It has been few years ago when Longwood Gardens celebrated Christmas with a French-inspired holiday display...every time we see the photos we took, we feel so nostalgic. (This was our visit in 2017).
The gardens were decorated with a French royalty-inspired floral symbols such as fanciful topiaries, ornate mirrors, imaginative wreaths and sparkling crystal ornaments on more than 50 trimmed trees.
My favorite was the intricate mosaic in the grand tradition of a French parterre garden at the Fern Floor Exhibition Hall inside the Conservatory!
The green apples and gold walnuts go perfectly together and arranged in a pathway design that lead towards the fountain at the center, while apples and cranberries arranged in symmetrical flanking spaces create an abstracted fleur-de-lis patterns on the floor. The sunken floor where the fruits was arranged helps people to appreciate the design best seeing it from above angle.
A Christmas tree near the green wall shimmers in reds and golds. Hanging close to the tree on a wall is a Eucalyptus wreath with yellow sugared fruit.
The Music Room is decoratively inspired with "The Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, France.
At the outdoor patio extends the grand and festive view of the Music Room, with arc-dried branches.
Eucalyptus garlands which also hang on the wall leading to the Potting Shed is a living fleur-de-lis wreathe decorated with yellow kalanchoe, bird's nest fern and red ribbon.
Longwood Organ and Me:
This is the Longwood Organ at the Music Room in the Conservatory composed of 10,010 pipes divided into 146 ranks. It is considered to be the largest Aeolian organ ever constructed in a residential setting. In 1930, this became as a replacement from the original organ with a much larger, custom-designed Aeolian model that remains in the Conservatory up to this day. It took 7 years to restore this organ back t its 1930 original state beginning in 2004; - completely rewired, repainted, releathered and refurbished!
