Many of us Minnesota gardeners develop up and arise old visiting the annual fountain flower show at the downtown Minneapolis Dayton ’s ( then Marshall Fields and then Macy ’s ) . Since its divergence , we are always on the lookout for ways to fill the pickle it leave in our garden inspiration .
A visit to the Bachman ’s subaquatic floral extravaganza “ Into the Deep ” at the Galleria in Edina , Minn. , fill up a petty of that nihility for me . The show was a confect memory board — colorful flowered confections everywhere . It was eye - candy and a fizzing drink for my wintertime aweary soul . It was an amusement parkland of flowers and quite entertaining , but are these springtime floral bear witness just amusement ? How much of it can I really apply to my plant life ? It can seem like such a look - and - enjoy experience , and there is nothing wrong with that , but I ’m always research for ways to convey what the professional creatives do to my own backyard .
plant and flowers are what redeem shopping mall to me . Most malls have pretty great horticulture anytime of the year and the Galleria for sure does . Commercial horticulture unremarkably brings blankets of blossoming plants ( kalanchoes , primrose , and of course poinsettias in December ) and collecting of favorite houseplants . Typically , we get hold snake flora , repose lily , and pothos ‘ en masse , and a genus Ficus or violin leaf Libyan Islamic Fighting Group as a focal stage . In my feeling , a sojourn to the Galleria anytime of the year is worth it to get a gullible repair . My favorite green Galleria moment was a permanent container of many snake plants — so green and dramatic .
This class ’s show was all about the sea . It was an underwater theme that seemed to appeal a great deal to the kids — but the show are always so well done they draw you into their more intimate moments and the topic does n’t weigh all the much . I did pull three ideas out that I can apply to my own garden and container and terrace planting . The show was middle - candy but definitely inspiring and educational centre - confect .
Great garden bed and containers are all about bed and textures . I happen this true in interior design and the idea seems to predominate garden and container aim . Contrast is king . desegregate textures , acme and colors makes for a plenteous and visually interesting space or container that draws in the spectator and garden visitant .
In this vista ( above ) on the west last near Pottery Barn , a arresting , lacy - leafed Japanese maple holds court . It ’s such a friendly texture and is surrounded by a spiky , Battle of Magenta - red leaf tropical , a little and softer evergreen plant shrub , some lovely little pinkish begonia … and the tilt goes on . The heart goes everywhere but in a smooth and easy path . A large evergreen topiary linchpin the back and sets the level .
Carpet the edges of your beds ( and containers ) with mass planting of lush texture . I loved the hakone pasturage ( below ) and Irish moss . The vary Tradescantia works in the ground and as a shedder in the containers . These low agriculturalist soften the edge of a potentiometer and transition a garden bed to the surrounding hardscape nicely .
Branches make dandy focal detail . Galleria beds are peppered with paint offshoot ( see below ) . I think they were mimicking coral , which worked well with their radical . I loved them for them interesting shapes and attention - have colors . Whenever I need a a ta - da in my containers or even a garden bed , a birch branch is my go - to . They are so full and what is it ? Maybe the brilliant whiteness , the dim accents and the means they evoke the North . This is my birch rod hypothesis . They tot up a brilliant thriller that somehow ground the bottom .
I remember a garden profile I read once , somewhere , where a gardener had paint a dead Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree a bright , brilliant cyan blue . The tree passed away a few weeks before the garden was to be a occlusion on a garden tour and it was all he could think to do . Taking the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree down would have left an obvious hole , so he work with what he had . It was drama in the garden and in a way , the consummate melding of the human hand and Mother Nature in the garden . His arm , my birch branches , and the Galleria paint branches are easily crafted garden fine art that are expressive , cool , fun and fun to look at .
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