WINTER OASIS

 

I'll admit that I may get too comfortable winter cocooning and hate when it has to end, but today brought about a spring like day, with the weather getting warmer already. We saw temps this week almost up to 80 degrees! So, to get me into the spring mood, it was off to the an exquisite orchid show Each winter, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square has a beautiful cure for the cold-weather blues. Tucked inside Longwood’s four-acre conservatory, a host of beautiful blooms transports visitors to balmy climates during Orchid Extravaganza.

 

 

 The annual orchid display features nearly 5,000 delicate blossoms hanging from baskets, in colorful arrangements and covering unexpected surfaces throughout the conservatory. From the moment when you first enter the Conservatory and look out over the vast displays, you feel a sense of calm and relaxation taking over.  It's warm, it's beautiful, and it smells like heaven.  Walk slow and give yourself time to take it all in. One of the most wonderful things about the entire exhibit is how each new view is somehow more dazzling than the last.  Just as you've decided that the East Conservatory is the prettiest place on earth, you wander into the Main Conservatory and see the greenest, most perfect orchids imaginable. In the cold of winter, the conservatory remains a summery oasis to maintain optimal growing environments for orchids and other flowering plants — and we took full advantage of the tropical temperatures with a self-tour of the show.

 

 

Some even looked alien like , no?

I kept expecting Poison Ivy to leap out and greet us here....

 

I came close to buying one from their vast array of blooms on sale, but having grown an orchid once or twice, I do well for about a year and half, then I somehow manage to kill the thing. I couldn't subject a beauty to that orchid murder again. So for now, I guess I'll still be the high maintenance around here.