Epcot wrap-up

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Show wraps up this coming weekend. If you've never been, it's totally worth checking out. The Disney Horticulture staff create stunning plant displays all over the park, including some amazing topiaries. They also feature a special pavilion called Garden Town where you can go and listen to talks from the big names in gardening.

If you can't make it this year, you can always mark your calendar for next year. The festival typically begins in March and runs through mid-May.

These photos were taken when I was there a few weeks back helping out with the Florida Master Gardener "Ask the Expert" booth. The first shot features a new topiary installation that played off of "American Gothic." I loved that the bed included a number of edibles, given that people have gone so crazy over vegetable gardening.



Okay, so the purple lablab beans in this photo aren't exactly edible, but they do look good growing up those bamboo tripods. I'll bet that the tomato plants in the mid-ground are setting fruit by now.



I was also excited to see that the horticulture staff had included cardoon in a few of the planters this year. I tried to start some cardoon from seed last year, but my poor plants never made it past the seedling stage.



Here's a close-up of the amazing texture on the leaves.



I also got a chance to visit with my friend Debra Prinzing from the Garden Writers Association. She was the featured speaker that weekend and was talking about her beautiful book Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways. And just before I saw Debra, I learned that she's the new garden editor a contributing editor for gardening at Better Homes and Gardens. How cool is that? Congratulations, Debra!



Every year there's at least one plant that people stop by the booth and keep asking about. This spring, it was definitely delphinium. I found this container with delphinium over in the England pavilion, though they've probably changed it out by now to a warmer-season plant.



And finally, here's a signature view over one of the lagoons by the monorail. People just love the floating containers and the broad strokes of colorful bedding plants. If you look closely, you can see that the pink plants were just installed. They look like petunias and they probably replaced a cool-season annual. They'll no doubt fill in over time to create the wall-to-wall plants look that Disney is known for.



Well, I hope to blog again soon about my own garden. I still have some design tweaking to do in the front yard, but it's amazing how quickly all of my new plants are all filling in. I get butterflies every time I pull into the driveway and see how well my new cannas and bananas are doing. Stay tuned for photos!