A conservatory At Biltmore Estate

  from 2015

Have you ever walked through a Conservatory in winter?

Biltmore Conservatory, Asheville, NC

I remember seeing a wonderful exhibit of blown glass sculptures interacting with wonderful vegetation in Atlanta at the Botanical Gardens, maybe not winter, but still it was a great relief to see such beauty.  Chihuly glass is pretty wonderful all by itself.  So are flowers.

Chihuly glass at Dallas Arboretum

But this trip was to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.  The Conservatory had lots of orchids, palms, and spring blooms in pots.  Ah.

My only criticism was there were repetitions of the same plants throughout the greenhouses, (except perhaps for the actual orchid room.)  But I guess that works when the main focus of flowers at this estate is to have table decorations in hallways and banquet rooms inside.  The actual blooms from the Conservatory were not what I saw inside while walking through the rooms...rather they looked like they came from hot houses or were imported from a place where it's summer right now.

Conservatory, Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC

And the gardens are still dormant, though the daffodils were beginning to peep up.  I'll show you them under the trellessed roses here.

Weather for last 24 hours...dry, windy up to 40s in afternoon, back to almost freezing tonight. Rain expected in the early hours...and there's a water main break at the junction of my road and the road that goes into Black Mountain. I have a committment for church this morning, so will carefully navigate areas not icy!

Today's quote: (about what I would expect)

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

— Hunter S. Thompson