors while in indoor comfort with the perfume of blooming flowers and the beautiful winter landscape all around.

Cardinals are always an attention getter in the winter landscape as the bright color of the male's plumage demonstrates. You will see these birds at the feeders! FYI their "official" standardized name is Northern Cardinal as there are other species found southward in the Americas. This photo was shared with us by volunteer and Friends Member Linda K Williams.

I took this shot looking out from the conservatory and you can see 3 male cardinals and other birds at the feeders, the Visitor Center's stunning icicles and the bones of the winter landscape beyond.

The Terrace Gardens on the north side of the Conservatory are lit by the low angle of the winter sun which really shows off the beautiful evergreen Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora). Southern Magnolias are not only beautiful in the winter landscape but provide cozy shelter for wintering birds.

The Terrace Gardens to the south of the conservatory are more backlit and thus the evergreen Southern Magnolias look much darker, almost black-green.

A view east from the Conservatory shows our thriving evergreen Hazel Smith Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) taking the center stage with the winter garden landscape beyond. Next year I mentioned to staff that we should decorate the Giant Sequoia as a Christmas Tree now that it has grown tall enough to be readily seen from the conservatory and Terrace Gardens. This plant was donated to us by Marvin Snyder as a small, trial plant. Yes, this is the largest tree species in the world from the Sierras of California and can live over 2,000 years. I always wonder what it will look like many generations from now. Note the wonderful icicles too -- makes me think I'm looking outward from a monster's mouth!

Blue Jays are another colorful bird you will see at our feeders. They always stuff themselves with food then fly off to cache it for a "rainy day." By doing this with nuts and acorns, Blue Jays have planted many of our wild forest trees. Photo by Linda K Williams.

Downy Woodpeckers are the most common woodpecker here and have been coming to the feeders regularly. You can tell this is a male bird by the red on its head -- females are simply black and white.

You will also see the beautiful Red-bellied Woodpecker. YES, that's its name! Everyone notices its brilliant orange-red on the top and back of its head and the gorgeous black and white zebra patterning on its back first. It was named back before binoculars when birds were shot to see up close and museum specimen birds are lying flat on their back in trays so the first thing noticed when curators were naming our birds was their RED BELLY, which you can see in this photo by Linda K Williams. I always laugh when I remember my then young nephew asking me to "call the president" to rename this bird!

Here's our biggest woodpecker the Pileated Woodpecker (its almost the size of a crow) taken right outside Cafe Thyme by our Education Director, Eric Jackson one day at lunchtime. This magnificent woodpecker shows up in the gardens from time to time (actually there was one around this week). This particular one was oddly tame and would allow visitors to step outside and take its picture!

This White-breasted Nuthatch is another bird you will see, it's our "upside down" bird that forages on trees in the opposite direction as its unrelated woodpeckers. Photo by Linda K Williams.

Black-capped Chickadees always cheer up winter days with their busy antics. Their winter plumage always appears well tailored and spiffy too. Photo by Linda K Williams.

You'll see many American Goldfinches at the tube feeders as well. Yes, this is what they look like in their winter plumage. Photo by Linda K Williams.

I had to show a reminder of what the goldfinches will look like in a short 10 weeks in their bright breeding season plumage! Photo by Linda K Williams.

White-crowned Sparrows are one of my favorite winter birds at the feeders. These birds nest way "Up North" in Canada and spend the winter down here. The white racing stripe on the top of their head makes this adult bird easy to identify though to some, a sparrow is a sparrow even though we have many species here in winter. Photo by Linda K Williams.

Here's a test for beginning birders: Sparrows! The front one is a White-throated Sparrow, you can tell by the yellow in front of its eye even though you cannot see its characteristic white throat. But what's the sparrow in the back? It's a immature White-crowned Sparrow with auburn stripes on its head. Photo by Linda K Williams.

If you are suffering from the winter doldrums come out to Powell Gardens' "Feather Your Nest" display and enjoy the view and all the birdlife. Also remember that we will have feeders outside Cafe Thyme which opens Saturday (January 15th) as a Lon Lane's Inspired Occasions venue with a fantastic and delicious NEW menu. Come enjoy a magnificent, fresh lunch and I guarantee some interesting birds will be just outside the windows to add to the ambiance.

Thank you to Linda K Williams for sharing her bird photos for this blog. Visit her website at www.lindawilliamsphotography.com to see more beautiful images of local nature.

Orchid and Garden Companions

Autumn Royalty Encore Azalea (Rhododendron 'Conlec') was not only the Rhododendron Society's 2009 Azalea of the year but now has become a favorite container plant of mine. Our original plant was donated to us for trial by Leah Berg and everything I read about this plant states it is not hardy below zero F, so we planted it in a container. It has far out performed my wildest imagination for a flowering plant. It bloomed last spring, it bloomed last summer, it bloomed last fall, and now it is back in full bloom as a companion plant in our Conservatory's Spring Orchid Display. The new registered trademarked "Encore" azaleas do have real flower power and were sold at many retailers around KC last year -- even though only 'Autumn Amethyst' is suggested as hardy in our zone 6 climate. Since much of the city did not drop below zero last winter, the Encore azaleas probably weathered the weather! I still suggest one use them in containers in shade and overwinter them in a cool garage or basement.


