Floating flowers showcases garden flowers
Posted on: March 18, 2020 | Written By: Doug Oster |
In 2009 I visited Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pa., filming The Gardens of Pennsylvania for WQED-TV. It’s one of my favorite gardens and I’ve learned a lot from visiting and getting to know Dan Benarcik, one of the gardeners there.
These dahlias are floating in a fountain in my garden. This is a long exposure, used to blur the moving water. Photos by Doug Oster
Floating flowers is perfect for hellebores, which look down in the garden.
While walking into a little porch in the Chanticleer House, where I would be filming executive director and head gardener Bill Thomas, I was greeted by a container filled with water and there were countless flowers floating in the pot.
I was astounded at the beauty of the display and since that day have always picked blooms to display in my fountain, bird baths and anywhere else I can find a spot for them. I love to do it when I know I’m going to be in the garden for a few days straight working.
It’s especially effective to show off flowers that look downward like hellebores, but any blossom will work. They’ll last for a week or so and it’s so nice to stop and watch them being pushed around in the water by a breeze.
Hellebores will last for a week or more floating in water.
Early in the season, snowdrops are picked, flipped and presented in a little bowl inside on the piano. It allows other members of the family to see what they look like. I’m the only one laying on the snow to photograph and enjoy the flowers.
For the flowers on display at Chanticleer, the gardeners simply plugged the drainage hole in a pretty container and filled it with water.
It’s a simple and fun way to showcase seasonal blooms from the garden. It also give me an excuse to sit down and enjoy them between garden jobs.
Doug Oster is editor of Everybody Gardens, a website operated by 535Media, LLC. Reach him at 412-965-3278 or doster@535mediallc.com. See other stories, videos, blogs, tips and more at everybodygardens.com.
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