Construction Gingerbread Recipe

All Purpose Flour          6 ¾ cups
Ground Cinnamon        1 Tablespoon
Ground Ginger              1 ½ teaspoons
Salt                                ½ teaspoon
Light Corn Syrup           1 ½ cups
Light Brown Sugar        1 ¼ cups firmly packed
Butter                               1 cup

Yield: 1 Gingerbread House or a lot of ornaments!

Gather your ingredients

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Get all of your ingredients and measuring cups together. Choose cookie cutters!

Step 2: Sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, and salt and place in large bowl.

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar and butter over heat

Step 3: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine light corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter, stir. Do not boil – heat only until butter is melted.

Stir until well mixed and dough is formed

Step 4: Pour butter mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir until well mixed and dough is formed.

Step 5: Roll out gingerbread dough with a rolling pin on a piece of parchment paper* while the dough is still warm – if dough cools put in microwave for 45 to 60 seconds to reheat. This makes rolling much easier.
*Parchment paper is available at quality kitchen supply stores.

Cut out the cookies, and peel away excess gingerbread

Step 6: Using your chosen cookie cutter, cut out the cookies, peel away excess gingerbread from parchment paper and save to re-roll. If you are going to hang the ornaments, poke the holes now with a straw, taking away the excess gingerbread.

Create holes with a straw so that ornaments can be hung later

Step 7: Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch approximately 15 to 25 minutes.

To Decorate: We like to make royal icing the easy way – with meringue powder. Mix it up, make it any color then pipe away! We used a pastry bag with a #4 round tip. You can also use a plastic bag that zips with the corner snipped off.

Use royal icing to decorate

Royal Icing Recipe

Meringue Powder         3 Tablespoons
Confectioners’ Sugar    1 lb.
Water, lukewarm          7 Tablespoons

Combine meringue powder and confectioners’ sugar in bowl. Whip with electric hand mixer on low speed, adding water one tablespoon at a time. Then continue to whip on medium speed for 8 minutes until icing becomes stiff, but not too stiff to pipe. Keep royal icing bowl covered at all times with a damp towel to keep it from drying out!

Voila! Easy, homemade ornaments beautiful enough to decorate any tree!

Gingerbread men fashioned into a garland - at Longwood Gardens

If you visit Longwood Gardens on a regular basis you know that we like to create dynamic and inspiring displays for each season. Our most-visited seasons is, by far, the Christmas display (which is on view now through January 8, 2012).

Our Christmas transformation begins when the Gardens close at 5 pm on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and ends at 9 am on Thanksgiving morning, when we open the display to the public.

We hope you enjoy our time-lapse video that shows part of this holiday decorating marathon! We move from one great display to the next in a blink of an eye. Even Santa would have a tough time keeping up with us!

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Paint Box'

The tall, single-stemmed chrysanthemums you see in the Conservatory here at Longwood Gardens are quite different than the mounded shrubs loaded with small flowers that you find at your local garden center.  These are a specialty florist type and the product of hundreds of years of breeding, so they are able to reach stately heights and flower sizes. Additionally, they are not winter hardy for us in Southeast Pennsylvania.

Vegetative cuttings are taken in early summer and placed under mist to start new plants.

The first thing to know about chrysanthemums is that they flower when day length is shorter than 12 hours. This happens naturally as we get closer to autumn. So the earlier we start our plants in the greenhouse, the more time the mum has to put on green vegetative growth before setting flower. The tallest of the single-stem mums at Longwood are ordered in as rooted cuttings, or started from cuttings of our stock plants in early June. The shorter we want the single stems to finish, the later in the summer they are started.  Our shortest single stems are started in early August.

The tall yellow mum on the left was started June 1st while the shorter orange one on the right was started July 15th.

As the mum grows, a side branch will grow at every point where a new leaf forms. All summer we remove the side branches, a process that happens at least every two weeks to ensure that they don’t rob energy from the main stem. With almost 3,000 single-stems to care for, by the time we get through all of them it’s time to start at the beginning again!

Finally in late September a cluster of flowers starts to form at the top of the stem.  At this point, side buds are removed so that all of the plant’s energy goes into forming one large flower instead of several smaller ones. The size of this final flower depends on the type of chrysanthemum. We have some incurve varieties that can produce huge flowers the size of your head!

