Countdown to Lilytopia 2011

Bring your camera for stunning photographs

Towers of Lilies

In a few days, Longwood Gardens’ East Conservatory and Exhibition Hall will transform into the largest lily display in North America! For the second consecutive year, Longwood is partnering with Holland bulb breeders to showcase some of the most amazing cut lilies that you will ever see. Lilytopia begins this Friday, May 20, but the planning began a year ago. World renowned designer, Dorien van den Berg, created a breathtaking design that showcases over 11,000 cut lilies and—new this year—1,500 calla lilies.

Watch Dorien in action on the The Martha Stewart Show, sharing ideas for arranging calla lilies at home (don’t miss the last 30 seconds of the clip when Martha gives Longwood Gardens a shout-out!).

Dorien turned her design for Longwood over to our carpenters and sheet metal workers, and these gifted artists spent countless hours creating the wooden platforms and metal structures that will showcase the lilies on display in the Conservatory. See a photo album of last year’s display.

The lilies—some of the newest cultivars in the world—were grown by a number of different Holland growers, and the process of shipping the flowers from the greenhouses in Holland to the display at Longwood Gardens is following a carefully planned schedule.

Lilies being staged for packing and shipping - May 14

The lilies destined for the Lilytopia display were cut in the greenhouses on May 14 & 15, packaged in boxes, pre-inspected by the USDA, and then put on an airplane headed for the States. They will arrive at JFK airport on Monday, May 16, where they will first get checked by US Customs, and then put on a refrigerated truck headed to Longwood Gardens.

The 13,000 stems are scheduled to arrive at the Gardens early Tuesday morning, where a crew of Longwood employees and volunteers will be awaiting their arrival (caffeine in hand). The  lilies will be removed from their packaging and a new cut will be made on each stem to keep the flowers fresh. Then the stems will be put into tubs of water according to cultivar. From this point, the lilies will be transported directly to the Conservatory or put into a cooler until they are ready to be used.

Beautiful flowers and breathtaking fragrance

When the lilies are brought to the Conservatory, a large group of Longwood and Dutch florists will be ready to transform the lilies into a beautiful display.

In the East Conservatory, 17 massive, vase-like structures are being built in the flower beds to display lilies in a perfect form.

Around the Patio of Oranges, four “walls” of lilies will surround you with a mass of beautiful, fragrant blooms.

Several tall lily arches will make the perfect backdrop for photos, and some of the most interesting and unique cultivars will be showcased in individual glass vases.

This year, 12 towers of lilies, each nine feet tall, will be displayed on the Exhibition Hall floor in the Conservatory. These towers make a great addition to Lilytopia because they will allow you to walk right up to the lilies and take in the wonderful fragrance. For the photographers out there, the towers also provide a chance to get up close for stunning macro shots.

Around the Exhibition Hall, there will be even more individual vases of unusual lily cultivars so that you can deliberate with your family and friends about which are your favorites. And don’t miss the other addition to this year’s exhibit, a display of calla lilies that will greet you as you enter our new Green Wall corridor. Callas are one of my favorite flowers, so I am very excited to see the many different cultivars grown by the Holland breeders.

Vase-like structures overflowing with lilies

Lilytopia runs from May 20–30, 2011. Be sure to plan a visit during these 10 days so that you don’t miss seeing this amazing display. I promise that you will be amazed by the beauty and variety of these flowers. You will even be able to take a home a momento from Lilytopia when you visit our Special Events Pavilion. Bulb suppliers will have your favorite lily bulbs for sale so you can enjoy these beautiful flowers in your own garden.

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The Idea Garden Spring Bulb Display

The Idea Garden Display in Bloom

One of Longwood Gardens most welcomed seasons takes place each year with its colorful and lush spring display. Within each of the many spring horticultural displays, spring flowering bulbs usually play a major role.  Longwood Gardens staff, students and volunteers participate in planting several hundred thousand bulbs each year.

