Tour of the Newport Flower Show - Part 3

It's the turn of the century. The Gibson Girl represented the ideal woman of the early 1900s - but the suffrage movement was on the cusp of breaking out ready to shatter that image.



The rich were buying cars and showcasing them around town. The contemporary music of the day was Ragtime, but the ladies of Newport were still waltzing in their ballrooms.

Imagine it's a Saturday afternoon. You are the lady of the house checking over the preparations in the ballroom for tonight's gala. Everything looks to be in order so you step onto the terrace for a breathe of fresh air to this view.


(Photo is from a Newport visitor's website so I can't take the credit for this gorgeous shot.)

This is the backdrop where we'll continue on for the next part of the Newport Flower Show tour.


The terrace was staged with amazing cut flower and leaf displays from award-winning plants. There was a section for roses, hydrangeas, clematis, hostas, peonies, lilies, astilbes, delphiniums, foxgloves, conifers - my mind is spinning just trying to remember them all. Many of the cuttings were from plants that weren't even supposed to be in bloom this time of year, but somehow the master gardeners that nourished these plants expertly got them to put on a show at the perfect time.

I lingered in this area in awe. I thought the butterfly garden was amazing, but this knocked me off my feet. I took so many pictures I thought I'd run out of space on my digital camera. This was like a drug for me intoxicating this new gardener into a dream state in which I hoped to never awake. For those of you out there who have been gardening much longer than I you may not have been so impressed, but for me who has only been exposed to gardening for a short 4 years I was overwhelmed with all the beauty that surrounded me.

Here is but a small sampling of the pictures that I took. Click on the picture to enlarge it and get a closer view.

(I did not write down the species and varieties of the plants I took pictures of. I probably should have at least noted my favorites, but I was like a kid a in candy store and would have filled up an entire notebook!)



The peonies! If you've been reading my blog you know how much I LOVE these!



A peach one! Is anyone looking? Would they have noticed if I had slipped it into my purse?











































I saw many ladies at the flower show dressed in colorful clothes and huge hats. Since this was my first year at the show I'm not sure if this was tradition or represented those in the garden club. If someone reading this blog knows, please tell me.



Even her little Jack Russell Terrier was dressed up for the occassion. She was a friendly dog. Her name is Sarah - so cute!



Looking back at the veranda you can see the ocean facing side of the mansion in the pictures below. Although it was sunny when the day began a cold front rolled in and it turned foggy and misty by the time I went outside to finish the tour. The change in weather didn't dampen any of the hardy New Englanders who were at the mansion that day.




Stayed tuned for Part 4 when we'll tour the succulent and container garden areas. They were on display in the grassy area of the property near the back fountain overlooking the ocean. You can't see the ocean in these pictures because of the weather, but the day was still enchanting.