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Houston' (Irregular Incurve)

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Hagoromo' (Irregular Incurve)

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Statesman', a pompon mum grown as a single stem.

In contrast, even with removing all of the side blooms, pompon chrysanthemums produce one tiny flower at the top of the stem.  With these it is best to let the plant do its own thing and end up with hundreds of smaller beautiful flowers.  This is also true with most garden mums.

'Statesman' again, this time allowed to grow as a multi-stemmed plant.

By the end of October, our greenhouses are full of bright oranges, yellows, purples, and reds. The single-stems are ready for our Conservatory staff to plant in perfect rows for all to enjoy!

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Golden Splendour'

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'Hagoromo'

Chrysanthemum x morifolium 'St. Tropez'

Come see our Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum now in the East Conservatory!

Do you hear the word chrysanthemum and picture those simple household flowers from the local garden shop? At Longwood Gardens, we take the ordinary mum and make it extraordinary, turning it into a work of art—the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum!

We started our Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum from vegetative cuttings of Chrysanthemum x morifolium ‘Sosono no Tsuki’ in May 2010. In order to grow this year’s mum, we had to overcome the challenges of heat, rain (Hurricane Irene!), stink bugs, and the 12’ 7” wide door of the East Conservatory (which was just barely wide enough to bring the mum through).

Each year, we grow two plants to help ensure we can reach our goal of more than 1,000 blooms on a single plant. Each month, both plants are repotted, pinched, tied, and framed as needed. In the end, we will use only one of them for display in the Conservatory. Here is a slideshow that documents the mum’s growth over the past year. Please enjoy!

MONTHLY PROGRESS:

May 2010: Several cuttings are taken from stock plants grown at Longwood. After two weeks they are brought into the greenhouse to harden off and are then transplanted into 4” pots.

June 2010: The plants are transplanted into larger pots and have their stems scratched (scarification) with a knife to apply rooting hormone. This creates a larger root system to support the enormous top growth.

Stem scarification

To prevent flowering, the plants are placed in a greenhouse lit at night. During  summer, the plants continue to grow and are pinched at around 2” tall to encourage 14-18 shoots by first pinching. We continue to pinch every 6-8 leaves depending on stem length.

December 2010: Two plants are selected and placed into final growing containers that are custom made by Longwood’s carpenters. The containers are made with dividers so that the volume of soil can increase as the plant grows. The main metal support structure is also put into place and will extend as the plant grows. Stems are bent down to begin forming the structure of the final plant.

February 2011: The first set of framing is applied to the main support structure. Each frame layer is constructed on site and is made of fiberglass rods wrapped in black tape. The tape makes the rods easy to handle and also adds a bit of friction to help us twist the ties used to hold the stems to the rods. The fiberglass rods are joined by custom-made connectors and tied together with zip ties.

March 2011: Another set of framing is added, increasing the overall width by about 5-8″. To increase the number of branches, we pinch and then tie each stem to the fiberglass frame with a twist tie.

After we place the mums into their final growing container, we continually coax them to grow bigger—with pinching (to encourage branching) as well as proper watering and fertilization techniques (to encourage healthy growth). The plants are monitored for any signs of disease or insects that are treated as needed.

Each month, depending on growth, the fiberglass framework is extended to help encourage growth and to continue to support the stems as we reach our final size.

September 2011:As the buds begin to form, we begin to disbud the mums. This process involves taking all of the smaller side buds off and only allowing the main center bud to continue to grow, resulting in one beautiful  4-5” flower on each stem.

Disbudding - removing the smaller side buds

Placing each flower into a Rindai support

October 2011: Less than one month before the beginning of Chrysanthemum Festival, we select our display plant and begin final flower placement. The frame is custom made each year based on the plant’s size.

Longwood’s Chrysanthemum specialist and her crew of interns, international students, seasonal, and part-time staff members begin by arranging the flowers on the top first and working their way down, making sure each row is placed perfectly in concentric rings and that each flower is lovingly placed into a Rindai support to properly position it.

View of the one stem, main support frame, and perforated pvc pipes (in place to aerate the soil)

The process of placing the flowers takes about 10 days, at the end of which we finally know the answer to everyone’s question, “HOW MANY BLOOMS THIS YEAR??” After achieving 991 blooms on the 2010 Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum, our goal was to beat that number. And we did!!!  This year’s total is 1,167 flowers!!!

