Tag: Edgar Allan Poe

5 Festive Winter Plants

Contrary to popular belief, it’s very possible to have a beautiful and healthy garden in the winter time. There are a wide variety of plants that can be grown successfully during the cooler months and with a little bit of know-how and some TLC, they can thrive wonderfully into the spring and even the summer of the following year.

At Marvin Gardens, one of our favorite winter plants has always been the Poinsettia with the whimsical Christmas Cactus not too far behind. They both add such a festive touch of cheer to any yard and also liven up interiors just as nicely!

A few others include:

Skimmia x confusa Kew Green: Shiny green leaves with fragrant greenish-yellow flowers. great for under trees in partial shade, drought tolerant.

Choisya ternata Sundance: A rounded dense shrub, evergreen with bright yellow-green glossy leaves. Scented white star shaped flowers in clusters in late spring.

Helleborus niger ‘Christmas rose: Clustered light green flowers on strong stems, forms bold clumps of deeply divided evergreen foliage.

Contact Marvin Gardens today to learn more about how we can help with your holiday decorating!

The Many Faces of Halloween

Back in August, Marvin Gardens took you in a brief tour of the old dorm room of Edgar Allan Poe at the University of Virginia. Now, the macabre writer seems to be popping up in other places just in time for Halloween. Aside from the fact that he’s one of our favorite authors, we’re ecstatic that even today, Poe continues to inspire artists and designers alike. In a recent pumpkin carving contest for This Old House, his likeness was used as the muse for artist Melody M. Dallastown of Pennsylvania as she carved a portrait of him into a white pumpkin. How creative!

Marvin Gardens would like to know, what are your plans this Halloween? Leave a comment and tell us if you’re planning a haunted house for neighborhood kiddies, your own pumpkin-carving session at home or perhaps simply passing out candy to eager trick-or-treaters.

Photo Credit: This Old House

Designs of Yesterday: A Closer Look at the Dorm Room of Edgar Allan Poe

Back-to-school season often means grumblings about all things scholastic. If you know someone who’s heading off to college this fall for the first time and is unhappy about the shabby amenities offered in their university’s dorm, have them take a peek at this sparsely furnished domicile of one collegiate Edgar Allan Poe during his time at the University of Virginia. Their tight quarters probably don’t seem so bad now, do they! Marvin Gardens is always interested in taking a closer look at the variations in design from both yesterday and today and after seeing this room, we’d have to conclude that the dorm rooms of today aren’t half bad at all!

Over 100 years ago, the president of the university assigned the upkeep of the poet’s dorm to the Raven Society, which is named after Poe’s most famous work and recognizes academic excellence. The room has undergone renovation twice and requires periodic cleaning — the window looking into the dorm frequently has smudges from students trying to sneak a peak.

Photo Credit: The University of Virgina Magazine via Apartment Therapy