Recently I got a chance to go to the Rhode Island Flower Show, which ran from Thursday February 18th, through Sunday February 21st at the RI Convention Center in Providence, about a 40 minute drive from here. We are actually within driving distance of three flower shows in the area, as Connecticut and Boston also have their own. Connecticut ran their show the same weekend as Rhode Island, but I decided I wanted to see the RI one again after visiting the CT show for several years. Boston is doing their's in March this year, so one can hope... Frank is the one that volunteered to take me this time, but I seriously doubt I can get him to go to yet another one. He gets bored at these things. If the slideshow works, you will see him staring at some very lofty bamboo poles and wondering why our bamboo is so scruffy and puny. He's the short, gray haired guy in the light gray flannel shirt.
The theme of this year's RI show was TIMELESS GARDENS and there were some creative, interesting and nostalgic interpretations of that. I brought my camera of course and took 255 pictures that day. You will love the VW peace dove van, and the sand sculpture was amazing. There was a quirky setup with lots of junky music things and birds too. Unfortunately the lighting was not the greatest and so some of the pictures are a bit off as far as the color. I tried editing a few of them with mixed results, and sometimes I cropped out all but the subject I wanted. Still it is quite a selection of pics, and I am SO glad I brought that camera. Most years I forgot it.
If I have done everything right, I made a slideshow of all my best pics and crops. It was hard to choose between them. I am going to try and upload it here:
Now I am not the world's greatest photographer, nor have I ever put together a slideshow before. So this is a bit rough and out of order with no subtitles and some repeats, and so you might wonder what the heck you are looking at. It's my first attempt at something this complex, so hey, give me a break! So much better than trying to pick the best 10 shots to upload. And of course there are pictures of strangers all through this thing, so if you are or know one of these folks, and someone object to having a picture on my blog, I apologize. Tell me what you want me to do to make it right, and I'll do my best. Post a comment, or hit our blogmail at magicdragonverse@gmail.com and I will get back to you ASAP. If no one squawks, I'm going to assume everything is A-OK and just let her run. *w*
I did do some shopping at the flower show, and some thrifting later on, when we got a wee bit lost on the way back and while driving through Scituate (pronounced SIT-yoo-et) and passed a kewl-looking consignment shop. We turned around in a strip mall down the road, that just happened to have a pizza place that had hung out a banner saying they had fish & chips. That sounded awfully good, and it was, because we decided to stop in there first and have a late lunch. Lots of carbs, but I left 1/3 of the chips and the roll behind. That fish was sooooo goooood!
We backtracked over to the consignment shop, which also had antiques, and spent a happy hour or so browsing. Frank and I don't have a lot of common interests, but antiquing and thrifting are one of them. Had a blast, and we managed to get through the entire day without killing each other. LOL
Some pics of things I bought at the show:
Seeds! One can never have enough seeds. I picked through several racks, but got these all at one vendor. Blue Lake pole beans are a longtime favorite, they produce well in colder, wetter weather than any others. I like both Thumbelina and Cupid zinnias for their small but colorful flowers on sturdy, upright plants with plenty of bright green leaves to set them off. Like jewels studding the tops. I have a thing for sunflowers after all the pretty ones I grew last year, and have been buying them all over the place. Red really stands out against all the yellow ones. Frank and I went to Lancaster County PA a couple years ago for our anniversary in October, and those crookneck pumpkin/squashes were in all the produce sections. I will be starting them early and no doubt they'll be jumping the fence like my birdhouse gourds and pumpkins did. The Chenopodium (Strawberry Spinach) is something I've been wanting to try. I have read up on it since and it is supposedly invasive... Oh-oh! Can't be any worse than the horseradish I planted in the garden once and it took me 10 years to eradicate it from there. Or the comfrey I am still battling in the flower bed, or the mint in my so-called lawn... Yeah, I like to experiment. I'm trying broom corn this year too, but got that mailorder. Gonna custom design my own besom for Hallowe'en. LOL
Some lovely seed potatoes came from the same vendor. The D. Landreth seed company is the oldest seed house in America, been in business since 1784. They have a website http://www.landrethseeds.com/ and specialize in heirloom and classic seeds. The seed potatoes were not cheap, but even at $7.50 a lb, I can get a small crop and save some seed stock for next year. Oh yeah, I have grown potatoes before, but not these pretty babies. These are Austrian Crescent, a lovely big fingerling potato and not something you can get down at the corner big box store or most local nurseries. I can't wait to see them growing.