As you can see, a lot of time and effort goes into producing the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum. It’s on display now in the East Conservatory. Make sure to kneel down to see the one stem coming from the soil!

The Chrysanthemum Festival, October 29–November 20, showcases thousands of amazing chrysanthemums throughout the Conservatory, including Cascade style, topiaries, single stem mums and the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum.

Yellow clivia in the East Conservatory. These plants were pollinated to produce beautiful yellow berries. The berries yielded seeds for the participating students.

This year, Longwood kicked off a program to engage a new generation of clivia enthusiasts! As part of our “Clivia in the Classroom” program, we gave blooming-sized clivia plants and seeds to eight biology and horticulture teachers in area schools. During this school year, the teachers are using the plant materials as a class project where students can get hands-on experience growing and caring for clivias.

The students are being taught how to provide the proper cultural conditions to force their plants into bloom—just in time for the for the North American Clivia Society show, March 17 and 18, 2012, at Longwood Gardens.

The show will feature a special judging division for the students to enter their plants. We can’t wait to see how the students fare with their plants this March!

Each teacher was allowed to select their own plant to enter into the show.

In addition to taking care of the plants in the classroom, students from the participating classes received clivia seeds to take home and nurture year-round. All of the plants being used in the program are yellow-flowered and resulted from Longwood’s 36-year-old clivia breeding program.

Design Sketch for the 2011 Student Exhibition Gardens

In conjunction with Longwood’s exhibit this year, Notes from the Forest (open through October 16, 2011), we were given the exciting and challenging task of creating 4 distinctly different garden spaces that incorporated the theme of sound.

Our creative process began to take shape last summer under the direction of instructor, landscape designer, and former Professional Gardener student, Dan Maffei. We were given the tools to begin the process. As with any new design concept, we met with our client, which in this case was Longwood Gardens. This valuable opportunity allowed the client to express their vision for this unique display at Longwood. After presenting and receiving valuable feedback from Longwood staff, we met with the Longwood Board of Trustees, and after a thrilling response, we were ready to move forward.

In the winter of 2011, again under the supervision of Dan Maffei, our class created a budget for plant and hardscape materials and a timeline for the project. During our Landscape Design and Construction class we learned basic construction skills, as well as a framework for combining basic elements in the garden design.  After many months of working and re-working our ideas in the classroom, we broke ground in April. With help from the junior class of Professional Gardener students we opened to the public on May 15^!

Our four distinct gardens have flourished throughout the summer! Below, each group of designers (in their own words) describes their concepts, showcasing the presence, or in some instances the absence of sound.

Nicole Blevins & Carolyn Scott

Installing the Arbors

Conduit of Color

The cone-shaped arbors at either end are adorned with the Passionflower vine, and are reminiscent of a phonograph horn.  Depending upon the interpreter’s gaze, these arbors may appear as either sound projectors or sound collectors.  As you stop at the wine barrel planter in the center, you are invited to gently engage a secret chime that hides underneath the deck. This feature reminds the individual to take notice of all the surrounding sounds, both the obvious as well as the subtle.

One of our favorite parts of the garden is the quiet seating area set back against the shady hedge. You can find solace here from the hot sun and refresh with the scent of pineapple sage that surrounds you.  While sitting, enjoy the assortment of cool, calm succulents that adorn the wine barrel planters set beside you.

Emily Mox & Tim Snyder

Tim and Emily Working

When Emily Mox and I (Tim Snyder) began working together on this project, we both knew right away that we wanted to create a garden that had an element of mystery or surprise to it.  We also wanted the garden to represent sound not only in a visual way, but also in an interactive way that would appeal to all ages.

After searching the Internet for ideas, we came across a PVC instrument (played with hands or paddles) created by a man named Dennis Havlena, who gave instructions on how to build it.  We then adapted the instrument, integrating it into the center of the garden and surrounding it with a series of curved walls that represent sound waves resonating outward.  The placement of the pipes and the curve of the walls help to create a surround sound effect as you play them.

Curved Walls Representing Sound Waves

The louder, brighter plant palette represents sound escaping out from the room and spilling down the paths, while the black ornamental peppers and leatherleaf sedge represent “sound shadows.”  The surrounding plants create contrast for the bright colors and represent “background noise.”

This garden took a lot of work and extra help, (for which we are grateful) as we built the curved walls and the instrument. We learned a lot in the process and we feel the garden has been very successful so far!

