THE CHICAGOLAND FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW

A Breath of Spring Inside the Chicagoland Flower and Garden Show

Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinths, oh my ! It looked like a scene from Holland at the Chicagoland Flower and Garden show.

The show featured many interesting seminars and "potting parties " for those that wanted to do their own containers. Gardening celebrites such as Mike Nowak of WGN radio and Chicagoland Gardening Magazine, Speakers from the Chicago Botanic Garden, The University of Illinois Extension Service , and the Morton Arboretum lent their expertise to the program, and that was just on the day I was there. The list of seminar speakers read's like the Who's Who of Gardening. Very impressive.

There were 14 gardens featured this year and my favorite was Pondering Dreams ", the garden of Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery located in Woodstock, about 50 miles outside Chicago. The garden was a four-season backyard sanctuary of conifers and unique decidous trees. If you've never visited Rich's Foxwillow Pines which is on six acres of land, then you should reserve a nice sunny day in May and plan to spend the day there. It is just beyond belief. And, Rich's donates profits from plant sales to Heifer International, the organization that helps impoverished people throughout the world feed themselves. Last year's Hosta's sale resulted in $33,000 donations.

Visit Rich's website at www.richsfoxwillowpines.com and see the remarkable collection they have and the important events they sponsor this year.

This show was put together in a very short time and we must applaud the efforts. We look forward to it getting even bigger and better with each passing year. Kudos to all the sponsors and show participants.

MORE REDNECK HUMOR

Rednecks have a lot of time on their hands and so they tend to get very creative with language. Here's a sampling of actual country song titles :

What Part of No Don't You Understand ?
Here's A Quarter, call Someone Who Cares
How Can A Whiskey That's 6 Years Old Whup A Man That's 33 ?
I Don't Want Your Body If Your Heart's Not In It
If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against
me ?
I still miss you, Baby, But My Aim's Getting Better
I've Got Tears in My Eyes From Lying On My Back In Bed While Crying Over you
If Love Were Oil I'd Be A Quart Low
If The Phone Don't Ring, Baby, You'll Know It's Me
All My Ex's Live in Texas That's Why I Hang My Hat in Tennessee
My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend And I Sure Do Miss Him
She Got the Ring and I Got the Finger
If You Don't Leave Me Alone I'll Find Someone Who Will
The Last Word in Lonesome is Me
Velcro Arms, Teflon Heart
What Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made a Loser Out of Me
Jose Cuervo He is A Friend of Mine
You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too
You're Ruining My Bad Reputation
I Got in At 2 With A 10 and Woke Up at 10 With A 2
Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye

And my personal favorite : You're The Reason Our Kids are so Ugly !

HOW MANY CHICAGOANS PLAYED 'HOOKY " YESTERDAY? ?

BEAUTIFUL LAKE MICHIGAN

Those of you who " called in sick " were smart. It was a toasty 73 degrees ( one for the record books ) according to the thermometer in my back yard. We Chicagoans are winter weary and any good weather , like today, is a gift. I got on my walking shoes and visited the shoreline of beautiful Lake Michigan where I encountered many of my fellow citizens soaking up the sun. There were so many people out it made me wonder if anyone was working.

I also cleaned up all the winter debris from my garden, including dog poop ( yuk ! ) and uncovered some bulbs that were just peeping through all the mulch.


The weather forecaster made me laugh when he said there was a danger of getting sunburned in the afternoon. Bring it on.

I sat under my pergola with my constant companion, Mini-Schnauzer , JoJo and we just soaked up the Vitamin D. My fish pond has been frozen over since the end of February but I noticed that it too had started to melt and I could actually see that my darling fishes were alive ! My de-icer failed to work when it got really cold and I thought that my fish were history. I'm so happy that I dug my pond three feet deep ! I would have been heart-broken if I'd lost my lovely pets after six years.

One more month and this horrible winter will be just a bad memory.

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Don't throw away those seeds even if the package has a use by date . Researchers in Jerusalem have succeeded in growing a date palm from a 2,000-year-old seed ! They wisely named it Methuselah even though it's almost twice his age. They believe it to be the oldest seed ever to germinate.

The date palm is from a variety that became extinct in the Middle Ages and was thought to have powerful medicinal effects on infection and tumors.

