The First Dandelion of the Season
Spring Flower Shows and more Rootbound Clippings
I saw my first dandelion bloom of the season this week:
Which is not that impressive compared to the four foot dandelions growing at Phipps Conservatory as part of their Spring Flower Show:
In this year’s show, the Serpentine Room celebrates dandelions and the early food source they provide for local bees. Giant bees made of plant material fly overhead a field of blooms.
The Phipps team found a variety of daffodil that, incredibly, looks a lot like a dandelion bloom.
Some of the other blooms mimicked the color patterns of a bumble bee. I was especially charmed by this cute primrose that the horticulture staff grew from seed.
You can see more of the spring show on this mini tour I took on KDKA’s Talk Pittsburgh:
I had never seen one of those Himalayan blue poppies before and – wow – they are so striking. These flowers are challenging to grow outside their chilly native environment and it’s a testament to the Phipps horticulture staff that there are so many in this show and they’re all blooming at the exact right time.
A longtime member of the Phipps staff mentioned to me that the spring flower show used to be their biggest event of the year with lines going out the door, around the corner and occasionally over the bridge.
Today the conservatory gets its largest crowds during the winter show but for nearly all of the twentieth century, it was this springtime display that brought in hordes of flower lovers.
The Phipps website has a great collection of historical photographs and it’s fun to see how the displays have changed over the years. In the early 1900s, they had a lot more azaleas and camellias than tulips.
This is an installment of Rootbound Clippings, where I share some plant-related things I’ve been reading and watching.
The Inventor of “No Work” Gardening
My high school English teacher, Carolyn Wood, shared this short documentary from 1976 about gardener Ruth Stout. I watched it last week and was so charmed. I highly recommend setting aside 22 minutes for a viewing:
There was also a recent article about Stout in The New Yorker.
Did You Also Miss the Philadelphia Flower Show?
I didn’t make it to the Philadelphia Flower Show this year but you can read Jared Barnes’ wonderful photo-rich recap here. He was especially taken – as I was – by this installation by Laurel Hill Gardens which presents a magically heightened take on a vernal pool.
You can read my recap from the 2024 Philly Flower Show here. Or you can also travel back to 2023 or 2022.
Spring 2025 Versus Spring 2024
Every year Kate St. John looks through her old photos and contrasts what Pittsburgh plants are doing this year versus previous years. Turns out the tulips are behind where they were last year. You can read her whole post here.
The Secrets of Frog Ponds
I’ve been trying to attract frogs and toads to my pond for four seasons.
I still haven’t seen one but
says it shouldn’t be this hard:You can literally dig a pond anywhere and, if frogs are within a couple of miles of it, they will find it and spawn in it (they can ‘smell’ water). Again, frogs are the friends who say “Hell yes” when most would say no. They also spawn in puddles, ditches, upturned bin lids and washing up bowls. Frogs are extremely amenable and accommodating.
What am I doing wrong?!?! Do the neighborhood frogs have something against me? Kate’s recent Substack post offers a few more tips which I’ll try to implement this spring. You can read Kate’s full post over here.
And here’s one more photo from Phipps because, honestly, I can’t get enough of this flower show:
Are there any spring flower shows in your area? Or have you read any of Ruth Stout’s books? I’d love to hear about it.
And one more thing: I shared a few gardening books that have inspired me on TALK Pittsburgh last week. You can watch that segment here:
"Forgive me Carrie Nation", lol, I'll have to remember that one. Its amazing how plants will grow on their own though to be fair it looks like she lived in a climate with fairly constant rainfall and had good topsoil to start with---here in NM it takes a little more work with low precip and sun-baked hard topsoil (I'm, uh, the plowman with my trusty shovel). But she is so right about mulch! Cools and feeds the soil, prevents weeds and erosion, and keeps water from evaporating.
I'm a long-time fan of Ruth Stout! Thanks for mentioning her. Also a fan of bees, and one who plants for them, and leaves dandelions for them. My garden is spring up with dandelions right now.