Forestry in Tropical Encounters

Recently the horticulture staff received some help from the City's Forestry Department to do some tree maintenance in the Tropical Encounters exhibit. Some of the large trees in the exhibit were beginning to out-grow the space and needed to be pruned back or removed completely. The horticulture staff typically does plant maintenance in the exhibit but when it comes to the removal of very large trees, the forestry crew is better equipped to tackle such a task.

This giant McCaw palm had reached the top of the exhibit structure. Removing it was no easy feat, especially considering that the trunk is covered in very sharp spines!

The crew also pruned the Balsa, Kapok and Hogplum, all of which were outgrowing their space, and removed the tallest section of a Peach Palm which was pressing on the glass.

Orchid Show Awards

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s exhibit at the 2011 Winter Carnival Orchid Show was a great success. Not only was it awarded an American Orchid Society show trophy and a best of class trophy, this year’s display was also awarded the American Orchid Society's Gold Certificate!

The coveted American Orchid Society's Gold Certificate is given only a handful of times in any given year. To qualify, an orchid exhibit must score a minimum of 90 points on a nationally standardized scale that is intended to recognize exceptional artistic or unique arrangement, educational value, creativity and artistic skill. Displays that receive Gold Certificates are exceptionally beautiful in the eye of the judges present not just well-executed, or technically well-done in their application of the principles of design. They possess a “wow factor” that is difficult to describe. This display, housed in its own room and designed to maximize the impact of numerous skylights and the natural sunlight provided, gave the viewer the impression of walking into an orchid-laden jungle.

Many individual orchid plants within the exhibit were also given awards including:

10 first place ribbons
14 second place ribbons
10 third place ribbons
1 Certificate of Cultural Excellence award for Angraecum eburneum ‘Como Conservatory’
1 Certificate of Cultural Merit award for Paphiopedalum swanianum 'Don McNeely'
1 Best of Class trophy for Laelia moyobambe 'Greg McNeely'

See What's Cooking For Valentine's Day Dinner

Chef Art appears on KARE-11 preparing the delicious Valentine's Dinner.

Orchid Show

The horticulture staff has been busy preparing our display for the Winter Carnival Orchid Show this weekend. Visit the Orchid Show on Saturday & Sunday, January 29-30, to see an incredible exhibition of hundreds of orchids from the private collections of Orchid Society members as well as specimens from the Conservatory’s extensive collection. The plants will be displayed throughout the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory and vendors will also be on site with a selection of orchids available to purchase. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12 ($1 off admission with Winter Carnival button).

Garden Guy Dale K. takes you on a tour of the Conservatory

Garden Guy at Marjorie McNeely Conservatory : MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

Bobby & Belinda Visit the Sunken Garden!

Holiday Flower Show From KARE-11

Pruning The Palms

This past week three horticulturists spent a day pruning some of the largest palms in the palm dome. We have a geni lift that can extend our reach to over 20 feet. We then can use pole saws to extend up to another 20 feet.

The first palm we pruned was the Desert Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera. The leaves can grow as large as 3-6 feet across. The petioles which connect the leaf to the trunk can be up to 6 feet. So the entire frond can be up to 12 feet long.

Another palm we pruned was the Princess Palm, Dictyosperma album. The feather shaped leaves on this palm can be as long as 8-12 feet long.

The last palm we pruned was the Queen Palm, Syqgrus romanzoffiana. This is the tallest of all the palms we have in the Palm Dome. The Queen Palm can grow as tall as 50 feet. The fronds can grow to over 15 feet.

We needed to groom the older fronds for both cultural and aesthetic reasons. This also gives us an opportunity to evaluate our insect populations.

Triangle Palm

This past week the Horticulture staff transplanted a Triangle Palm, Dypsis decaryi into the Palm Dome. There is currently an older Triangle Palm in a nearby location which is almost touching the ceiling. Triangle Palms can grow to about 50 feet in height. At some point the older Triangle Palm will need to be cut down because of it's height. We want to get this younger palm established so that we can continue to have this variety of palm on display. It has a very unique shape. This palm doesn't transplant well but is a fast grower once it is established.

The Trianle Palm in native to the Madagascan rainforest. The fruits are high in nutritional value. This is an attractive plant and we hope you get a chance to see this palm in it's new location.

Inga

It has been a couple of years since the Inga Tree has been pruned in Tropical Encounters. Pruning is an involved process because we have to bring out tall ladders and extendable pruning tools. It is sometimes difficult to maneuver ladders in the plant beds because of plant material in the beds and the unlevel soil in the beds. The Inga in a very vigorous growing plant so we did prune it back quite hard. It well grow back quickly. There were also vines growing in the Inga which we wanted to remove.

Ice Cream Bean is another name for this plant because the seed pod looks like a bean and parts of the pod tastes like vanilla ice cream. Inga is a companion plant for shade grown coffee because it grows so tall. Birds like to sit on this tree because it is such a tall plant in the Tropical Encounters exhibit.