Wednesday, August 18, 2010

WEDNESDAY: Outdoors at Longwood Gardens

Firstly, thanks to Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer for allowing me to take part in this week's Outdoor Wednesday. Some of you might remember these photos from a couple of different posts dating back to just after Scott and I returned from our tour of the Brandywine Valley.

The Brandywine is home to 3 (maybe more) estates, mansions, and gardens that were cultivated by the DuPont family. We toured Nemours, Winterthur, and the impressive gardens of Longwood. These vignettes were taken at the Longwood Gardens Conservatory. If you haven't been ,I highly recommend taking the trip. It's magical!
Deep in the conservatory, just inside from the large Lilly pad display, there is a palm room no less than 40' in height. Palms, ferns, tropical succulents, and carnivorous plants thrive here and there are some gorgeous - I MEAN GORGEOUS - displays. The walkways circle the outside of the room and ramp, like a parking garage toward the back wall. I caught this little guy hanging out on the fruit of a tree and had to take a picture! Don't you love that color blue?

As you learned last week - I get super charged by the things that happen in nature, and the color palettes that form in even split seconds. I found this room that I think perfectly sums up this picture, don't you?
Granted, it's a little more modern than I like - but a good match, and a great way to show that these colors can look beautiful together. This is one of my favorite shots of the whole day. The conservatory has a large pond and on either end of it a pair of these fountains that gracefully spill water into a shallow pool that spills over a rock wall. I told you this place was magical! This particular space has tons of ferns and shade loving plants, along with loads of lavender! Some in pots, some planted, some hanging from the ceiling! So, what's our interior transformation from this picture?
Pretty good, no? The washed purples of the lavender, the taupe/brown of the fountain and perimeter, the pops of green from the ferns. Beautiful.
Bird of paradise is such a rare and unusual flower. (I totally borrowed that line! :) ) but I love taking pictures of them when they haven't fully opened. This one was perfect! And the interior:
Ah, now that's more liked it. Love this room! Jeffrey Bilhuber is a master with orange!
The conservatory had large baskets, and I mean LARGE baskets filled with these gorgeous pink fuchsia. They were stunning, and so easy to photograph. I love the pink and green and citron combination, don't you?
And the easy interior translation is:
I love this fresh and feminine living room. The white and touches of aged brass with the varied shades of blush and fuchsia are just perfect. There's even some hints of mossy green. (Under the table.)

And lastly, the foo dog to say goodbye. Longwood was filled with tons of these gorgeous stone statues and fountains. FILLED! Every turn was marked with one, and the focal point to every garden was centered by one. They were magnificent.
And my favorite interior translation:
Hope you enjoyed the tour of outside and my inside translation! Which is your favorite?

25 comments:

  1. i definitely enjoyed your beautiful pictures, my favorite is the first one, that of the dragonfly.

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  2. Oh Artie!!! I've missed the last couple of posts, because we went out of town and I couldn't get my phone to load your pictures! DRATS! But now I'm home, and I got my pillow, and I'm so SO SO in love with it, and you!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! This is the best giveaway I've ever won! Love this post, too! You do such a good job of matching up the pictures you take to the images you find and create! You're a true class of your own Mr. Artie! Truly! Giney

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  3. Beautiful pictures. I haven't been to Longwood Gardens in years, but I remember it just like you described it. Was that playhouse in the forest still there? That was beautiful!
    Great Post.
    Karla

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  4. I'm loving your comparisons of interior and exterior Artie. No one else in blogland (that I know of) is doing this, and you have a real gift for it! I'd love to see more of this!!! The white room with the pink touches matched to the picture of the fushias is perfection!

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  5. Artie-Your name suits you-Art(ie) to the soul! What a wonderful combination post-nature in the raw to nature as life. I LOVE it...and even though I wouldn't use some of those color in my own home I like seeing them used by someone else. Great visuals. My favorite? Well, I love the blue dragonfly (if that's what it is-not a BUG expert by any means) but I ADORE the picture of the fountain spilling water over the edge-It looks like a crystal chandelier to me-also love the room you found that creates that same harmony. I like each one for its own flavor..really like the white and feminine room too...sigh...just too hard to choose just one....Diana

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  6. This is so cool what you just did with the outside/inside. My favorite, surprising even to me, is the Foo dog interpretation. I love most anything orange but there's something about that room!

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  7. The last one. Love that dining room. The green is so vibrant, the ceiling is gorgeous. Love the chandelier cord cover. Wow!

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  8. I like the Jeffrey Bilhuber room best, but closely followed by the Foo Dog interpretation. Nice photos also, especially the fountain and bird of paradise. Beautiful colors.

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  9. OMG Artie! Brilliantly done post!
    xoxo Pattie

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  10. I love this post. This is So creative and the colors from the first room translation...AMAZING. This is why I keep coming to your blog. I love it!

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  11. WOW! Such a wonderful and close comparison. Great job, sir!

    Christoper
    GA

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  12. Nice job, Artie. You always have the brightest outlook. I love coming here every day. :) And I'm glad you're posting more often too. RGB

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  13. YAY!!! This is such a great idea. How did you find these pictures to match so well?>????!?!?! Very nice job, thanks for potsing. found you via Outdoor Wednesday.

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  14. I LOVE that dining room!! My eight-year-old loved the chairs too! And the bird of paradise is one of my favorite flowers. I have a plant that I'm hoping will someday bloom. Where my husband is from in Puerto Rico, they just grow wild everywhere. Gorgeous!! Beautiful post!! Come on by for the Mikasa giveaway!

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  15. **** YOU **** are my Design Star!

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  16. OMG! You perfectly matched that firefly room. I wasn't sure you were going to be able to do it - I mean, who decorates with those colors in the same room, but you did! WOW! You are like design maguiver! LOL! Great work! Love your blog - sara page

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  17. Just beautiful. That dining room at the bottom has me thinking about painting my ceiling gold ... hmmm....

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  18. Great post Artie, you really know how to keep us interested! I love these posts! Keep 'em comin'!

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  19. Love the pic of the water....nice eye my friend! and...strangely enough, I kind of like the lavender room. Not that room exactly, but the idea of a lavender room intrigues me. One fo the bedrooms in my Grandma's house had a quilt with tiny little violets on it. Wonder what happened to it???

    We just got home a little bit ago...had a WONDERFUL time at the show today! Bought a couple of signs and a blue plate...was looking for a Wallace Nutting print that was affordable...I wasn't successful...lol
    **Tami

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  20. whoa.
    i love these rooms.
    especially the pink-
    and the one with the dark walls and emerald green accessories.

    hugs

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  21. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my new blog... if you hadn't, I may never have found you... and that would be a shame because your blog is fantastic eye candy that has me drooling. I can't wait to dive in and read more... Have a great day! I hope you will visit me again soon.. I know I will be back.. I am following!!

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  22. What gorgeous photos! I LOVE that red and white chandelier!! I'll be back for Vignette Friday

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  23. These photos of nature are breathtaking...coupled with these interiors...amazing!

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