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Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): Topiaries at Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival began in 1993, and visitors to this Disney World theme park get to enjoy Disney-themed floral displays and topiaries. This year's festival was held from March 5 to May 18, and as always park guests experienced the unique displays, play areas, seasonal foods at the outdoor kitchens around the World Showcase, and could meet gardening experts to learn more about gardening.

Check out this promotional video from this year's event.

 

 

A few years ago I took a trip to Disney World at the time of the festival, and I got to view some of the elaborate topiaries and beautiful gardens on displays. Here are 12 of my favorite scenes of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival when I attended in 2012.

 

Fantasia Mickey Topiary Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

1. A Fantasia Mickey topiary greeted guests at the park's entrance.

 

Fantasia Ostrich Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

2. Along with Mickey Mouse were the ballerina ostriches from Walt Disney's 1940 Fantasia film.

 

Snow White Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

3. A graceful Snow White topiary in front of the World Showcase Lagoon.

 

Snow White Dwarfs Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

4. Snow White was accompanied by some of her dwarf buddies.

 

Lady & Tramp Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

5. My absolute favorite display at the 2011 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival was Lady and the Tramp (don't you just love her ears?) surrounded by flowers in terra cotta pots!

 

Cinderella Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

6. Cinderella and her Prince Charming are displayed dancing.

 

Winnie the Pooh Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

7. Winnie the Pooh also made an appearance at the 2011 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.

 

Stitch Topiary Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

8. The detail in these Disney topiaries is wonderful! Even the stomach area being composed of a different ivy is a wonderful subtle detail that makes all the difference.

 

Cogsworth Topiary Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

9. Cogsworth is one of my favorite Disney characters of all time, and I loved seeing him on display!

 

Tow Mater Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

10. Tow Mater and his friend Lightning McQueen from the Cars movies were life-sized!

 

Buzz Woody Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

11. Woody and Buzz from Toy Story had an incredible amount of detail on them. Notice the toy block on the left is actually a plant container!

 

Lots-O Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

12. Lotso (or Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear) from Toy Story 3 was made pink with real flowers!

 

The 2015 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival is from March 4 to May 17, so start planning your trip early!

If you don't make it to the festival, make sure to check out Epcot's experimental greenhouses and take a "Behind the Seeds" tour.

 

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.

Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): 23 Cats Who Might Love the Garden More Than You

My cat, Sprinkles, is an indoor cat who accompanies me outside while I'm working in the garden, and she likes to watch the neighbors walk by below, smell the container plants, stick her face into cobwebby places and try to sniff out the wild birds that she saw at the bird feeder that morning! Sometimes I think she's having a way better time than I am. I'm watering, pruning and picking garden pests off my plants, all while keeping an eye on my cat to make sure she stays safe.

Like Sprinkles, the 23 cats pictured below definitely love their outdoor time!

 

See more cute pictures of cats enjoying gardens>>

 

Kitten hiding in leaves

1. This kitten is pretending he's a tiger stalking prey in the jungle!

 

Big orange cat in a garden

2. This older cat has a lion's mane, but instead of hunting, he'd rather just kneel down in the flowers and watch what's going on.

 

Cat garden purple flowers

3. This model knows the camera's on her, so she poses by staring pensively into the distance.

 

Black and white cat in a container garden

4. For cats, a plant pot labyrinth is always fun to navigate.

 

Cat sniffing a plant in a container garden

5. This cat likes to take inventory of all the container plants his kitty parent grows.

 

White cat on a garden path

6. This spotless white cat uses the garden path so as to not get dirty!

 

Cat sniffing garlic leaves

7. This blue-eyed beauty sniffs some strong-smelling garlic leaves.

 

Cat senses something in the garden

8. Was that a bird I heard? A squirrel?

 

Black cat resting in the garden

9. This black cat decided to lay down amongst the leaves and peek out above them.

 

Gray cat in a container garden

10. Another model poses with a profile shot in front of some shade-loving container plants.

 

Orange and white cat garden gnome

11. This orange and white cat speaks to the importance of wearing an identification collar, especially for cats who venture outside.