Erin Feeney, John Whipple & John Moore

The Frosted Glass Panels During Installation

Breaking Point is a garden of contrasts. The design features two spaces divided by a six-foot, segmented wall of frosted glass panels. On the exterior, a quiet palette of blue and purple-flowering plants are massed and organized by obvious bedlines. Walking through this part of the garden is calming and guests sense a distinct change when they pass through the wall and are nearly overwhelmed by a screaming red plant palette, narrowed path, and seemingly chaotic planting design.

We all agree that we really enjoyed designing and building the garden, despite the challenges that come along with installing a six-foot wall, but our favorite part has been watching and listening to guests experience the space. Erin explains, “The senses are truly heightened by the contrast, and the red is so much louder after passing through the blue.” In addition, the garden features some unique plants, Talinum ‘Kingswood Gold’ and Brillantaisia subulugurica.

Breaking Point

Summer Badawi/David Sincavage

Central to the concept of Sound Unfound was the construction of a hut that serves as a respite from the outside forces and also offers a dreamlike perspective of the garden from the viewing window.

Assembling this space from start to finish was an incredibly fun and creative experience for us! We built the hut from natural materials collected on Longwood’s property, which we wove onto a frame to create a very organic and curious structure.

Students Constructing the Hut for Sound Unfound

The plant material was selected by its color, texture, form and adaptability to the site.  The plants thematically move from the outside of the hut with soft, muted, low-lying tones and begin to pick up in color and height as the eye moves towards the back of the garden.  A visitor to this space would find themselves lost in sort of dreamy plant world full of peace and wonder.

We hope that you will be able to come and experience our garden creations during their peak bloom, now throughout September! You may walk away with some sound inspirations of your own.

Iggy (named after rocker Iggy Pop) on Longwood's Flower Garden Walk

In March 2009, we posted our most popular blog to date—explaining the role of the beloved cats that are diligent workers in Longwood’s Integrated Pest Management Program. Since then we have added four felines to our ranks, so we thought it was time to introduce our newest furry ambassadors and update you on the rest of the crew!

Our cats patrol all of Longwood’s grounds,  from the Nursery and the Peirce-du Pont house to the Abbondi Composting facility. Each cat has an assigned area of the Garden and a human caretaker.  The responsibilities these felines take on are varied.  Their primary job is on the Rodent Control Task Force, but they also work as greeters, work supervisors, lap warmers and highly skilled catmint pruners.  They work in exchange for food, shelter, and a health care plan.

Every spring, Dr. Spancake of Lenape Veterinary Clinic in West Chester, PA makes a trip to Longwood to administer an occupational health exam and give booster vaccinations.  Some cats are a little afraid of the doctor and require corralling. Others, like Noel and Belin, purr through

Dr. Spancake and his assistant checking out JoJo

the whole affair. All the cats got a clean bill of health this year, although at least one will need to up the exercise time to lose a little extra weight!

After a rough winter with lots of snow and a few minor injuries, as well as a few extremely hot days this summer, all of Longwood’s cats are happy to be outdoors enjoying the pleasant weather.

First, let me introduce you to our three newest “employees”:

Sarge, Ben and Jerry
All three of these “new hires” came to us as kittens last summer.  The three brothers were rescued from a golf course garage in Wilmington, DE.  When we got them, all three were malnourished with fleas and eye infections.  Happily, the boys are back to mouse-catching condition and cute as can be!

Sarge hard a work

Sarge resides at the Security House and it’s been reported to me that his little feet never touch the ground!

For all the spoiling this rambunctious teenager receives, he repays his caregivers by entertaining them with funny antics, lots of affection and a mouse every now and then.  He loves visitors, but watch out! Close the door quickly or he’s likely to run out to grab a little fresh air!

Still working hard in the Security House

Ben and Jerry are stationed at the Abbondi Composting Facility and are cared for by Glenn and Larry—wink wink!  Jerry is almost identical in appearance to Sarge, but has a pink nose and a white chin.  He is over-the-top friendly, with a loud purr and a comical high-stepping walk.  I think he is just so excited to see people, he’s walking on air!

Jerry happily purring away. Ben was unavailable for photos.

