Ithaca Garden Club Holiday Decor

The Ithaca Garden club decorates one member's home as part of the holiday celebration and income producing event.  I was assigned to the master bathroom and chose a team to help me convert the bathroom into a winter lotus pond.  We used a lot of natural materials, sprayed silver for one room and gold for another and embellished the scene with locally purchased snow person and skaters.

I think the result is very lovely and the party is this afternoon.  Enjoy the images.

Snow person in the shower

Large arrangement in master back

Left side of the Tub area

Lotus pond with skaters and lotus pods

Lotus pond and right hand side of the pool area

Panorama of the pool that was converted to a winter lotus pond

Cornell Flower Research Field Trip

The Ithaca Garden Club visited the Cornell Horticulture research facilities on Maple Avenue in Ithaca to learn about the flower research taking place at the site. There were both field plots as well as plastic greenhouses they called tunnels.  The structures were named that because they did not have ends on them and allowed air movement.  They protect from frost, allowing for a longer growing season.

The plants we viewed today included black berries, raspberries, tomatoes, sunflowers, cosmos, bushes of rose hips, curly willow, very bushy basel, ornamental peppers, and many others.  It was an enjoyable tour, topped with some free cut flowers for home arrangements as well as berry picking.

Chris Wien was in charge of the facility and has a web page detailing his research and some findings.  Check out http://hort.cals.cornell.edu/cals/hort/research/wienresearch.cfm.

Attached are some photos I took while we visited the facility.

Happy Valentine's Day

I frequently use my photographic art for holiday cards or invitations for organizations in which I am a member. These include the Ithaca Garden Club, the Cornell Campus Club (http://www.campusclub.cornell.edu/) and the Light in Winter festival in Ithaca (http://lightinwinter.com/).