 

Beautiful cat with bell collar in a backyard garden

12. This little guy's owners make him wear a collar with a bell so he won't sneak up on birds and kill them!

 

Indoor cat and plants

13. This urban-dweller asks his mom, "Is it time yet to go out into the balcony garden?"

 

Cat by sliding glass door

14. This girl's mom said she couldn't go outside in the garden, so she settles for sitting by the sunny sliding glass door.

 

Grey cat looking inside at plants

15. A windowsill is always a great place to be if you're a cat. The best view contains birds, of course, but flowers are nice, too.

 

Cat drinking from rain barrel

16. This cat performed an amazing acrobatic feat to get a drink of fresh rain water.

 

Cat garden birdhouse

17. Sitting by the birdbath probably scares the birds away, rather than attracting them, but I don't think this cat realizes that yet.

 

Cat with blue eyes and yellow flower

18. Laying amongst the flowers without having to do any of the gardening work. Our cats have it all, don't they?

 

Orange cat flower pots

19. At least this orange cat appreciate his mom's work in growing these pretty flowers.

 

Cat on rock in garden

20. Resting on a cool rock in a shady garden spot. The best place to be in summer.

 

Persian cat in container garden

21. His face suggests he's grumpy, but surely this cat must be happy to be outside!

 

Cat laying on sunny table

22. This cat doesn't hide it. He loves basking in the sun.

 

Cat close up outside backyard garden

23. The next time you're outside with you're cat, watch her. What does she like most about being outside? Snap a picture of her enjoying your garden and share it on the Balcony Container Gardening Facebook page!

 

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.

Apartment Garden Blues (Blog): 10 Terrariums You'll Wish You'd Made

I find setting up a terrarium a fascinating experience every single time I do it! They come out different every time, and they're fun to take apart and redo, often with tiny figurines of dinosaurs, safari animals or teeny tiny people. Sometimes the different container shapes and sizes make selecting and pruning terrarium plants a challenge, but that's all a part of the fun. Enjoy these 10 awesome terrariums that you'll wish you'd made! Maybe you can draw some inspiration from them for your next terrarium project.

 

Learn how to set up a terrarium>>

 

Terrarium on a table

1. There's nothing like admiring your newly set-up terrarium. If only I had a garden work bench like this one!

 

Tiny Xeriscape Terrarium

2. You can make a while tiny world with a terrarium. I love this dome with succulents that look like little palm trees and bushes in a desert scene!

 

Terrarium in a greenhouse at US Botanic Garden

3. This technically may be a small greenhouse, but this "terrarium" is located in the United States Botanic Garden in Washington DC and the wood and glass structure is a work of art in itself!

 

Globe terrarium with treasure chest

4. I wonder what treasure is inside this tiny sphere of a terrarium. Terrariums are often filled with mystery and surprise.

 

Terrarium with tiny woman figurine

5. This serene scene features a miniature woman.

 

Fairy Garden Terrarium Greenhouse

6. This striking fairy garden terrarium located in a garden store in an upscale outdoor mall in Southern California. A fairy peeks out of her world and into shoppers that pass by.

 

Jar terrarium with hills and figurine

7. One of my favorite things about terrariums is that they make you think about glass containers differently. I have a jar exactly like this one in my kitchen pantry that I keep flour in ... but every time I open it I think about what kind of plants would fit well once I've finished up the flour!

 

Lightbulb terrarium

8. While you can't do too much with very tiny glass containers, moss like this can grow well even in an old light bulb!

 

Stylish hanging terrariums

9. These open terrariums can be dangled off of twisted metal stands or hung in a group from the ceiling. They're definitely a stylish way to decorate your apartment.

 

Terrarium on a windowsill with tiny man figurine

10. The absolute best thing about terrariums is that reflect who you are. They can be whimsical, serene, adventurous or whatever you want them to be!

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Alexandra is a professional writer from Southern California who grows vegetables, herbs, lots of aloe vera and one giant Boston fern in her balcony garden. She also grows dracaena, pothos and English ivy indoors. She loves traveling and birdwatching in addition to gardening.

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