Ben is the complete opposite of his two brothers.  He is grey with just a hint of white on his chest. He is friendly, but so shy we rarely see him.  However, we know he ventures out occasionally because he once got himself stuck in a storm drain.  Luckily, he was able to free himself using a strategically placed piece of fence and wooden pallet.  I thought I was going to have to crawl around down there to coax him out of hiding!

Boca

Boca guarding the Gardens Shop inventory

Our brand new addition to the Longwood Cat program is Boca, named for his giant loud mouth!  This handsome black cat with big green eyes arrived at the loading dock of the Garden Shop last Fall.

Super-friendly and affectionate, Boca spent the chilly winter in the upstairs storage room of the Visitor Center resting and packing on the pounds.  He makes sure you know when he is hungry by standing in the stairwell loudly meowing for food—remember how he got his name?  Many of the Garden Shop employees fell instantly in love with Boca and he now has a monogrammed blanket, custom cat door, and many adoring visitors.

Boca makes an excellent addition to any desk

And now, for our familiar cast of characters:

Belin doing what he does best!

Belin

Guardian of the historic Peirce-du Pont house, this large grey tabby has a name with historic origins; “Belin” (pronounced BEE-lin) is Ms. Alice du Pont’s maiden name.

Belin is probably Longwood’s most famous feline due to his large size and friendly personality; however, he has very humble origins.

Watch your step!

Rescued from a dumpster at The Terrace Restaurant in 2004, he was covered with grease and very afraid of people.

Nowadays, Belin can’t get enough human attention and works closely with Longwood’s Guest Service Representatives as an ambassador to the thousands who visit the Perice-du Pont House each year.  One of his favorite spots is curled up on a chair or sprawled out in front of the entrance like a welcome mat!

Catching some rays from one of his favorite chairs

Kousa

Kousa looks a bit like a cross between a cat and a polar bear.

A polar bear? No, it's Kousa!

She is large and white, and hibernates for most of the colder months inside the Carriage

Shed on the eastern side of the garden.  She is also stone-deaf, which means she isn’t perturbed by all the noisy machinery in her area, where mulch, soil, and debris are routinely dropped off and picked up.  But don’t be late with her breakfast or she will really let you know about it with loud meows!

Will someone rub my belly already?

Noel surveying the Idea Garden

Noel and Smokey

This lucky pair inhabits the Idea Garden Shop on the western side of the Garden.  Their home just happens to be the shop closest to the largest catnip patch on the property, which may explain their happy and affectionate personalities.

Smokey in the Fall

Given a choice between a person and food, Smokey would choose the person every time.  Noel is a foul weather friend and the oldest of Longwood’s cats; the colder it gets the more she wants to be on your lap.  In the winter, she often sneaks into the Conservatory where I have spotted her curled up contentedly next to seated guests.  But in the warmer months, she is happiest outside sleeping in the sun or catching mice.  Pretty impressive for a petite lady of a distinguished age!

Noel taking a well deserved nap

Missy
Missy lives with the arborists at Anvil Shop near the Nursery.

Missy keeping watch at the Anvil Shop

She is a dilute tortie with a license to kill.  She used to take her rodent catching duties far more seriously than most of Longwood’s other cats, often leaving gifts for her caretaker.  However, the older she gets, the happier she is to curl up on a pile of Christmas lights!

Smitty and Jojo
Smitty and Jojo are the sisters who patrol the nursery.

Smitty and Jojo sharing a sisterly embrace

Jojo looks regal in her tuxedo

Jojo is black with a white bib, stomach, and toes. Smitty is nearly all black, with white only on her stomach.  They show occasional sisterly affection toward one another, stopping to bump noses now and then, but usually stick to their own turf.

Jojo spends much of her time in the area around the barns and tenant houses. However, due to an ACL tear, she spent most of the winter months recuperating indoors at one of the Nursery’s tenant houses.  Her caretakers gave her plenty of TLC and she’s back running around with barely even a limp.

Smitty loves people and hangs out in and around the nursery greenhouses.  Coaxed with treats, she will even do a few tricks!

Smitty stops to smell the flowers

Spooky and Vincenzo

This nearly inseparable pair shares a cozy little heated hut near the Terrace Restaurant.

Vincenzo in a calm moment

Their close friendship goes to show that opposites really do attract.  Their appearances and personalities could not be more different.

