Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Great Cleveland Home and Garden Show Part 2

So what is Pat smiling about? Is it that she didn't give me any cash so I can't buy anything or is it that we're at the best Cleveland Garden Show we've ever been to? Ha Ha! Both. As it turned out, the vendor with steel and iron yard ornamentation was at the other (said in a whisper) garden show (written in lower case), so I didn't get anything. Oh well, we still have two more shows in the next couple of weeks. There were some magnificent flowers, plants, shrubs and trees displayed. The people who put the displays together really knew what they were doing. As opposed to me, who just uses stream of consciousness. I made my annual pitch to get a green house while we were looking at all the blooms. The real problem is not Pat. Every year I can feel her inching towards a yes. It's the yard police from the homeowners association. Enjoy the pictures. Before you know it, our yards will all look like the pictures.
I know, I know. Don't we have enough hosta. Well, I guess that depends how you define enough. I can always find room for that special hosta that don't have. You never know what we'll find in our annual pilgrimage to the Wade and Gatton nursery.

Don't know what it is, but I gotta have at least a couple or three.

















14 comments:

Muhammad khabbab said...

wow what gorgeous blooms. The daffodils, tulips, crocus all are just superb!!!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a great garden show! Ugh, dealing with a homeowners assoc. would not be fun. Sorry you have to deal with them. Are you sure you couldn't get away with a really nice looking greenhouse there? Do the rules say you can't have one? I'm sure you could also add another hosta or two to your gardens.

FlowerLady

Kyna said...

I think one can never have too much of one plant that they love :) Well, unless you can't see the house through them anymore lol.

The Redneck Rosarian said...

Jim,
Can't wait until our gardens have greened up a bit and are full of spring color.

What LARGE hosta would you suggest for a very shady spot under a tree?

Jean Campbell said...

Thank you for posting these great pics from the garden show. There's not a garden show near me, so I vicariously visit through others' blogs.

Pat's pic on my sidebar is a serendipitous event. I went back to having thumbnails automatically post, just yesterday. If there's a pic on a linked blog, the first photo on the latest post shows. I think it makes my blog more interesting to have all these 'borrowed' thumbnails turning up.

You definitely need a greenhouse. it's a great place to hang out on sunny winter days out of the wind even if there was nothing growing. Do not plan to grow orchids and tropicals, unless you can maintain an adequate heat source.

Floridagirl said...

Thanks for sharing those lovely photos. I enjoy seeing hostas especially and other plants that are exotic to me, as I can grow none of them here. Well, nothing except that lovely purple azalea, which is blooming in my garden at this very moment.

Meredith said...

LOL, Jim, I wish I had somebody to police my seed catalog expenditures -- or maybe I don't, actually. He can just shake his head in bewilderment afterwards. ;)

You remind me of my sister with the hosta fascination. She never yet met a hosta she didn't love at least a little.

And I actually think I prefer the pictures of your real yard to the fancy garden show ones. Maybe it's the light, the movement, the harmonic feeling when plants have grown up together and gotten to know one another and their gardener well. Can't wait to see it come to life again once y'all come out from under all that snow!

Noelle Johnson said...

Hi Jim,

Well, I expect to see large masses of Tulips in your garden along with a greenhouse. Our HOA will not let us have anything in our garden that reaches a height over 6 ft, so a greenhouse is out of the question for us.

Christine B. said...

Love all the spring color. Garden shows are so fun for getting a dose of green! I too would love a greenhouse (the hubby is not convinced). I love Fothergilla (I think it's the mystery bush you were writing about) for its bushy bottle white blooms. It's hardy for me in Alaska, so you should be fine, right?

Christine B.

debsgarden said...

Thanks for a great post on a lovely garden show. I'm itching to see something good and green happen in my garden. Blotanical has been down all week, and I don't have my own blog roll. That is going to change now, for sure. So I am glad I found you. The plant you said you didn't know what it is but wanted to get some - I think is a fothergilla gardenii. It's one of my favorite shrubs. It has those great bottlebrush flowers in the spring, blue green foliage through summer, and then great orange to purple colors in the fall.

Lona said...

Just look at all of that color! Wow I needed these pictures. That is one pretty Hosta Jim. I love the shape of the leaves and the white running through it. Can a person have one two or three too many of a good thing. LOL! Do you know the name of that hosta? I see they used a lot of one of my favorite shade plants, astilbe. Pat is such a good wife to keep you from all of that hosta temptation ;-) Thanks so much for sharing your pictures of the show.

PhotoGirl said...

are these pics from your new camera?? They seem brighter and crisper!!

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Jim, What an inspiring post! Do you have Brunnera? If not, You'd Better Get Some! It's a great shade plant, blooms very early and is COVERED in those little forget-me-not (most varieties are blue) flowers! I'm going to an area Garden show at the end of March (2nd annual). Pretty exciting! :-)

Jim Groble said...

Shady, We have brunnera just like in the pics in with some of our hosta, love the stuff.

Lona, I can't remember the name of the hosta with the white stripe. I looked through the online hosta library but my head began to spin. I remember where I got it. I'll stop by in the spring and get the name. I guess I can't hide behind the "I don't know what I'm doing" anymore.

Christine B and Debsgarden, thanks for naming the bush.