The Theatre of Nature
The Theatre of Nature
Once every ten years, flower lovers have an opportunity to attend the Floriade, a horticultural expo held in the Netherlands with dozens of gardens and thousands of flowering plants to teach and inspire you. The Theatre of Nature theme of the 2012 expo covers five worlds that include Villa Flora, Europe’s largest indoor flower show. Visitors to the expo strolled more than 163 landscaped acres over the seven-month festival.
Color Trends
The gardens of the Floriade give visitors ideas they can take home and apply directly to their landscapes. Purple and red isn’t one of the most sought after color combos in flower gardens, but it works in this instance. The castor bean plant in the center is an easy-to-grow foliage accent.
Wildflower Beauty
Purple liatris and red lobelia are two plants that prove that wildflowers are every bit as lovely as exotic or hybrid flowers. Give these tall wildflowers an honored spot at the middle or back of the flower border, where they will attract butterflies all summer long.
Art Comes Alive
Living sculptures designed by Sjer Jacobs captivated visitors of all ages at the Floriade. The statues were crafted from potting soil, moss, stainless steel, and plant material. Marie Ianotti has more on how to select ornaments and garden statuary for your landscape.
Carnation Crush
What do you get when you combine rustic materials with fresh cut flowers? An exquisite floral arrangement that can be replicated for weddings or special events. By using inexpensive and forgiving flowers like these carnations, even an amateur could attempt a DIY arrangement similar to this one.
Know Your Orchids
There was plenty of eye candy for orchid lovers at the 2012 Floriade Horticultural Expo. If you’re new to orchid growing, you can increase your chances for blooming success by choosing an easy-to-grow orchid variety, like moth orchids, Dendrobium orchids, or cymbidium orchids.
A Living Tablescape
Fanciful growing tablescapes like this one appeal to gardeners and non-gardeners alike, but is it possible to recreate such a scene at home for entertaining or special events? The key is to start with a special table designed for holding potting soil and plants. These tables act as raised beds for gardeners with back problems, but you can plant a living tablecloth of shallow-rooted succulents to serve as a semi-permanent backdrop for tea parties or other gatherings.
Bromeliad centerpieces complete the look.
Get to Know the Bromeliad
Of all the tropical flowers I’ve ever grown, I find bromeliads to be the least demanding. The plants tolerate drought and shrug off all insects, and the strappy foliage provides textural interest in the container garden between blooming. Notable bromeliad varieties have speckled or variegated foliage in shades of pink, orange, cream, silver, or maroon. Get to know the 50+ genera in the Bromeliaceae family; you’re sure to find one that will turn heads in your landscape.
The 2012 Floriade had child-friendly gardens and displays around every bend, including butterfly gardens, water features, and an adventure trail through the woods. Taking children to public garden spaces and horticultural events is a great way to spark their interest in gardening, and sets them on a lifelong path of stewardship of the earth.
Well-designed cottage gardens look deceptively simple, as if the flowers just grew from a packet of seeds scattered across the landscape. In fact, a little planning and preparation goes a long way toward ensuring that your cottage garden will bloom continuously and not look like an overgrown weed patch. Prepare your soil, and only plant as much garden as you are willing to tend the first season. You can always expand next year.
Once every ten years, flower lovers have an opportunity to attend the Floriade, a horticultural expo held in the Netherlands with dozens of gardens and thousands of flowering plants to teach and inspire you. The Theatre of Nature theme of the 2012 expo covers five worlds that include Villa Flora, Europe’s largest indoor flower show. Visitors to the expo strolled more than 163 landscaped acres over the seven-month festival.
Color Trends
The gardens of the Floriade give visitors ideas they can take home and apply directly to their landscapes. Purple and red isn’t one of the most sought after color combos in flower gardens, but it works in this instance. The castor bean plant in the center is an easy-to-grow foliage accent.
Wildflower Beauty
Purple liatris and red lobelia are two plants that prove that wildflowers are every bit as lovely as exotic or hybrid flowers. Give these tall wildflowers an honored spot at the middle or back of the flower border, where they will attract butterflies all summer long.
Art Comes Alive
Living sculptures designed by Sjer Jacobs captivated visitors of all ages at the Floriade. The statues were crafted from potting soil, moss, stainless steel, and plant material. Marie Ianotti has more on how to select ornaments and garden statuary for your landscape.
Carnation Crush
What do you get when you combine rustic materials with fresh cut flowers? An exquisite floral arrangement that can be replicated for weddings or special events. By using inexpensive and forgiving flowers like these carnations, even an amateur could attempt a DIY arrangement similar to this one.
Know Your Orchids
There was plenty of eye candy for orchid lovers at the 2012 Floriade Horticultural Expo. If you’re new to orchid growing, you can increase your chances for blooming success by choosing an easy-to-grow orchid variety, like moth orchids, Dendrobium orchids, or cymbidium orchids.
A Living Tablescape
Fanciful growing tablescapes like this one appeal to gardeners and non-gardeners alike, but is it possible to recreate such a scene at home for entertaining or special events? The key is to start with a special table designed for holding potting soil and plants. These tables act as raised beds for gardeners with back problems, but you can plant a living tablecloth of shallow-rooted succulents to serve as a semi-permanent backdrop for tea parties or other gatherings.
Bromeliad centerpieces complete the look.
Get to Know the Bromeliad
Of all the tropical flowers I’ve ever grown, I find bromeliads to be the least demanding. The plants tolerate drought and shrug off all insects, and the strappy foliage provides textural interest in the container garden between blooming. Notable bromeliad varieties have speckled or variegated foliage in shades of pink, orange, cream, silver, or maroon. Get to know the 50+ genera in the Bromeliaceae family; you’re sure to find one that will turn heads in your landscape.
The 2012 Floriade had child-friendly gardens and displays around every bend, including butterfly gardens, water features, and an adventure trail through the woods. Taking children to public garden spaces and horticultural events is a great way to spark their interest in gardening, and sets them on a lifelong path of stewardship of the earth.
Well-designed cottage gardens look deceptively simple, as if the flowers just grew from a packet of seeds scattered across the landscape. In fact, a little planning and preparation goes a long way toward ensuring that your cottage garden will bloom continuously and not look like an overgrown weed patch. Prepare your soil, and only plant as much garden as you are willing to tend the first season. You can always expand next year.
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