dutch connection

This past week, as a cure for my growing cabin fever (check out the pic of me digging out after 14 inches of snow fell here in western New York!) I once again visited the Dutch Connection — an annual indoor flower exhibit at the George Eastman House. The exhibit, which recreates the late Kodak founder’s brilliant winter floral displays, features colorful swaths of 2,000 tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, freesias, amaryllis, and alliums - plus tropical orchids courtesy of the Genesee Region Orchid Society and Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park.

Still revived from this mid-winter therapy (at $10, very economical), I encourage everyone to get out there and visit some of the upcoming, early-spring flower shows (here in the Northeast, the Philadelphia Flower Show runs Feb. 28 through March 7 — and this year, Tesselaar’s new introduction, Black Adder™ Phormium (New Zealand Flax) is headlining an Irish-inspired exhibit alongside Irish recording artist Moya Brennan of Clannad!)

Below are some of my pics from the Eastman House (click here for more at my Flickr account). Look for more indoor flower show shots (hey, it’s cheaper than therapy) March 11-24, when I visit GardenScape, Rochester’s annual flower and garden show:

The conservatory, filled with thousands of spring-blooming bulbs. At front is the table (a famous commissioned art piece? Morganstern table?) where Eastman ate breakfast every morning, listening to the organ (at back, partially hidden by flowers).

View of the conservatory from the other side of the room, on the second-floor balcony.

Orchids on display - beats me what kind they are…but they’re beautiful

An upward shot of the conservatory, showing the replica of an elephant shot by Eastman on safari in Africa (for the man who has everything, I suppose…)

Indoor tropicals, don’t know what the one on the left is…Christmas cactus on the right…potted laurels in the background 

Red tulips and purplish-pink hyacinth… 

Snow-covered courtyard, designed in the style of Italian gardens visited by Eastman…