This preceding weekend , I ended my whirlwind tour of speak interlocking in beautiful upstate New York where I was a guest speaker at theAdirondack chapterof the North American Rock Garden Society ( NARGS ) . Now , I finally can rest , and reflect on the past three weeks – as there are no more mouth engagements for me through the rest of the twelvemonth . Time to focus on employment , some blog tweaks and , well , Lydia , our Irish Terrier female who is due to give up a litter of puppies any Clarence Day now . Joe leave for the Montgomery national terrier show , where Weasley is show , and leave me with the rest of the ‘ kids , and take care of my father for a few day . I ’m OK with this still time , as I can focus on some work design project , and then this weekend , start the awesome job of moving plants back into the nursery .
Now for the details . This past week , I did take some personal prison term away from both my garden and my chore , to attend a garden blogging conference in Atlanta , which ended up being not what I expected at all ( in a large way ! ) . I was able to come across some amazing people in the plant life world ( Dan Hinkley , of course of instruction ) and in the blogging world some of the other most active and friendly garden bloggers you could ever opine – such as ( Amy StewartfromGarden Rant , , Rochelle Greayer fromStudio G , ( who is also my neighbor ! ) , the sensational Teresa O’Connor ofSeasonal Wisdom , gorgeous Robin Plaskoff Horton ofUrban Gardens , the lovely and gratifying Dee Nash fromRed Dirt Ramblingsand yes , the equally arresting , sweet and gorgeous Hank Jenkins ofPlant Provocateur . ( I desire I did n’t lack anyone ! Plus , I was so lucky to have a fabulous dinner with one of our hosts , who happen to also be a vino expert – Adam Japko ofWine Zag ( hey , grapes are a plant , right ? ) . I also assemble with some head staff of some leading horticulture magazines ( o.k. Gardening , the new owners ofGarden Design ) and the guys ( Todd and Tony ) fromSnug Harbor Farmin Maine ) . Atlanta was a bully locating for the event , even though we never left the hotel ( good deal of bar time , you bang – “ networking ” .
After a couple of days back at the billet , I then had to leave for Ithaca , NY to talk at the Adirondack Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society at Cornell , which provided a squeamish surprisal – a chance to fill another fellow blogger , Kathy Purdy ofCold mood Gardening . I have never met Kathy before , even though her top web log ( number 2 on Blogrank – I am a measly number 15 ) was the first gardening blog I ever read when I first start write this creature way back in 2006 . Here are some picture show of her amazing garden and her even more telling Colchicum collection , which I was fortunate to see in it ’s choice .
After my talk , I was in a hurry to labor home ( 5 hour ) from the core for of New York State , so I pass up the many offers to tour gardens in the area , and dinner , but as I discovered , there is no gentle nor direct way back to Boston from the Utica field . Kathy was kind enough to let me keep abreast her , as she live an time of day away , but in the same management that I take to travel , and she promised to get me faithful to the main road that I needed to reach . The vagabond hills , the early autumn forest just beginning to vary color , acres of clavus still golden - green , and the most iconic rural farm scenery one could ever imagine all became almost too much middle confect , and the fact that it was recent September with vivid , drab sky , did n’t hurt either . I almost force back off of the road .
Kathy then turn off , and rolled down her window , give thanks me for a nice talk , and then point me in the right-hand direction to get to Rt 88 . “ Unless you want to add up see my garden – and my colchicum assembling . I hold up about 2 miles down this road ” . I jumped at the chance , even though I knew that it would add up another hour to my driving force .
As I was drive around key New upstate New York , I kept thinking about what it would be like to live here ( I think about that often ! ) , and after seeing Kathy ’s home and garden , I remember I am convinced . The time to move will be soon !
Kathy has an impressive aggregation of Colchicum which she has been hoard for a few years now . Even to my somewhat trained heart , it was difficult to see the differences between many of the mintage and selections she had , but I knew most of the name ( from source like Odyssey Bulbs ) , but regulate such quantities as Kathy has , is still on my to - do list ( for like , when I move to Vermont or upstate ! ) .
You know those rare moments when you short agnise that you are about to experience something extraordinary ? Well , when I drove into Kathy ’s private road as saw her collections of plants , her garden still in full glory , and her mid - nineteenth century farm house – I roll in the hay that I may be staying longer than an hour ! So , big mass – I ’ll have to drive home in the dark .
Kathy is one of those bloggers who is not just a gifted writer ( Oh , how I wish I could compose half as well ) , but she is also a substantial plantsman . A plant geek to truly keeps a garden that is suitable of a garden tour , and a plant society duty tour . Full of beauty , charm and horticultural pursuit , I finally get to ask the question that others often ask about me . “ How do you find time to do it all , Kathy ? ”
Share this:
Related
