This year my goal has been to follow spring for as long as I can. So far, I’ve followed spring from my native Atlanta to Washington, D.C. to Chicago then to Tennessee and Arizona. In Atlanta, the season has been mild and we have been richly rewarded with many early and long lasting blooms. To begin my journey, I visited the Atlanta Botanical gardens this March to bask in spring tulips and take in the annual Orchid Daze exhibit.

Atlanta Blooms

In honor of the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s 40th anniversary, which I’ve learned is the “ruby anniversary,” the garden planted this year’s bulb display to be “fiery with thousands of blooms in red, orange and hot colors.” In addition to warm colored tulips, there were many cooler colored varieties of pansies, hyacinths, and cherry blossoms. Aside from an explosion of spring bulbs, there was also a bonsai exhibition where people not only kept the more traditional bonsai trees, but also bonsai succulents! This gallery shows the highlights of my trip.

In honor of the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s 40th “ruby” anniversary, this years spring bloom focused on fiery colored tulips.

Artist Dale Chihuly’s Parterr Fountain installation amidst the spring bloom. Atlanta’s newest exhibition will be Chihuly in the Garden starting April 30th to October 30th.

To balance the hot pinks, reds, and yellows of the tulip bloom, the garden also planted cooler colored panises and johnny jump ups like the ones shown here.

The cherry trees in the Atlanta Botanical Garden were also in bloom early this spring. Their cottony white flowers bring the clouds closer to ground level.

In addition to the spring blooms, there was a bonsai show where many exhibitors showcased bonsai succulents such as the sedum pictured here growing from an animal skull.

Orchid Daze

Orchid Daze 2016 was a fabulous display of orchids in a way that was not only natural, but also breath taking. This year the garden focused on displaying their orchid collection of over 1,000 flowers in a way that was reminiscent of how they would be found in the wild: dangling and climbing over tree trunks, branches, and stems. Paired with mosses, ferns, and other epiphytes such as tillandsia species, the Fuqua Orchid center was alive with rich colors and stunning displays. My absolute favorite were the woven scultures hanging from the ceiling. Check out these beauties:

Pictured here are phalaenopsis orchids at the entrance of the Dorothy Chapman Fuqua Conservatory

This year’s Orchid Daze displayed orchids in their natural settings among tree branches and hanging, epiphytic mosses.

The entrance to the Fuqua Orchid Center. Orchids hang from woven balls suspended from the ceiling.

A second view of the woven orchid balls at the entrance of the Fuqua Orchid Center.

Inside the Fuqua Orchid Center orchids were suspended from the greenhouse ceiling. They of course were also displayed among trees and other plants as they would occur in the wild.

Orchids in the Fuqua Orchid Center tucked within the foliage.

Do you have questions about my visit to the Atlanta Botanical Garden? Are you looking to plan a trip? Or do you simply have questions about your indoor and outdoor plant babies? Leave a comment below or feel free to contact The Garden Generalist. I would love to hear from you!

Can’t get enough of The Garden Generalist? Visit next week to read more about my pursuit to follow spring across the country. I’ll be featuring the US Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.

Keep a watch on The Garden Generalist  instagram for sneak peeks of my visits to Garfield Park in Chicago, Cheekwood Botanic Garden in Tennessee, and– my absolute favorite gardens thus far– the Desert Botanic Garden and Saguaro National Park in Arizona. And don’t forget about my weekly #plantbabyspotlight!