Can't wait to cook and eat these puppies either. I don't eat many potatoes anymore, trying to stick to mostly lowcarb after losing over 60 lbs in the last year. But I'll make an exception for these. *w* Fingerlings make great potato salad or pot roast potatoes because they hold their shape. Great fried too. There's no wrong way to eat them.
The book seller was upstairs, and I didn't bother taking any pictures of that. I was exhausted after almost 4 hours of walking on a cement floor, and I was dragging a leg. I don't buy many gardening-type books anymore as I have so many on various subjects, but this one spoke to me. The fellow at the counter said it debuted at the show last year. All color pictures, and enough info to identify the plant, as well as traditional uses for them, or info about growth, distribution, invasiveness, and whether they are considered native or were introduced.
Being a gardener makes me one of those curious people who likes to know what is growing all around me. I am proud of the fact that I can look at my pathetically weedy lawn and not just see green stuff, but plants I can name.
Let's see, that one is Sally, this one's Bob, the one over there is Jake, and there's Melvin...
No seriously, I do like knowing what is growing out there, what to expect in each season, what might be edible or medicinal in dire circumstances. This book will likely make it out to the garden with me. You can already see one of my bookmarks happily inside. BTW, that is Jewelweed on the cover, and if you make a tincture of the leaves, it relieves some of the itch of poison ivy. Hummingbirds love the flowers, and the ripe seedpods explode and toss their seeds around. See? You already learned something. *s*
If the slideshow above works for you, you will see a dealer of concrete items that was just a short way past the escalator we came up to get to the showroom. They had the best selection of garden statuary I've ever seen, lots of kewl fantasy things. They were doing a brisk business. I could have stayed there all day looking. I finally decided on two small plaques, about the size of bakery chocolate chip cookies. The first one is a green goddess, and she strikes me as a patroness of gardens and cultivated plants. I am an incurable romantic, so I had to find her a consort.
Below is my woodland god, who will join his lady somewhere out by the garden. I have an idea that we might still have an old cedar fence post around that is weathered and a bit rotted. I'd like to set that in some post set, mount a birdhouse on top, affix my lord and lady to the post, and perhaps grow a clematis or miniature climbing rose up it. My own little garden shrine. It's a thought... I don't mind the minor imperfections, I expect them in time to get all green and mossy.
I love all the little details though. He has Roger's nose, and maybe he won't give it back... Smiles just like Roger too.
The two CDs are the kind of music I listen to when I am writing. The New Age one is computer music, it's OK; but the one with the loons is quite lovely. Music overlaid with wild loon calls. The cookie molds (they can be used with paper molding too) were a find, looks like they were never used. The Warren Kimble greeting cards are not complete, but there are enough of both that I felt I had to have them. Might gift those to a friend, I haven't decided yet.
Yeah, more tins. Could you have resisted those? Both are very pretty. I wind up using them for storage that doesn't have to be hidden because it looks nice. I am getting quite a collection of them.
All in all, it was a pretty full day. I was exhausted when I got home. I just finished going through my pictures tonight, resizing and sharpening the ones I could, and making that video slide show that I HOPE actually works. All told it was a great day that I really enjoyed, a grand way to celebrate my one year weightloss anniversary. I got a lot of exercise and was able to get around fine the next day, not bad for a gimp with moderately severe arthritis and a bad back. A definite improvement on where I was at that time last year.
See? You can have hobbies that actually get you out and about and exercising. You just have to be creative and think in terms of what kind of experience you want to have so that the focus isn't just exercise but is about seeing things and learning stuff. Of course, getting off the 'puter now and then helps too. *w* Flower shows are fun even if you really don't have a green thumb. Nothing says spring like looking at flowers and all sorts of green things growing.
Next blog entry I do will be about seed starting, because I already have plants coming up in the cellar. No, it's not too early, those babies have a long way to go, and I started some of them before I went to the show. It's magic because you put a dry little seed in the soil, give it some water and some heat and light, and it grows up to be food. So see, I am a witch, a greenwitch to be precise. Now if I could just get the local fairies to help out...
If you've read some of our story blog:
you'll have some idea of what I am talking about, as my namesake in the stories has all kinds of magic in her life, including fairies that tend her garden for her. I could use a few of those.
Now go make some magic of your own. *s*
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