A topiary cat greets guests perched on an antique chair next to a fireplace. Poinsettias bloom throughout. Gnomes sit atop the soil, topped in pointed red hats. A tall tree constructed of metal spheres illuminates.
The lush scenery encapsulates the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens “Holiday Magic! Winter Flower Show and Light Garden: Season’s Greenings,” a play on season’s greetings.
It’s open through Jan. 7 in Oakland.
“I love the elaborate beauty and nature in this show,” said Jordyn Melino, associate director of exhibits, as she gave a tour of the show on Thursday. “It’s about decking the halls with natural elements in a glitzy way. I love the theme, ‘Season’s Greenings’ because I love a good pun.”
The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for Phipps in terms of visitors. The winter show also takes more planning and installation time than the ones in fall, spring and summer because it has thousands of lights and decorations. Melino collaborates with colleagues from exhibits, horticulture and facilities departments to produce the festive look. She is already planning for the 2024 production.
As guests enter, they are greeted by the aforementioned topiary cat on a bed of live succulents on the chair’s seat. The design on the wall behind the animal in the cozy living room was created by Ashley Cecil of Highland Park. When she was artist in residence at Phipps, she created the 2019 exhibition “Deepening Roots: Our Growing Connections To the Botanical World.”
“The power of plants often goes unnoticed, although examples of their vast contributions to human welfare are everywhere — from the clothes on your back to the wood forming your home,” said Cecil, a painter and textile designer.
“I love that Phipps has such focus on bringing the relevance of their research to the public in a tangible and useful way,” Cecil said.
The show leads visitors into the Sunken Garden room with two formal dining tables set with china, red tablecloths and raised candle holders. The table runners are made of moss and charger plates underneath the dishes are fashioned from eucalyptus.
The Victoria Room houses the 18-foot high sphere tree of metal cages with thousands of colorful LED lights.
“They are beacons of light,” said Melino.
The East Room, inspired by the winter solstice, has red and orange poinsettias representing the sun, Melino said.
As guests make their way into the Broderie Room, a formal space at Phipps that hosts a lot of weddings, hundreds of red poinsettias complement the plush greenery. There are palm fronds — leaves of palm trees — and planters painted gold.
“It is so elegant in here,” Melino said.
The exhibit goes from an elegant setting to a gallery space that has six, 6-foot trees decorated with insect-inspired ornaments. Area students created the decorations made from recycled materials. Not far away from those trees are the 4-foot gnomes made from preserved oak leaves.
In the Serpentine room are decorations celebrating the new year with six, 8-foot tall bromeliad trees that have twisted or curled leaves, and LED firework-inspired lighting.
The winter flower show coincides with the “Garden Railroad: Pennsylvania Through the Four Seasons” display.
Phipps also has its “Winter Light Garden” outside with decorated trees, including two that are 14 feet high. There is a new singing tree that reacts to people caroling. It has a microphone that picks up the sounds of people’s voices and the lights on the tree move with the sounds.
