Orchid work

Helped Marie and Lee change out all the Spathaphyllums in the orchid display (100 of them!), then did some repotting and dividing with Marie. I learned that paphs like a little pearlite in the mix, too.
We divided an Oncidium (I took one home--a 'greenslip' signed by a gardener allows you to take home surplus material) after lunch, then I returned to the curatorial work. I actually got much faster from yesterday, and finished 9 pages--the remainder of the 14 pages--of the dogtags. Whew! It was time to go home after all that... :)

Dogtags.

Another orchid display change, some tidying. I discovered a favorite orchid: Maxillaria, it smells like coconut! I went to work with Kristina and Erica (the intern there) in Curatorial. We had 14 pages (227 labels) of dogtags that needed to be made for the orchids, so Lee volunteer me to make them. Orchid nomenclature is very complicated! There is seemingly endless list of different orchid genus, let alone species! Each accession number had to be checked to match the name, then the file pulled from the database, then I had to edit what the tag ould read to fit only 5 lines, then I could print them and check each one for accuracy. Very long process. Only finished 5 pages.
Grilled under the trees in the evening with many people on the row.

Quick Catch-up

I've worked two weeks now at Longwood, in several different areas and with many gardeners. I have spent a good deal of time in the main conservatory with Karl and Lauren, where I quickly caught on to the methods of bed changes, the naming of many new plants, ornamental display indoors, and lots of fuschias! I learned that fuschias are very messy though they are beautiful, and that they wilt for one of two reasons: under- and over-watering...
Last Wednesday, I felt very accomplished with Hudson and Ginny. We divided a bed of orange clivias (Clivia miniata) in the Pierre DuPont house that hadn't been thinned since 1990! It was a crazy root orgy in there, and we removed all the plants, added more media, cleaned off all the mealy-bugs, and replanted them by half. Added ivy. Looks great!
More recently, I have been working with Lee and Marie in the orchid display. I love the orchids. There are over 9,000 plants in the orchid collection, and amidst all those beautiful blooms, leaves, spikes, and shoots there is order! They keep excellent record of the number of each species and cultivar, and when it was last repotted, etc. I learned how to repot an orchid properly, something I was somewhat uncomfortable with before I began. I'll be working with Lee and Marie next week. :)

Orchids with Lee

Worked with Lee and the orchids today, and found that there are many differences between Marie's methods and Lee's... But we did the display, some repotting, and at the end of the day, she showed me how the Disa's (from a certain mountainous region in S. Africa) are crossed. Apparently, no other garden grows these beautiful orchids, because they are difficult. Marie told me that I would have to go to the UK to find them under glass elsewhere. The Disa uniflora is grown from seed at Longwood, which is amazing. With a pencil, you carefully remove the hidden anther from the flower, and attach it to the sticky stigma on the "mother" flower. Unpollenated flowers on the same plant are removed to allow all of the energy to be put into producing the desired seed. After hand-pollinating, the seeds will develop in about a month (hopefully). They are germinated in sphagnum moss in a tray of water (very moist). Careful records are kept and labels are used everywhere to keep track of parentage. The reason we cross them ourselves is to get the cool "splashed" colors on pinks and oranges, and to carry on the unusual shades. Beautiful!

Conservatory "Field Trip"

Helped in the Main in the morning (watering, cleanup, pruning bouganvillia), then lunch. Ran home for my hardhat, because the "field trip" consisted of the tunnels of the conservatory. Safety is a huge emphasis at Longwood. The first part of the experience was learning about the irrigation system basics and plumbing. then we took a walk through the east end with Lorrie to learn about the plants and growing techniques there (structure, lawn, palms, bamboo). The Wood's Cycad (Encephalartos woodii, native to S. Africa) is easily the most unique plant in the gardens! It's really old, and is one of 90 left in the world! All of them are male, too, which proves to be a problem for reproduction. Then we toured the tunnels of the conservatory, where all the controls and plumbing is located. It was very interesting to see the back-stage, so to speak.
Ali and I went to Philly for pho--yum! We lost track of time in the Asian market, and arrived late to class...

The Much-Anticipated Orchid Day!

Orchid Day with Marie! Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the orchid display is changed. Over 200 orchids are rotated in and out of the spots in the display. The first thing to do in the morning is to visit each orchid greenhouse (cool, warm, moderate temperature), and find the best blooming orchids. We take them to a work area and tidy them up, stake them, and give them labels. The most awesome thing about working with orchids (besides the fact that they are absolutely stunning) is the organizational system. There are over 9,000 plants that are all labeled and accessioned! To keep track of each of them and maintain the collection is amazing. If a plant needs repotting, an accession label, to be divided, or cared for, this work is done when it's taken back to the potting shed off the display. This way, the orchids rotate through somewhat regularly (on about a yearly basis). I learned how to repot orchids (space, medium, water, tissue cleanup/removal), and about the different mixes. General mix includes ~2/3 medium douglas fir bar, 1/3 charcoal, and fine bark to fill in the spaces. This is rinsed thouroughly and drained, so that the orchids don't have to be watered-in after potting (avoid infection). I learned about many different orchids (stanopeas, miltonias, dendrobiums, disas, gongoras, etc), and where new growth will occur (on a monopodial or sympodial grower), and how the cultivars are notated. Marie is quite the enthusiast (and president of the Orchid Society around here).

Grapery

I worked with Ginny and Hudson again today, finishing up yesterday's project. I learned that applying milk to clivias and orchids will make them shiny for displays. We worked with Andrew after lunch on the grapes some more. The light penetration is so much greater now that they're pruned! You don't want the offshoots from the nodes on the side-branches. They must be tied to wires, and only extend 2 wires away from the main vine (about 4 feet). Back when Mr. Du Pont was directing the gardens, the fruit clusters were pruned so that there was not a neighboring grape within 3/4 inches away, to ensure large fruit size.
Andrew let me clean up the tomatoes (indeterminant varieties), because I've worked so much on tomatoes in the past. This was fun, I love these plants! Then we worked on tying the figs, keeping them in the espallier form. There's lots of attention to detail, and preserving a perfect specimen is the goal here.
The last hour was spent cleaning up the bay laurel shrubs.
Rainy again today! Lots of rain lately.