Vintage plant stands evoke Victorian elegance at Powell Gardens

The plant stands are old and rusty in spots, but they’re also strikingly beautiful, perched among lush greenery and filled with colorful cineraria, cyclamen, calceolaria and kalanchoe.

From now through Feb. 27, Powell Gardens is exhibiting “Winter Romance With Victorian Flair” in its conservatory at the rear of its visitors center. The exhibit was inspired by a collection of vintage metal plant stands donated by a local resident.

“(The collector) said they are probably worth about $1,000 each,” says Brent Tucker, horticulturist of seasonal designs and events at Powell Gardens. “They have their original patinas and haven’t been painted. It’s a lot of metal work you don’t see anymore. Everything is plastic now.”

Tucker has artfully arranged plants on the Victorian stands, as well as in a birdcage and on a birdbath, and tucked dried moss around them to add fullness and hide pots.

During the Victorian era, wealthy Europeans, particularly the British, filled their conservatories with parlor ferns and African violets, Tucker says. “People went out into the wild to find new plants. Orchids were a big thing. They also liked to put plants under cover, like in a cloche or a lantern.”

Exotic plants were already popular during the early 19th century, even though transporting them was difficult because of a lack of heat and rooting media during shipment. Then, in 1833, Nathaniel Ward created a glass case to transport the plants.

According to Kristina Slater, of the Herbarium of the L.H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, the Wardian cases were self-sufficient on long journeys and became a fad in Europe.

Tucker notes that certain plants, like ferns, orchids and begonias, do well in the high-humidity conditions created by glass cloches, lanterns and terrariums. Cacti, succulents and African violets, however, will turn to mush.

“Also during this Victorian age, transition was in the air, and technology changed the lives of the people,” Slater writes on the herbarium website, “Besides just taking care of the home, women chose horticulture as a hobby to become more active.”

Houseplants have made a resurgence in recent years, as have terrariums and cloches. Parlor palms add an exotic feel to the corner of a room. A potted vine gives off a bohemian vibe. And an African violet in a white plant stand with curly metal adds a touch of shabby chic formality, if there is such a thing.

Though compact in size, the “Winter Romance With Victorian Flair” is rife with ideas that can be implemented at home, using vintage or retro planters, birdcages, lanterns, birdbaths and footed plant pots.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Vintage plant stands evoke Victorian elegance at Powell Gardens."