Inquirer Columnist Virginia Smith http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith RSS Feed for Inq Col Virginia Smith en-us Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:45:07 GMT Visions of a revived, visible, much-visited Glen Foerd http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120217_Visions_of_a_revived__visible__much-visited_Glen_Foerd.html Glen Foerd is the only riverfront estate in Philadelphia still open to the public, and it's a beauty. Fresh growth http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120210_Fresh_growth.html Curious about what some of the public gardens and arboretums in the Philadelphia region are planning for 2012? Here's a preview: Nature on the tabletop http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120127_Nature_on_the_tabletop.html An advance aloha to the Philadelphia Flower Show http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120127_An_advance_aloha_to_the_Philadelphia_Flower_Show.html Against a backdrop of colorful leis, table orchids, and hula dancers, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society launched the 2012 flower show Thursday morning: "Hawaii: Islands of Aloha" opens to the public March 4 and runs till March 11 at the Convention Center, 12th and Market Streets. The Morris Arboretum's wordless wonder http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120120_THE_MORRIS_.html Eavesdrop in a garden, and what do you hear? Not a lot of narrative. Mostly exclamations over the beauty of something and curiosity about what it is, in and around the absorbing silence. Strutting our stuff http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120113_STRUTTING_OUR_STUFF.html Things and possessions have come to define 21st-century American life. We're one nation, under stuff. All is not junk. Some is precious. And this is the idiosyncratic province of Patricia Keller. She's a historian and decorative arts curator who studies cherished objects, from high-end museum collections to hand-sewn Lancaster County quilts, which were the focus of her doctoral dissertation at the University of Delaware. Online gardening classes sprouting at Mount Cuba http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20120106_Online_gardening_classes_sprouting_at_Mount_Cuba.html Mount Cuba Center in Greenville, Del., the horticultural nonprofit dedicated to native plants in the Appalachian Piedmont, is the first among the public gardens in the Philadelphia region, and possibly beyond, to start a distance-learning program. In the offseason, gardeners' work moves inside: Planning for next year http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20111230_In_the_offseason__gardeners__work_moves_inside__Planning_for_next_year.html Like many kids, Mark Risso resented having to weed and clear his parents' garden of rocks. He even disliked picking beans. "Made my hands itch," he says. Landreth Seed is holding its own - if tenuously http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20111223_Landreth_Seed_is_holding_its_own_-_if_tenuously.html The nation's oldest seed house, founded in Philadelphia in 1784, isn't out of the woods yet, but Barbara Melera is doing all that she can -- including launching a Facebook campaign -- to help the company rebound. These pots come naturally http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/virginia_smith/20111223_These_pots_come_naturally.html Susan Whiteley makes her living designing ornamental gardens and containers, so you figure, over the years, she must have made mental lists by the score - principles to keep in mind, plants and materials to seek out or avoid, common pitfalls that bedevil newbies.