Plans growing for Phipps Conservatory's Holiday Magic! winter show

Visitors will take an arctic adventure when they visit the Holiday Magic! Winter Flower Show and Light Garden at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

The rooms of the historic glass house in Oakland will be populated with displays imagining the landscapes and denizens of the frozen north.

“Holiday Magic” opens Nov. 18 and runs through Jan. 8.

“This theme provides the opportunity to be both whimsical and elegant, something for everyone,” said Jordyn Melino, associate director of exhibits and the show designer. “I am very much looking forward to seeing the display in our Serpentine Room come together, which will include a series of narwhals — unicorns of the sea — and colorful plants and decorated trees.”

The room will be dressed in a floral color scheme of pink, orange, lime green, yellow and purple to complement the whimsical creatures at home in icy ponds.

Flowers adding to the color palette include the poinsettia variety Euphorbia ‘Luv U pink,’ snapdragon Antirrhinum ‘Cool Orange Bicolor’ and calla lily Zantedeschia ‘Grape Velvet,’ Melino said.

Elsewhere, guests will encounter topiary polar bears and reindeer in scenes illuminated by icicle lights, hanging snowflakes and trees glowing blue. An abominable snowman will be decorating a tree in twinkling white lights in a scene surrounded by snowflake lanterns.

A massive arctic whale will spray waters from beneath a glowing iceberg in the Victoria Pond, which will glow with blue underwater lights.

“Many of the animals are designed in Phipps’ signature topiary style, with dried and live plants covering a metal frame,” Melino said. “The whale is different — it is a sculptural installation created by our partners at Visionary Effects, which includes audio features.”

Phipps winter shows long have included a variety of poinsettias, numbering in the thousands, and this year is no different.

“Among the 19 varieties of poinsettias in this show are four new-to-market varieties: ‘Early Elegance Marble,’ ‘Early Elegance Red,’ ‘New Orange Glow,’ and ‘Christmas Mouse Pink,’ ” she said.

New railroad display

Many of the flowers included in the show are grown in-house, Melino noted.

“All bedding annuals such as pansies, petunias and plectranthus are grown in-house in our production space,” she said. “We have also recently started growing snapdragons for the winter show, which add a layer of taller flowers among the beds.”

The outdoor Winter Light Garden will feature a tunnel of neon orange and green rope lights alongside planters of mesh flowers gleaming in tones of yellow, pink, orange and red.

The winter show also includes the unveiling of the new “Garden Railroad: Our National Parks” display, with miniature recreations of national parks across the United States, with interactive features in each landscape.

Tiny trains will chug past depictions of Yellowstone’s Old Faithful geyser, the snow-capped mountains of Denali, Sequoia’s Tunnel Log, the watery landscape of the Everglades and others.

The landscape will include more than 3,500 plants, including ground covers, herbs, sedums, succulents and dwarf conifers.

“Garden Railroad” was designed by Melino and exhibit associate Mary Lou Linton-Morningstar. The display’s animatronics were created by senior building maintenance technician and carpenter Paul Widek.

Ticket sales for the winter show begin Wednesday.

All tickets are timed and must be reserved in advance.

Show hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and until 11 p.m. on select dates. Phipps is closed on Thanksgiving Day. For the Christmas holiday, the facility closes at 5 p.m. Dec. 24 and reopens at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 26.

For information and ticket reservations, call 412-622-6914 or visit phipps.conservatory.org.