What’s So…Botanical? Wintershow!
Part one – Holiday traditions
The Garden’s annual holiday extravaganza abounds with displays celebrating the decorative beauty of plants. Sometimes it’s a creative challenge – this is naturally the time of year when plants make themselves scarce. Traditional evergreens and poinsettias are always welcome signs of the season. Let’s see how plants are decking the halls, the galleries, and also the glasshouses this season.
Of course there are evergreen trees, three species this year. Most of them are Fraser fir (Abies fraseri), one of the best, for conical shape, deep green color, 
great fragrance, and excellent needle retention. Best of all, the needles are blunt, so no unexpected pokes and prickles. These friendly traits are shared by the concolor fir as well. The lavishly decorated, extra tall tree featured in the Ellipse is a concolor (Abies concolor.) The third tree species, included for its pretty color is Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens var. glauca.) No one will be hugging this one, those needles are sharp!
great fragrance, and excellent needle retention. Best of all, the needles are blunt, so no unexpected pokes and prickles. These friendly traits are shared by the concolor fir as well. The lavishly decorated, extra tall tree featured in the Ellipse is a concolor (Abies concolor.) The third tree species, included for its pretty color is Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens var. glauca.) No one will be hugging this one, those needles are sharp!A dozen area garden clubs have added their design flair to make the most of these beautiful, fresh, Ohio-grown specimens, in the Garden Room. Note the whimsical creatures made from cones, berries and bits of dried plants like this flying insect or dragon? Or is it a fish? Very inspiring to those of us who craft!
The Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), being native to Central America, started as a New World tradition. The wild species is tall and bush-like with some tendency to scraggliness. Since plantsmen first started taking an interest in the plant, around 1828, the colors and forms of poinsettias bred for holiday decoration have grown to number in the hundreds. A lovely new selection called ‘Premium Ice Crystal’ (left) graces the Ellipse along with lively, oak-leaved variety ‘Mars Pink.’
More than 30 Poinsettia relatives (all in the genus Euphorbia) are part of the permanent collection of Madagascar plants. This season they are joined in the glasshouse by a plethora of showy Poinsettia cousins, including the varieties ‘Cortez Burgundy’ and ‘Classic Red’.
Also part of the holiday decor are long blooming Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia grandiflora and Euphorbia milii hybrids.) Have fun tracing the family resemblance between all these members of a fascinating plant family. And don’t miss the appropriately named Poinsettia called ‘Winter Rose’ – a decorator’s dream of form and texture.
Posted by Ann MCCulloh
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