Month: March 2012

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Philadelphia Flower Show 2012

Philadelphia Flower Show 2012 by Knitting Zeal

I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show on Tuesday.

I had not really wanted to attend this year for a few reasons. One is that as much as I love orchids, these are not flowers that grow locally so it would not be much of a learning experience. I have no greenhouse and do not really have room to raise many orchids in my house- I do own about a half dozen. And from some of the advertising I had read, I feared the show was going to be more commercial than usual. But since friends wanted to go to the flower show, I went along.

The major exhibitor of orchids, I believe, is Waldor’s Orchids. I have visited Waldor’s Orchids Nursery in Linwood, NJ, one of the finest orchid nurseries on the East Coast. I don’t believe one can go wrong if you purchase orchids from Waldor’s Orchids. So of course, I was curious to see their orchid exhibit.

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Neomarica (Apostle Plant)

Iris ‘Neomarica’ – Brazilian Walking plant

This morning I was greeted with the first flowering of my Walking Iris plant Neomarica, sometimes called an Apostle plant.  See here.  Neomarica is a genus in the Iris family (Iridaceae) of about 15 species found in Central and South America. It was given the common name Apostle plant because it was believed that 12 leaves were needed before it flowered.

I own Nomarica gracilis, a plant that grows in Brazil, which grows outdoors in plant hardiness zone 8 and warmer. I live in Hardiness zone 6 so it is one of my indoor plants. It is referred to as one of the ” pass along” plants because one rarely sees it for sale in nurseries but is easily passed along to friends and family members. It is a hardy plant with few pests or diseases. The plant has more leaves than flowers with the flower growing at the tip of a leaf. After it blooms, the stem with the flower will bend and form a baby plant that can be started as a new plant. The way it bends and starts new plants makes it seem like it is walking- thus the common name Walking Iris.

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Flowers are Blooming Earlier than Usual – What Does this Mean?

A splash of colour in the gloom by Steve-h

It is obvious on our planet that the weather has changed. The earth is warming. Many parts of the US are seeing flowers in bloom approximately a month earlier than usual.

In my area, the hellebores have been in bloom for months. Snow drops and crocuses are flowering and now the daffodils are open or opening. Pansies are having their winter show. What this will mean for gardeners and farmers will have to be seen.

Gardeners seem to be advised to start planting some early crops already. Peas which were historically planted on St. Patrick’s Day in my temp zone, can be planted now. The Farmers’ Almanac has this year’s calendar for planting.  Besides earlier planting, what the temperature changes will bring will also have to be seen. We may be getting more pests, we may have less water to use on our plants or we may be able to grow bumper crops in areas certain crops were never grown before.

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