The Spring Conservatory Orchid Display has an overall tropical theme and a wonderful respite in the current weather. The fragrance is absolutely wonderful!

Giant Bromeliad (Alcantarea imperialis) is a choice specimen in the Orchid Display -- this grand plant can reach 4 feet in height and makes a marvelous outdoor specimen in summer. When it blooms the flower spike can reach over 8 feet in height -- ours should bloom this summer! We bought this specimen from Vintage Hill Nursery (http://www.vintagehill.com/) north of Boonville, Missouri, which has one of the finest selections of tropical plants for the home gardener.

Mexican Joe Pye-weed (Eupatorium sordidum) is one of our favorite Orchid Display companions. Everyone wants to know where to get one but this plant is really only of value if you have a greenhouse. It only blooms after the short days of winter and is NOT HARDY. The huge hydrangea-esque flowers are always stunning but planting it outdoors for our long summer days will provide you solely with foliage.

Variegated Fragrant Daphne (Daphne odora 'Variegata') is one of the most fragrant companion flowers in the Orchid Display. This shrub is marginally hardy here in a sheltered site but is worth growing for its creamy edged, evergreen foliage and its intensely fragrant, softest pink flowers. You may want to grow this just like the Encore Azaleas to be on the safe side: plant it in a container and bring it indoors for the coldest part of winter. It will bloom in winter in a bright, cool space indoors.

The Ballerina Blau Fuchsia (Blau means blue in German) has been another Orchid Companion knockout in the Conservatory Display. Most Fuchsias do not tolerate our normally hot summers so buyer beware! We use them for cool season displays as they do magnificently in cool weather. Incidentally, our gardeners fear for a HOT summer in 2010 as payback for the past two cool ones and the uniformly cold winter we just experienced!

I just got back from a speaking and garden tour and have to share a few pics from my trip. The Pinecote Pavilion (shown) at Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi (outside New Orleans) should have some familiarity to Powell Gardens visitors: it was designed by Fay Jones, architect of our Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel. I led a walk and tour there on Saturday, March 13th. This native plant garden is a real gem and remember you can visit it for free as a Friends of Powell Gardens member.

I had to stop in and visit the Live Oaks on central campus of Louisiana State University when I drove through Baton Rouge on the way back. I worked for Campus Planning for two years at LSU -- we never won the battle to have the sheared azaleas beneath the oaks pruned in a more naturalistic style! The azaleas would normally have been in bloom in mid-March in Louisiana but they have had a long, cold winter too, and plants are as far behind schedule there as they are here.

The Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was the last garden stop on my trip where I met with colleagues and visited for half a day. Maurice Jennings, Fay Jones' architect partner, designed this chapel and you can readily see the similarities to Powell Gardens' chapel. Maurice and Fay really do capture the spirit of place wherever they design: this chapel set under tall pines really plays off their form. Powell's chapel is a perfect design for its woods meets prairie setting! The previously depicted Pinecote Pavilion celebrates the piney woods of Crosby Arboretum. Again, Powell Gardens Friends Members can visit Garvan Woodland Gardens "Arkansas' Botanical Garden" for free.

Winter's last fury dumped heavy snow at Powell Gardens over the weekend but the gardens are open and the temperatures did not plummet to damage any plants. The flowering bulbs from the previous blog are still in bloom while many trees and shrubs have broken dormancy and ready to bloom with any stretch of springtime weather. The Orchids in the Conservatory and their companion plants are still a great spring preview of color and fragrance and worth the trip alone.

Flowers of the New Conservatory Display

Anne Wildeboor (Horticulturist, Seasonal Displays and Events), along with gardeners and volunteers, is busy planting ground covers and placing orchids for the new conservatory display of Orchids and Bromeliads. The conservatory is being transformed into a jungle showcasing these plants.


The display includes the Red Powderpuff (Calliandra haematocephala), which is in full bloom.


Forced azaleas are perfuming the air: this is the hardy 'White Lights' Azalea, one of the best for growing outdoors in our climate.


This is the flower truss of the 'Mandarin Lights' Azalea, another azalea that does well outdoors in our climate.


Our winter flowering tropical Joe Pye-weeds (Eupatorium sordidum) are always a hit but they only bloom after the short days of winter so will not work as plants set outdoors for summer. Enjoy their huge trusses of blue flowers.


All orchids with flower spikes or flowers have been pulled from our greenhouses and are staged ready for placement in the display.


Orchids are the major flowers of this display but the handsome foliage of a striped bromeliad is the backdrop for this white Paphiopedilum orchid. There are thousands of species of orchids, even more hybrids, and even more cultivars! Most of the orchids will not be labeled in the display--it distracts from the beauty of the experience. You may leave a plant information request form at the front desk if you need to know a name. Many orchids are complex crosses that are produced in limited numbers. Exact clones are generally not available, so the value of the name is minimal. Below is a quick sample of some of the orchids you will see in bloom in the display. I did not pull out their labels so no names are given. We hope you enjoy the exotic beauty of these most marvelous of flowers.

The new conservatory display opens on Saturday, March 14. Forced flowering dogwoods and the aforementioned azaleas add a preview of spring to the display. A great selection of orchids will be for sale from a display case adjacent to the front desk. We hope this gets you excited for the 2009 growing season!