Just got back from the Flower Show here at the Georgia World Congress Center (Atlanta), Had a GREAT time. I got a babysitter and went by myself and it was wonderful. And of course, I bought bulbs! (Believe me, I DON'T need them)
Also got a few plants from No Longer Bound. I discovered them at last year's show and then went to their nursery. GREAT prices and a huge variety. Best prices I have ever come across. And they are such nice folks.
I was so fortunate that all of the talks I was interested in were today instead of being spread out over 3 or 4 days.
I got a few books, a free air of garden gloves and a little of this and that.
Did I say it was fun?!? Pretty smart of them to catch gardeners when we are so desperate for gardening. Great way to get our money.
Y'all should go. It's a great pick-me up for winter gardeners!
Flower Show in Altanta 1/31 - 2/3
Got my tickets and will be going Sunday. Hoping for bargains and close-out prices.... Loved it last year. I got heuchera from No Longer Bound last year and it is beautiful.
This is my first year of entering some plants in the show but I have been going for years. I will go down Sunday to see how they have them displayed (and pick them up after the show concludes). It was a real pain to enter plants (very disorganized and not very helpful) but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Personally I lost interest in the show 4 years ago and vowed never to go again (high prices, same old things every year, rude vendors, parking, etc). The only reason I have entered is to show support for the begonia club I belong to - The Greater Atlanta Chapter of the American Begonia Society.
I've skipped years too. Pretty much the same reasons; $20 entrance, $8 parking, not too much different to see. But I wanted to hear these 4 talks and I also wanted to see what No Longer Bound had. I like to support them. Plus I needed to have a gardening pick-me-up.
What talks did you see? That is fortunate that they were all the same day.
I heard I won a couple blue ribbons today at our Greater Atlanta Begonia meeting (where we had some distinguished begonia gurus come and give us a presentation since some of them were judges at the SFS). Now I wonder which ones won. I guess I will see tomorrow when I go see the flower show for umpteenth year.
I will have to check out No Longer Bound as well. I love great deals and unusual plants.
3Gardeners, I'm sorry we missed you! Were there on the 31st too. I did not see the No Longer Bound booth. Did you? I saw a booth that looked like it might have been them, did they rename the Greenhouse dept. there?
Was an OK show. The theme was Imagine...That but it seemed all they could imagine was the water situation. Jane Bath gave a great talk, and echoed some of my own thoughts about the drought situation. That we can not be sure it will continue until time tells, and that it is absolutely crazy for the State to be banning watering outside without considering what is going on inside people's homes - or other industry which uses 10 times more water than the garden industry does. I wish more people were there to hear that.
Congrats hcmcdole on your victories!!!
Next year I am going to display!!
GGG
GGG, I think their banner just said "NLB" instead of "No Longer Bound." It confused me too. I didn't see anything I had to have though.
What are you going to display?
I came, I saw, I conquered (well maybe not conquered but did get two blue ribbons and three red ribbons). At least picking up the plants was a lot easier than entering them. I'm a bit surprised there is no one checking on the plants leaving the show though (anyone could walk away with anything it appears). I would really be ticked off if someone stole some of my plants.
I wish they had more light at these shows. I did find that pushing the ISO to 1600 was better than a flash.
Some of the pro designed gardens were nice but again a bit dark in the basement.
Here are some pictures from yesterday. Two of my entries.
Two more entries. I guess I won these because there was no competition in this category (but I'll accept it).
One of the pro gardens we really liked had this neat water feature.
and continued along a small stream bed
This was a nice little patio that had some privacy fence. The neat feature was the water between the extra large stepping stones.
I really liked this display. Lots of succulents and the glass bowl must have been 24 inches or larger. There were several of the glass bowls included in this garden theme.
Here are some beautiful agaves (medio picta 'alba' I believe).
Here was an interesting concept - the Water Pillow (looks like one of those water bed mattresses). You can store this under the house, a deck, indoors, etc. and it holds a lot, lot more than a rain barrel (1000 gallons and up). Of course it isn't cheap either but it is a sign of the times.
Atlanta Skyline (IBM tower in the background) makes me want to go back at sunrise or sunset and get some good pictures.
Edited to say: I wonder why they chopped the bamboo in those containers. My wife thought maybe it was to feed the pandas. I think it has something to with the drought.
This message was edited Feb 4, 2008 9:35 AM
Nice photos! Your begonia in the dome is gorgeous. That is a good idea, the humidity dome. I killed a nice begonia as it is too dry in here in the winter...
My faves at the show were the glass bowls and also the glass ball lighting they showed. The modern garden was beautiful, I really liked the fence (although it is too easy to climb without electrifying the top of it!!).
As for a display, we aren't quite sure yet what we will do for a display if we get to do one with our job. If it is not with my job...it is going to be a surprise!!
GGG
Thanks GGG. I use a lot of glass and plastic containers to get a lot of my begonias through winter. Humidity does seem to be very important.
I'd like to know where to get those glass bowls and more importantly how much they cost.
GGG, maybe you could explain your last paragraph a little more in detail. I'm not sure what display you are talking about (next year at the SFS?) and what kind of job you have (something in the landscaping business?)
This garden had a neat wall with water running down one side. Most of the pro gardens are too expensive for most folks but they do give some ideas for a DIY'er.
I will do another of the black cube displays. They are the 6x6 cubes that were clustered at the back of the show. This year their displays were not very eye catching and the plain cluster of them was boring. I helped display in one of them a few years back when they were introduced.
I work at a garden center, and if things go well this up coming season we will be doing a display. If not, the I will probably go ahead and do one myself. I have an idea of what I would display on my own, but am not sure what we would concentrate on if we did it for the garden center. We have all summer to think about that!!
GGG
This just popped up on my radar again.
GGG - You're right No Longer Bound had a new logo this year. They did have the big NLB sign and it was hard for me to see them at first. (You must go to their nursery! Not fancy, but lots to choose from and very inexpensive.)
I watched all the shows from 2:30 on, except the one you are talking about! :)
I had to pick time to actually shop and I was at NLB when her talk was going on. Weird that we missed each other like that. But I was kinda in my own zone and might have even bumped into you without knowing it!
I've gone to the show off and on. I do love to look at the entries and dream of a more cohesive garden, but I'm not that put together myself. Ha Ha... kinda. Still, it's not really a "must see" event. I really just needed a green "boost" while I wait for co-op orders to come flying in!
I guess I'm a true gardener now. At the end of the gardening season, I'm always thinking about how much better it will be NEXT year!