British researchers at Kew Gardens were able last year to successful germinate seeds that were from a sunken ship wreck in 1803 and had been kept in a Merchant's box in a museum for 200 years.

The world's greatest concentration of plant life is cared for in the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place. The vaults now hold 950 million seeds representing 15,000 species from 126 countries. The seeds, kept under ideal conditions, are expected to last more than 200 years.

I DREAMED I WON THE LOTTERY LAST NIGHT

Yours Truly in Tipperary

It was Spring and the smell of Verbena enveloped me as I strolled in the lush garden of my huge estate in Mobile, surrounded by Magnolia Grandiflora, Azaleas, Crepe Myrtle, Gardenia and orchards full of blooming Cherry trees. A beautiful lake filled with swans , surrounded by Weeping Willows caught my eye. Spectacular peacocks with their colorful plumes strutted about. This Garden of Eden was filled with every delight imaginable and although I had designed it myself, I had a full time crew that maintained it while I sat in the shade sipping Mint Juleps.

As I approached my Tara-like Mansion the huge front door opened and the group Alabama descended the stairs, strumming guitars and fiddles and singing my favorite songs. I felt like I was going to swoon when I saw Randy Owen himself on my front porch. It couldn't get much better, unless Gregory Peck were to come back to life. He was one of the best examples of God's handiwork that I've ever seen. As far as I'm concerned he could've just read the phone book .

Next thing I knew I was on a private jet to Ireland to visit my estate in the Emerald Isle . I love the Irish countryside - it's charming and quaint little villages, it's warm-hearted and humorous people. I've invited all the neighbors and we are having a wonderful outdoor get together. I've flown in George Strait, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and George Jones to provide the entertainment. The Irish and I have a lot in common - we both like country music. Hee Haw !

Next stop was on the other side of the world - Korea, to see my many friends and relatives there and to stay awhile at my estate on Cheju Island, referred to as " the Hawaii " of Korea. We're having a huge Korean-style BBQ in the Asian landscaped garden that rivals the ones of the royal palace. I have a lot in common with Koreans as well : they love to sing, drink and dance and by golly, so do I. A couple of Koreans and a bottle of wine are good for an all night party. They've been dubbed " The Irish of the Orient. " Guess what ? They like country music too and if you've never heard "Tennessee Waltz " in Korean you're in for a treat. And besides, they are doing the South a favor by eating and drinking Kudzu concoctions.

Back on the jet heading to Chicago and my estate far away from the maddening crowds of the city. I've duplicated Tara again and the hundreds of acres of land are lushly planted and meticulously maintained by a full-time crew. I've invited all the stars from Chicago's country music festival to join me for an old fashioned BBQ and square dance. Seems a lot of Chicagoans like country, too.

The doorbell rang and I opened the door . BIG mistake. There stood a huge crowd of people all claiming to be my cousins. That's when I woke up. Rats!! You mean I didn't win the biggest jackpot in history, again ?

MY FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME

" I'm Ready for my Close-Up, Mr. DeMille. "
Me with my signature piece ( left ) for the Chicago Art Open

The Home and Garden Section of the Trib is the one I always grab first each Sunday morning. Much to my surprise I got to read about myself in today's edition. in an article titled "From Winner to Designer to Blogger ( link on left ) . My fifteen minutes of fame is very exhilirating and I'm getting carpal tunnel from sending so many links out on my story.

The Chicago Tribune Home and Garden Section announced it's own garden blog , The Chicago Gardener and I want to give them a hearty Midwestern welcome to the blogosphere.

Garden writer and blogger Beth Botts was very gracious in covering my blog and made mention of my mentor Mr. Brown Thumb whom I would like to personally thank here for all his support and encouragement. I hope that Beth will do a separate post or article on Mr. Brown Thumb who is a Pioneer Chicago blogger and the soul of generosity to newbies like me. Much to my amazement he and I and perhaps one or two others comprise all of the garden bloggers in the entire Chicagoland area.

I'd also like to thank Stuart Robinson of Gardeningtips'n'ideas who gave me wonderful advice on blogging and listed me on his gardenblogdirectory. Another directory, Digindirt, has me listed as number 3 out of 117 blogs.

This blogging is much like gardening - a lot of effort, but the rewards will come if you pursue it.