This season’s Winter Flower Show brings color and light into Minnesota’s most beautiful room
When Como Park Zoo & Conservatory posted a preview of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s new Winter Flower Show on social media, designer Isaac Zaman braced himself for a possible backlash: His first-ever flower show design coincided with the Conservatory’s plans to remove the Italian cypress that have long stood at the far end of the Sunken Garden.
“One of the issues we’ve always had with the Sunken Garden is that it’s not bright enough for many plants, and changing the room structurally actually lets in more light,” he says. “But we know people can get very attached to the way things have always been, so we were kind of nervous about what people would say. About half of the people who commented were like, ‘Why would you do that when they’ve been there forever?’, and the other half were like, ‘Oh, interesting…can’t wait to see what comes next.’”
The current Winter Flower Show, now on display through March 15, features a mix of old favorites and new featured plants, with a cool palette of South African veltheimia bulbs, lavender azaleas, pink and white camellias, tropical hibiscus, and more. “I wanted to pay homage to some of the history that’s happened in the room by bringing in some of our accent plants, jasmine topiaries and some lemon cypress. But I also wanted to move the room in a new direction where our interests can always be changing,” Zaman says.
One of the less familiar flowers visitors may notice are Love-in-a-Mist, Nigella damascena.
“They’re a wonderful aromatic crop that also has these really funky flowers that look quite alien, and if they manage to go off and bloom in the room it’s going to be something very new,” he says. Visitors may also notice the brighter feel of the room, and vignette arrangements that invite viewers to take in the room at different elevations.
“My goal is to bring it all closer to the people, and to add vertical elements to the lower parts of the room that makes you appreciate the size of the space, and the light,” he says.
The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s Winter Flower Show is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is always free to visitors, thanks to your contributions to Como Friends.
