TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
@TheDirtTBO
The Dirt
Post your garden photos
Bay area nuseries Gardening calendar Planting guide
Most Recent Entries
- Universities board begins daunting task of creating new university
- USF marketing students finalists in gas promo contest
- USF website pulls together research, services for veterans
- USF Poly budget director Bresler says he’ll fight efforts to fire him
- Incoming Speaker Weatherford speaks at USF conference on college access
- USF St. Pete forms alumni society
- Goodbye Michael Kovac; nanotechnologist, roller coaster lover
- USF Poly administrator resigns; report recommended dismissal
- Anyone For Road Snapper? [Chef Ben Sargent Visits In Key West On “Hook, Line & Dinner.”]
- Universities eye cuts; USF remains quiet
- Banana Bourbon Caramel Cheesecake, Boiled Crawfish, Mussels & Clams [This Week’s Weekend Eats]
- Last USF Poly class graduates; Dockery lays in to “leaders” behind split
- Get your skin checked for free at USF
- Finally the scissors are out for the revamped USF Sun Dome
- Sen. Fasano: Goodman must go in wake of audit showing mismanagement and bullying
More
Monthly Archives
More is more at Busch Gardens
Posted Oct 1, 2009 by Kim Franke-Folstad
Updated Oct 1, 2009 at 07:07 PM
This was going to be a post about how Busch Gardens manages to make its tropical plants look autumnal – just in time for Howl-O-Scream.
My husband, son and I were there Wednesday to enjoy the perfect weather, and they had all the scary stuff scattered about.
Besides the props, they do a good job of putting the focus on fall colors: lots of orange, dark greens, dark yellows, etc. There are masses of crotons (the most fall-like plant I can think of down here) and I spotted some of our favorite “Orange Marmalade” crossandra.
But quickly my attention turned from color to the crazy number of plants they manage to squeeze into pots and planters and medians all through the park.
We’ve talked about this before. If I put a couple of plants into one pot, I’m proud of myself. If I put in more than three, I think I’m pushing it. But at Busch Gardens, more is definitely more. Why hang one plant in one basket from a light post when you can hang a dozen? Why put one of anything in a pot when you can get six or seven different plants in there?
It’s funny how even the most ordinary plants look extraordinary when there are dozens grouped together.
If I had this pot full of flowers at home, I’d think it was time to trim or transplant. But at Busch Gardens, where all plants are big and beautiful, it fit right in.
Another thing—in reference to the troubles we’ve all been whining about recently: No nibbled leaves. No scale. No blight. All the plants looked healthy and happy.
Now it’s possible that they just pull out the damaged stuff. I would, if I had the budget. But I don’t think so, because it all looks mature, not new.
Anyway, it’s on my list of things to check into – how they manage it.
I’ve been kicking myself for not getting to Cypress Gardens before it closed (I went there when I was 14 and not yet a gardener). But Busch Gardens actually offers the perfect balance for my family: rides for my coaster-crazy son, birds and beasts for my hubby (who majored in zoology), and lots of trees and flowers for me.
And really, even if you never get on a ride, it’s worth the price of admission just to enjoy the topiaries and clever planting they do there.
Post a comment
Members:(Requires free registration.)
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2010 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Reader Comments
Posted by (Janna) on October 02, 2009
It is so motivating to see the plants and flowers ALL OVER Busch Gardens. I used to have a pass and would go there two or three times a month just to walk around (great exercise) and get planting ideas. I also wondered how often they change the plants out because they always looked so perfect. Let us know if you get an answer on that!
I think that BG still has the deal going where you can pay for a day and come back free of charge for the rest of the year…
Posted by (Chip) on October 02, 2009
I can still remember when it was the Bush brewery petting zoo! and yes Mel’s was there. back then it was more of a place to park the kid’s while mom and dad went to the brewery beer tour and had a few free
sample’s! a lot has changed! It would take an army
to keep all of that looking as nice as it doe’s. A behind the scene’s look at how they pull that off would be cool. ...“Chip”..
Posted by (Kim Franke-Folstad) on October 02, 2009
Yes, they still have the deal to get in for free if you pay for one day. We got passes that are good for the rest of the calendar year. And we live in Carrollwood, so I may just head up there occasionally to take in the gardens.
Chip—I remember going there when I was a teenager, and I think they had a couple of rides, but it was definitely mostly about the animals and the BEER.
I checked our archives, and we haven’t done a story in recent years about how they manage to make it all look so fantastic, so I may do that. (It would be a great excuse to get out of the office now that the weather is nice!)