Biocontainers offer an exciting opportunity for plant producers and home gardeners to become more earth friendly. Currently the majority of ornamental crops are produced in petroleum-based plastic containers. The extensive use of plastic results in a significant waste disposal problem and the plastic ends up in a landfill or hopefully gets recycled.

Cascade chrysanthemums have long been at the heart of Longwood Gardens' annual Chrysanthemum Festival. Longwood grows specialty mums (Chrysanthemum x moriflorum) that originated in China and Japan and are selected for their ability to create beautiful and lasting forms. Over the years, Longwood's amazing show of form and color has been continually modified and refined. Guests marvel at the captivating shapes and often ask us how we create these wonderful pieces of horticulture. The following is meant to highlight a little behind-the-scenes action and hint at some of the spectacular forms you will see this November in our Conservatory.

Our cannas are being threatened! Plants all around the world are being infected by viruses that can affect the beauty of the plants and can eventually lead to death. Unchecked, this could lead to the end of cannas. Do I have your attention? Well, don’t panic because here at Longwood we have some projects underway that will hopefully give new life to the beautiful canna!

Stop by the "Frog Hollow" area, to the West of the Chimes Tower to view the turf grass trial. Although simple in scope, this 5-year study could have a dramatic eco-friendly outcome for Longwood Gardens. Currently, staff mow the turf areas about once a week during the growing season—and there are a lot of turf areas throughout Longwood Gardens! If this study proves fruitful, then Longwood could replace some of its turf with a grass from this study and drastically reduce mowing in portions of the garden. This will greatly reduce fuel consumption and mower vehicle emissions.

In March of 2009 we posted a video of a Pileated woodpecker building a nest in a large dead tree (snag) in the woods at Longwood. This year, an Eastern Screech Owl (Otus asio)--a small (8 1/2 inches) nocturnal, woodland owl--has taken up residence in the same location, using the hole that the Pileated built...

Late March and early April is a time when people are ready to get out of the house and explore the outdoors after all the snow has melted and tiny springtime treasures begin to emerge. At Longwood Gardens we're just bursting at the seams with beautiful flowers 365 days of the year!

The past year has been an olfactory adventure in Longwood's research greenhouses. In preparation for Making Scents: the Art and Passion of Fragrance, we brought in a variety of fragrant plants for trial. Some plants, such as roses, are common and easy to obtain. Fragrant varieties such as Rosa ‘Secret’s out’, R. ‘Gros Choux d’Hollande, R. ‘De Resht’, R x centifolia, R. ‘Compte Chambord’, and ‘Jaques Cartier’ will be making an appearance in the Conservatory during the exhibition.

This year the Philadelphia International Flower Show produced by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), America's first horticultural institution, will showcase plants from around the world in the 2010 show “Passport to the World.” A special exhibit called the "Explorers Garden" will greet guests to the show, and will capture the spirit and adventure of early plant exploration. For the "Explorer’s Garden," Longwood is forcing its signature Victoria ‘Longwood Hybrid’ water-platters into bloom.

Longwood Gardens established hardiness trials and a breeding program in the early 1960’s to evaluate and develop camellias that can tolerate colder winters. These efforts have lead to the release of two of the hardiest Camellias ‘Longwood Centennial’ and ‘Longwood Valentine’. As Camellia breeding and hardiness evaluation continue at Longwood Gardens, the selection of commercially available hardy camellias will increase.

In March, our staff found a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers excavating a nest cavity in a large dead tree. We were lucky enough to capture the event on film and have been watching (and filming) their nesting habits ever since.

In late winter and spring, your Clivia may be displaying some beautiful fruit. Clivia with yellow flowers will produce yellow fruit, while Clivia with orange flowers will produce red fruit. The fruit is actually a berry that contains seeds inside. If your Clivia did not produce fruit this year, it may not have been pollinated. Pollination is a simple act that is accomplished by taking ripe pollen that sheds easily from the anthers onto your finger or a Q-tip, and placing it on the stigma.

The start of another waterlily season brings with it great anticipation as we began this week to uncover the pools. But is this ritual of uncovering the pools really the start of another season?  No!  Several activities have already started to take  place behind-the-scenes in preparation for the opening of the display.