Spooky hopes for a hand out

Vincenzo’s long grey fur sports the just-rolled-out-of-bed look; while Spooky’s sleek black coat can outshine any other cat in the garden.  As for their personalities, “Spooky” is anything but. Vincenzo—more appropriately VincenzA (or Wild Thing depending on who you ask!)—was originally discovered behind the Italian Water Garden and was named in part for her tough demeanor, but she is actually super shy.  When Spooky occasionally goes exploring on his own, Vincenzo cries and cries for her missing friend.

Iggy

Iggy usually hangs out around Flower Garden Walk.

Iggy looking angelic on the Flower Garden Walk

He has a black coat with a white face, chest and boots; but don’t let the tuxedo fool you. With a neurotic personality and a gift for getting into trouble, he more than lives up to his namesake–Iggy Pop.  If he wants food or your attention he’s not afraid to open his mouth and ask for it.  His high-jinx include getting himself locked in a women’s bathroom and caught in a have-a-heart trap set for capturing skunks.

Rebar

Rebar

Many of our guests have been asking about and missing the little tuxedo cat, Rebar, from the Hillside Garden.  Well, I miss her, too.  She died two years ago and I still feel sad when I enter the Hillside shop for a tool or some extra hose.  I placed a memorial stone with an “R” made of rebar in the Hillside Garden in her honor.  She was my furry little friend and Longwood just isn’t the same without her.

Feel free to give any of the cats a gentle hello if you see them.  Many will take advantage of a warm lap if given the chance, but won’t be offended if they are too busy patrolling or cat napping!  Thank you for visiting Longwood Gardens, and be sure to come again—there is always something new to see and do with the whole family!

Poinsettia baskets on display in Longwood's Conservatory during Christmas

Every year, Christmas comes early at Longwood Gardens as we prepare for our largest annual display! Planning begins more than a year in advance, and our gardeners look forward to the hottest days in mid-Summer when they can escape to the relative cool of the indoor workshops to prepare different elements for the Christmas season.

An empty basket next to a poinsettia 4" plant, plug, and cutting.

The gigantic poinsettia baskets that grace the Orangery each year never fail to add “The WOW Factor.” Just last week, a team of gardeners gathered to assemble these baskets so that they will be fully grown in time for the kick-off of the holiday season on Thanksgiving Day. This year we are using Euphorbia pulcherrima ‘Nutcracker White’. We started the cuttings on June 1, and by mid- to late-June they rooted and formed a plug, which we planted into 4 inch pots. Then, by mid-July, we were ready to place the four inch potted plants into the baskets.

Poinsettia baskets resting on their support systems in the production greenhouse.

Longwood is fortunate to have very talented metal fabricators on staff who create the special baskets used for our poinsettia display. The baskets are comprised of two halves that are bolted together when completed. After the baskets are planted, they are supported by two brackets that allow them to be grown on a bench in our greenhouse. Through the summer, the plants receive maximum sunlight, and we are able to tilt them forward into an upright position to facilitate watering.

To start the planting process, we line each half basket with sphagnum moss, beginning at the bottom with a 2-3 inch thick band, and work our way up. Watch a little of the behind-the-scenes action as we assemble the baskets in this video clip:

Workers place the plants in the basket (upper left), back fill the basket with soil (upper right), add another layer of plants (lower left), and work sphagnum moss into the basket (lower right).

As we work the sphagnum into place we also incorporate the plants. The rooted portion is placed inside the basket and the top part of the plant is carefully pushed through the openings in the basket. Each of the 4 layers is completed, one- at-a-time, and consists of 6-7 plants. We fill behind the sphagnum with a well-drained potting mix to hold the plants in place, and to provide a medium to root into. Our potting mix is custom made at Longwood and contains a product called Root Shield which incorporates Trichoderma, a beneficial fungus that provides disease control.

The third layer of poinsettias are added (upper left), the basket with all the poinsettias in them (upper right), and the finished half basket tilted upward (lower photo).

Poinsettias are heavy feeders and require frequent fertilization—constant liquid feed during the week. Poinsettias must be closely monitored for nutrient deficiencies; therefore we frequently take soil and tissue samples that are sent to a lab for analysis. The lab reports allow us to monitor the pH level, soluble salts, and nutrient levels, which should stay within a given range.

