A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Phipps Conservatory’s Winter Flower Show | Pittsburgh Magazine

When visitors enter the “Season’s Greenings” Holiday Magic Winter Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, they’ll see thousands of LED lights, hundreds of blooming poinsettias and other flora, a topiary cat, whimsical gnomes, a vibrantly lit outdoor garden and for the first time a “singing tree.”

What they won’t see are the months of meticulous planning, design and installation; the careful research and sometimes travel to tropical destinations to make sure the displays are as authentic as possible; crews hand-watering most of the plants in the display before the exhibits open each day and the careful approach to reusing as many plants as possible from one show to the next. 

The culmination of all this preparation is on view at shows such as the Winter Flower Show, which opened Nov. 17 and runs through Sunday, Jan. 7. 

Laken Burns, a display horticulturist at Phipps, offered me a tour of the newest show to talk about everything that goes into putting it on.

When you step inside the Palm Court, you might think you’ve wandered into someone’s living room. You are greeted by a Christmas tree, pitcher plant wallpaper, a bed of poinsettias and a topiary cat of dried sphagnum moss sitting upon a leafy armchair. Atop the fireplace, hangs a garland of southern magnolia leaves. Above you, two dangling ornaments. Its circular structure is supported by a yoga ball and surrounded by 3 to 4 inches of plants, which took months to train.

The miniature Garden Railroad in the South Conservatory brings childhood curiosity to life. This year’s theme is the “Four Seasons of Pennsylvania”. The Summer section loosely mimics Presque Isle State Park in Erie. Guests are encouraged to find the Heinz Ketchup bottle, which will be hidden in different places throughout the run of the show.

Everything in the room is interactive and touch free. Make the tiny Ferris wheel, trains or ski-lift move with the wave of a hand. Look close enough and you might see the hidden steps that horticulturists use to weed and water the plants.

Just a few days ago, employees were hurriedly moving carts in and out of the Sunken Garden Room, the last room that needed to be switched before the show opened. Burns directed me to clipboards holding sheets of designs the team used to navigate the installation. The color-coded maps of each room tell them what plants they need, how many and exactly where they need to go.

Many of these designs are planned months in advance. The theme for next year’s Garden Railroad, for example, has already been decided, with the designs in the works. For the Tropical Forest Conservatory, the theme of Panama has been selected for 2025. To produce an authentic environment, the team does research, contacts people who live in the places they want to emulate and some designers even travel there to experience the rainforests for themselves.

Each seasonal show can take weeks to install. While the spring show is on display for only four weeks, a total of 50,000 to 80,000 bulbs are grown for it, and horticulturists have to switch out the ephemerals — any short-lived plant — frequently because they only look good for little more than a week. 

For the current show, three giant gnomes are on display in the Gallery Room. They’re made of dried leaves, adorned with pine cones, painted allium and mushrooms. Ornaments on the Christmas trees were made by local schoolchildren from recycled materials. The Fairchild Challenge is “part of a larger program to encourage local schools to think more sustainably or do different challenges that meet environmentally-conscious goals,” says Burns. 

Phipps is committed to sustainable operations, so much so that its electricity has been renewable for almost 20 years, and all carbon emissions have been offset since 2010. Whenever they can, pest specialists release beneficial insects rather than pesticides. During the switching of seasonal shows, old plants may get composted or may even find new homes with staff and volunteers. Employees always find creative ways to reuse plant materials.

In the Broderie Room, you’ll find garlands made from spray-painted palms and bird toys, and in the Serpentine Room, there are about 100 bromeliads hand wired to a metal frame beneath each of the six trees. Perhaps the most magical might be the outdoor Winter Garden, where thousands of energy-efficient LEDS light the night sky. This year is the debut of the “singing tree,” which reacts to caroling. 

Some commonly used plants and flowers for the winter show are violets, dusty miller and cyclamen. And of course poinsettias, with 21 cultivated varieties throughout the conservatory.

Poinsettias, originally from Mexico, bloom naturally when the nights are longer and days are shorter. Burns recounts a Mexican folklore legend surrounding them. A young girl named Pepita, who could not afford a gift to bring for baby Jesus, was advised by an angel to pick a bundle of weeds. When she entered the church and laid the weeds at his feet, they transformed into beautiful poinsettias, the plant we now associate with the Christmas season. 

Just as poinsettias are a natural part of Phipp’s winter ecosystem, so are singing crickets and coqui frogs that usually come out at night. The pool in the Victoria Room is 2 to 3 feet deep, and its waters are dyed with beetroot powder. The Birds of Paradise plant can be spotted in the Stove Room. And in the desert room, the African Milk Tree, whose sap can blind a person if protective eye equipment is not worn during pruning, Burns says.

Horticulturists are a bit like artsy scientists, training plants in a variety of ways in the production greenhouses, which are not open to the public. Greenhouse D, for instance, is blacked out. 

“We’re playing with the light levels in there to force blooming when we want them to change growth,” says Burns.

Some plants are clipped and put on frames, like cascading mums that don’t naturally grow that way. Burns says that for their paperwhites narcissus plants, they used diluted alcohol to delay the growth and bloom of the flower. 

In one greenhouse, amaryllis bulbs are still waking for the winter show. Some plants installed for this show have been patiently growing since summer.

Timed tickets are available for the show that is sure to dazzle you this winter season.

Source: pittsburghmagazine.com