On Monday my friend and I got to the bulb show at Mt. Holyoke just after 10AM. Just as we were going in, a bus arrived and unloaded. I thought, oh, no! It will be wicked crowded! But for some reason only a few went into the show. And after a little while we almost had the house to ourselves.
The very best part of the bulb shows is the intense fragrance! They had the vents open at the peak so it was cool inside, but the fragrance was still very strong. Ahhh, the smell of spring!
They didn’t have a “theme” this year, much to my friend’s delight. But they’d made extensive use of foliage plants.
Lots and lots of different kinds and colors of jonquils.
Plenty of hyacinths for scent too. I don’t know if the cube on the sign works, but anyone with a smart phone might be able to access it.
Lots of brilliant tulips and so many types of daffodils.
The color combinations were stunning.
These are clivias and the red berries are the seed pods. Above is what we think is a kumquat tree.
And below was a citrus fruit of some kind. Very odd!
Not only hyacinths for scent but a lot of freesias, and some of the daffodils have scent too.
Poet’s eye narcissus
This plant was part of the opening display.
This is the lower part of the opening display.
This was the other end of the centerpiece.
There were subtle areas, like these jonquils and the gray furry accent plants.
This display near the front was just stunning! The colors were perfectly matched.
The corner at the entrance
We thought the geranium flowers looked like butterflies.
Looking down the right side
The right back corner had a camellia in full bloom and plenty of hyacinths for scent.
An amaryllis and texture plant
Fringed tulips
Looking down the whole right side to the entrance
Looking down the whole left side from the entrance
We went around the show 2 or 3 times before we had a surfeit of the scents and colors. Then we headed into the cactus house.
Then back through the show to access the other greenhouses. The first one had this stunning flowering vine.
It appeared to have 2 types of flowers.
The next house had the water feature. It was covered with these plants.
Except at the end of it where we found this single water lily flowering.
Then we went into the big old greenhouse. This is my dream greenhouse. If my sister ever hits the lottery…. We sat on a secluded bench under all the greenery and talked for a while. Then it was time to go.
I had to be back by noon as my general helper was coming. It was to be the last nice day this week and I really wanted to get as much of the New Herb garden weeded as we could.
We both so look forward to these bulb shows, for the scent and the colors and the flowers. It’s such an uplifting event.