Took a drive up to Meadowbrook Farm in Abington the other day to see what's growing for the Flower Show. As I walked through the moist, warm "hoop houses," where hundreds of show flowers are being grown, it was snowing outside - big, fat, loopy flakes. It seemed so incongruous, given that I was sweating and peeling layers of clothing inside.
On the other hand, isn't this what the Flower Show is for? To tease us with an unseasonable spring even as it snows outside? You bet.
Outside, the statuary almost shivered as the snow settled. Inside everything was lush and colorful - ferns, palms, cannas, coleus, elephant ears, banana, orchids, bromeliads, passionflower, Carolina jasmine, brugmansia ... and row upon row of annuals like white and lavender impatiens and huge round marigolds.
I really loved the coleus here at Meadowbrook, the former estate of J. Liddon Pennock that's now owned by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Sometimes as gardeners we "discover" plants that have been around forever but not on our radar. When I saw the coleus beds at Meadowbrook, I was astounded. Massed as they were, you were almost blinded by their wild colors - screaming gold, limey green, raging red and pink - I began to understand why there are so many coleus fanatics out there. I started imagining how they would look in my dark gray patio containers. Wow!
