more conservatory fun

Hudson and I were assigned to help Ginny (love her) separate clivias in the Pierce-Du Pont house, which was fun! We dug up the whole knotted overgrown mess (not done since 1990!), divided the mass, fetched med-mix from the soil/compost yard, and replaced them by about half. The med-mix was chosen for the clivia because they like a coarse, well-draining soil. This project overflowed into the afternoon, after putting some ivy in to cover the edges.
I helped Andrew in the the fruit house where there are grapes, nectarines (Pierre's and my favorite fruit), figs, citrus, melons, tomatoes, and more. I learned how to prune the grape vines with pole pruners, and tie them, which was hot but fun work.
I strolled through the library after work, it has a lot of really great books! I found a mushroom book of PA (Kennett Square is the mushroom capital of the world! I love fungi.), as well as one on edible plants of the world.
I walked back through the conservatory for fun, I love the fern passage (especially the tassel fern, the lasagna fern, staghorns, and maiden's har fern). I smelled lots of Stanhopea orchids.
I went to the mexican ice cream place in Kennett Square with a friend, and they have amazing sweet corn ice cream with chili powder! yum.

Sunday

Woke slightly late, read some, caught up with family on the phone, and sat in the chairs on the patio of the Terrace overlooking the lawn for a while. Nice relaxing weekend.

More Rain!

Today was a slower day. It rained a lot, and my tendonitis wrist was hurting me, so they gave me light (read: slightly boring) duties. I helped Kat snip back ivy the entire length of the acacia passage on both sides, which can be pretty painful on your knees after a while. I removed oxalis (death to oxalis!!!) from the Orangery after lunch, deadheaded, and did whatever I could to pass the time. It was so mellow and rainy.
After work I went with Ali, Hudson, and Olivia to Philly Chinatown for wonton noodle soup and peking duck with choy. It was so good. We found a bubble tea place in Little Saigon for dessert, then returned to Longwood.

Nemour's

Worked in the morning in the main with more bed changes, then went to Nemour's Gardens in the afternoon on the field trip. I love the Thursday field trips, I find them to be very interesting, I get to see the area (free of charge) and it breaks up the week a little bit.
The Nemour's mansion was beautiful, very elaborate. It was built by Alfred Du Pont (Pierre's brother), and is now a museum. It was rainy, but we toured the gardens and fountains anyway. The gold leafing was everywhere! I thought the French-style gardens were beautiful, but i really disliked the urns with geraniums and an agave in them. We saw old pictures of the place, though, and they are only maintaining the historical look--sure enough, that's what was in the urns years ago.
Attended session 3 of class, it's enjoyable. I'm not studying, but I'm still learning about the plants.

More bed changes...

Changed out a large bed to Caladiums, Impatiens, and Lantana standards. Lantana is used so widely back in AZ, because it's so heat and salt tolerant. But grown here at Longwood as standards, it's very pretty.
I planted a bunch of fuschias, but I didn't plan well enough for the space. I had to remove some, and replant them with Lauren's assistance. Practice, I suppose, will make this easier.
Visited Terrain and Chads Ford Nurseries with Stephen.

conservatory

-Watered fucias and beds, cleaned up
-Helped put in 2 large (25 gal?) pots with palms into the Orangery.
-Worked with an old lady named Mary to put in tons of pink petunias. Karl expects they'll only be there 3 weeks. The rotation of annual plants in the Main Cons. gets just a little bit tiresome. I think I enjoy a little more permanent plantings. But all the old plant material gets composted! It's awesome. The Terrace uses a lot of compostable materials (cups, plasticware, napkins and plates), too.
-Learned about the many ways Longwood propagates cannas (cuttings, seed, divisions, tissue culture). Planted 'Ermine' today.
-I really enjoy watering fucias on the Exhibition Hall floor/fern floor, because people always want to ask you about the water and how much fun it looks. It is fun. :)
-Huge rainstorm today, finished before 3:30, though.
I am very excited for my next day at Longwood! It's very exciting, everyone is so friendly and knowledgable. I'm having a great time!

First Day of Work!

I arrived at the potting shed at 7 am, and met Lauren and Karl. I have heard many things about Karl, that he's a plant encyclopedia, and a 'stickler' for nametags and botanical names, so I tried to get off on the right foot. Lauren is very nice. I began in the petunia beds in the Main Conservatory, deadheading and pruning the leggy ones. Then I rearranged and refreshed the terrariums in the music room. I watered the fuschias in the fern floor.
A skill I learned today was how to water huge hanging baskets, like the fuschias. A wand attachment with a tip to shoot the water in a strong stream allows us to aim the water in an arc up to the center of the basket.
I also skimmed the lotus fountain of debris, and picked up after the falling fuschia flowers (constant...).
It was a great day! I recognized and visited with many people, and felt very at home. Tomorrow we're doing some bed changes!