The baskets are pinched a minimum of two times. “Pinched” means that we remove the top part of the plant to encourage branching and side shoots to form—this ensures a full, bushy basket. The last pinch needs to be made by Labor Day to ensure bract formation and color by Thanksgiving. In September, we start giving the plants a black-out treatment. The plants need to receive 12 hours of darkness to initiate bract formation. This is achieved by using black-out cloth to prevent any light—such as car headlights or street lights—from entering into the greenhouse at night.

A great deal of work is involved in growing poinsettias for the Longwood Christmas display. We hope you enjoy seeing the baskets in the Conservatory this Christmas!

Another example of the finished product during Christmas time!

Snap Peas

During the early season, when things were a bit cooler than today, we harvested an abundance of snap peas and numerous kohlrabi heads. We began harvesting snap peas on June 5 and finished harvesting them in late June. Although it was a short season, we reaped a total of over 30 lbs, which everyone was pleased with.

Once the snap peas were spent they were replaced with cucumbers and summer squash, both started from seed in the ground. Since it has been so hot outside we have had to water these precious seedlings at least twice or sometimes three times a day to keep them moist and happy.

PG Vegetable Plot on Red Lion Row

Along with the heat comes watering the plot, a common everyday task for the Junior PG’s. We find it best to water early in the morning or late in the evening once the sun has gone down to support better water retention. Something to keep in mind when watering your own garden: Watering in the evening is not always ideal because the leaves remain wet and that prolonged dampness can encourage disease.

Currently we have been harvesting Swiss chard, carrots, summer squash and cucumbers—all of which are warm season crops that we will be able to harvest through September. Within the next few weeks, we will start harvesting eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. Last week, while I was watering the plot, I noticed that some of the Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes were starting to turn yellow. We are already harvesting a substantial amount of them, which is very exciting.

Swiss Chard

Summer Squash: Golden Zebra (left)/Ronde de Nice (right)

Jason Belkov, Head Chef of the Terrace Restaurant at Longwood Gardens, shared one of his recipes that uses our summer squash. This is something you can taste while visiting Longwood, or we hope that you will make it at home with produce picked from your own garden!

(about 2 medium) yellow squash, sliced 1/4 inch thick (in lieu of pasta)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup cooked sautéed sliced button mushrooms
20 spinach leaves
2 small tomatoes, cut up
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 garlic clove, minced

4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Grill squash until tender and set aside. Pan fry onions & garlic with the olive oil and add carrots, mushrooms and bell pepper until veggies are tender. Add the spinach, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, thyme, water & pepper.  Bring this all to a boil.
2.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups.
3.  In small bowl add ricotta cheese & half of shredded cheese.
4.  In (1 1/2-qt.) baking-roasting pan arrange half of the tomato mixture. Top with half of the summer squash, half the Parmesan and all the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with remaining tomato mixture and then the squash slices.
5.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
6.  Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 10 minutes longer.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
* Serving Size: makes 4 servings

A total of 220 lb. of produce has already been harvested from the plot, and we are only 7 weeks into the growing season! With how things are progressing, we expect to have a great season and look forward to learning more about vegetables by raising them, and sharing all of that knowledge with you!

Since the profits from the veggie plot benefit our class trip, I wanted to let you know that the Professional Gardener Class of 2012 will be traveling to China in October 2012, and we are very excited!

PG's in the Veggie Plot

At first, it amazed me with its showy yellow flowers with silver centers.  Seeing silver on a flower stopped me in my tracks immediately!  It was mind altering.  Closer observation of this plant expanded my awareness to an even more amazing dimension. One day I noticed that the newly opening flowers were not yellow with a silver throat, but orange with a bronze throat.  Around noon, the trippy flowers morph from orange/bronze to yellow/silver. How groovy is that? It’s like having two kinds of flowers on the same plant.

When I told my photographer friend, Matt, about this amazing transformation over time, he decided to do a time lapse photography shoot, to capture the color change.  He did an amazing job.  I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

You can experience the ‘Fifth Dimension‘ in person at Longwood. The plant is on display in the Rose House and blooms throughout the year.

On a side note, we were able to improve the vigor of the hibiscus in the Rose House by grafting all of our hibiscus cultivars onto the vigorous rootstock, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Pride Of Hankins’.  I will let you in on a little secret: if you look closely at the hibiscus plants in the Rose House, you can see the graft union near the base of the plants.  Sometimes it is a clear line across the trunk, and sometimes it is more subtle—with only bark texture designating that there are two different plants joined together.