Trial bulbs in the Idea Garden at peak bloom

Bulbs are used in both indoor and outdoor displays.  Bulbs grown for use in the indoor conservatories are potted, watered and moved into large coolers where they spend several months developing roots and meeting their chilling requirements. Once completed, pots are moved into greenhouses and grow for a specified time prior to flowering.

An aerial view of the Garden beginning to bloom

Bulb displays are planned more than a year in advance. Bulb orders are placed each spring from various bulb supply companies. Most of our spring flowering bulbs are produced and shipped from Holland. Bulb shipments usually arrive at Longwood in early October and planting begins shortly thereafter.

Recently Longwood staff members have developed a new bulb display in the Idea Garden. This display plays two major roles; as a strong educational component both for our guests and staff, and as a strong display in itself.  The display primarily features tulips and Narcissus (daffodils), displaying division types of each, grown in a trial garden setting where we can observe varieties new to Longwood. This is a huge resource for those who are interested in seeing tulips and narcissus varieties in bloom, or for those who just enjoy being surrounded by thousand of blooming bulbs.

The Idea Garden bulb display is planted each fall, around the last two weeks in October. Prior to planting this display, the summer flowering annuals display is removed. Once removed the planting beds are prepared for bulb planting. This preparation includes edging planting beds, amending planting beds with composted pine bark, tilling and raking. Once the beds are prepared we are then ready to plant bulbs.

Planting template used for marking the soil

The planting process begins with having our plans, bulbs and labels in order. Once materials are on site we begin with laying out the bulbs. Since all planting spaces are the same size we use a template with dibbles running along each side. These dibbles mark the soil, helping us to place the bulbs at the correct spacing and in straight rows. After marking the planting spaces with our template, we then begin the process of laying out the bulbs. The planting team will work together placing bulbs meticulously in selected beds. Once the entire bed has been laid out it will be ready to plant. The goal for the planting team each day is to remain on schedule, laying out and planting 15 to 18 thousand bulbs. The planting process usually takes about a week to complete with a crew of 6 to 8.

Planting team working on laying out and planting bulbs

The planting process is not as difficult as one would think. The soil in our planting beds is extremely friable and this allows us to plant at an efficient pace. Planters will complete the entire process on their knees using one hand to lift the bulb while the other uses a trowel to dig a hole. As planters refine their techniques, bulbs can go into the soil quickly. Bulbs are planted to a depth of 5” to 6” from the base of the bulb.

Within the Idea Garden bulb display we feature about 70,000 spring flowering bulbs. Bulbs are planted in variety specific squares or in variety combination’s. The overall existing geometric garden design has worked well with designing this garden.  The fourteen front beds consist of a total 5,600 square feet. We plant in groups of 250 bulbs per 25 square feet.  This gives us 224 planting spaces in this area of the display.

In the back portion of the display we trial bulb combination plantings. These bulb combination’s have been selected by gardeners. Each group is evaluated several times during their bloom period for color combination’s, longevity of bloom time, height and interest. Within this space we have 35 different combination’s.

Combination trial planted with Tulipa ‘Calgary’, Muscari ‘Album’ and Muscari ‘Valerie Finnis’

After a bed is completely planted it will receive a final raking to even out the soil. The last and final step is to protect the bulbs from squirrels and deer. To do this we use plastic deer netting stretched out on top of each bed, covering every square foot. The netting is attached to the bed using sod staples. This netting will remain on the bed throughout the winter. When the bulb foliage begins to emerge in late winter the netting will be removed and we change protection methods. At this time we use an electric fence to deter the deer from eating the bulb foliage. The electric fence is set up each evening and taken down each morning.

Trial bulbs in late March

In early May as the last of the late blooming varieties begin to fade, it is time to remove the bulbs. Bulbs are removed from the display beds, one at a time using digging forks to loosen bulbs from the soil. Once bulbs are removed from our display they may find their way into other garden locations or they are composted.  To ensure a high quality display in these beds, Longwood Gardens purchases fresh bulbs each year.

Tulips, tulips, tulips!

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