It's spring and flowers bloom! But not without a lot of effort
If you're holding your breath waiting for the redbud or magnolia in your yard to bloom, imagine what Todd Pope went through.
Pope, manager of the Oswego/Naperville branch of Green View Companies, designed and coordinated the displays for this year's flower show at Macy's on State Street in Chicago. The show opens today and runs through April 19.
The trees, shrubs and flowers that create the blocks of color you see in the store - pink/lavender, blue/purple, green/blue, yellow/orange - were forced to blossom by Green View staff.
If you think making paperwhites bloom early is complicated, consider these cherry trees reaching 15 feet over your head.
Pope is very proud of the Okame, which he says flower a brighter pink than the cherry trees you see if you travel to Washington, D.C.
As the first step, his cherries were dug in November, when they were dormant.
"Deciduous trees need to be cold if they are going to bloom," said Pope. "As we got into the spring they were warmed up a little bit, timing it exactly. They were in the hoop house, which is like a large cold frame where plants can be kept from freezing, then went outside again.
"The temperature dropped to zero, they were brought back in. Then it got warmer, and we put them in refrigerator trucks. Our head grower has not slept a lot."
While these contortions were going on with all kinds of trees, shrubs and plants, Green View's main nursery near Peoria lost power in a storm, and generators had to save the day.
Most of the plants in the show grow happily in our climate without such heroic efforts - albeit on their own calendar. And even with the marvels of science, Pope was limited to choices that bloom in or near spring.
That led to a surprising problem - a difficulty in finding orange flowers.
"There are not many spring oranges," said Pope. "We have Asiatic lilies, Gerber daises, we cheat a bit with burnt orange and reds."
He found enough yellows on the other hand to spot them as a unifying element through gardens featuring other colors.
And yes, Pope admits to failures.
There are no irises in the show because Pope's bloomed too early. "They were beautiful, but they're done," he said.
From astilbe through hydrangea and hyacinth to salvia, tulips and viburnum, the store will be blooming with almost everything that grows in a spring or early summer Midwest garden - and some things that don't.
Here are a few plants that Pope thinks might be new to many gardeners:
• Contorted hazelnut or Harry Lauder's Walking Stick were not forced because the shape of the twisted branches is so cool alone, said Pope. But when the leaves come out they are curled, too.
"It's interesting with or without leaves," said Pope,"and it's important in the Chicago area to find plants that are interesting in the winter."
• Golden chain tree's yellow flowers hang down, blooming before the leaves emerge. Be careful, all parts of this small tree are toxic.
• Japanese kerria brings a rare splash of yellow blooms to shade gardens and grows 3 to 6 feet tall. In the winter it has bright green stems, Pope said.
• Hellebore is also a shade plant and also toxic. It blooms here in pinks and purples.
• Campanula or bellflower mounds in the lavender, blue and pink areas.
• What could be more ordinary than a juniper? You won't say that after seeing the variegated Hollywood ones that Pope found.
Visitors to Macy's on State Street will also see an orchid display and a rose garden featuring red and pink Knockout roses as well as Macy's Pride, a white shrub rose.
You might categorize flamingos as exotic, although the plastic lawn variety could be considered native to the Midwest.
Larger pink birds such as the two topiaries made from 5,000 kalanchoe blooms will not show up in your typical suburban yard.
"Flamingos are all about color and go well with the pink cherry trees," Pope said.
While most of the flowers are on the store's main floor, there also will be displays in the windows and in other areas, such as the Walnut Room restaurant and the china department.
Pope left as few things as possible in this enterprise to chance, even testing some of the key plants by forcing them a few weeks earlier to see how they perform if temperatures drop or spike.
"We've forced plants before for flower shows and for other vendors," said Pope."Every time we do that is completely different. It's science and art. We're at the mercy of the weather in many cases."
<center><center><table width="290"><tr><td><p class="News"><b>Dream in Color, the 2009 Macy's Flower Show</b></p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Macy's on State Street, 111 N. State St., Chicago</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> Today through April April 19</p> <p class="News"><b>Hours:</b> Regular store hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. All Macy's stores are closed on Easter, April 12.</p> <p class="News"><b>Admission:</b> Free</p> <p class="News">Special activities: Many food and floral demonstrations, including tours by University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. They will depart from the middle fountain atrium. The gardeners also will staff an information booth from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Family Fun Days are 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11 and 18.</p> <p class="News">Information: Call (312) 781-4884 or <a href="http://visitmacyschicago.com" target="new">visitmacyschicago.com</a>. Brochures are available at the store's Express Desk near the Fountain Atrium.</p> </tr></td></table></center>