Monday, April 7, 2008

post-Fling!

I just finished downloading and Photoshopping my pictures from the garden last week and Spring Fling, and it's after midnight and I am exhausted. So, first off, I'd like to say thank you to Pam, MSS, Bonnie and Diana for planning this fabulous weekend. I had so much fun and met so many interesting people and felt so comfortable with such a large group that, introvert that I am, I was, quite frankly, shocked. I couldn't believe how many of us self-professed introverts simply couldn't stop talking. Garden geeks, unite!

(And here I pause to make a conquistador-like fist of horticultural solidarity.)

And thanks to all of the driving between houses, nurseries, hotels, and gardens, I've seen more of Austin in this weekend than I've managed in the last four years.

Anyway. Since I was too busy talking Annie's head off at The Natural Gardener to take pictures, and too busy getting my mind blown at the David/Peese garden (like a bullet through a peach, my friends) to take pictures, I must shrug a sheepish shrug on the topic of Spring Fling photo documentation and offer instead these few images of South Congress Avenue this afternoon, where the last of the lingering Fling-ers saw the sights.

Outside Guero's Taco Bar:





12 comments:

Anonymous said...

We were the last of the last today, weren't we? Or rather, you and the Kathys were, as you just kept on going after I had to call it a day. What fun it all was. So great to meet you, Lori.

Carol Michel said...

Lori, I enjoyed meeting you and talking about gardening. I got home and after looking at my pictures, realize that like you, I was too interested in looking at the gardens to remember to take pictures.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Gail said...

lori,

Same here and I am probably going to link to other blogs when I refer to plants I saw on the tours! It was wonderful meeting everyone and I am sorry we didn't have time to visit.

Gail
clay and limestone

Diana said...

So glad you were there, Lori. It was a blast. A true high for us extroverts -- ha ha. I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked so I am glad to see everyone else's as well. And, pictures or no, we have our memories. So glad to have shared them with you.

Annie in Austin said...

The power of chlorophyll knows no bounds, Lori, and I so appreciate the fortitude displayed by you and Cynthia in that horrendous Austin traffic at 5 PM. The talking-our-heads-off part was pretty mutual, wasn't it!

I'm having mixed feelings about my camera going bad right at Spring Fling... it was fun to just be there without worrying about the photos but I miss having images of what I saw.
Luckily I hung out with many talented photographers - like you! Thanks for sharing the SoCo views.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Unknown said...

That beats the heck out of restaurant landscaping around here! (And I'm still laughing at "like a bullet through a peach, my friends." LOL.)

I didn't make the Fling, but it's been a great opportunity for those of us who missed it to learn about some new (to us) blogs. I'm looking forward to exploring yours.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Thanks for posting those photos from Sunday - I wish I could have stayed longer in Austin. I agree with Kim/Blackswamp Girl, commercial properties could learn a lot from that Taco place. Thanks for driving me around Austin. It was so great to meet you & talk & talk with you. There are no introverts in gardening!

Lori said...

Pam - I think I had extra stamina since I missed the Friday events. The rest of us stragglers all hit our exhaustion point at the same time Sunday night, though, which was kind of funny. It was fabulous to finally meet you and see your garden! And I think it adds an extra dimension of awesome to the blogging experience to have met the audience I'm blogging for!

Carol - Road buddy! Yes, I talked your head off, didn't I? Now that I'm home, I wish I'd taken more pictures, but honestly, I think I was in a bit of sensory overload at the time. I console myself with the thought that I know my poor little Nikon couldn't have handled the David garden anyway. And btw, thanks for teaching me the Twitter stuff!

Gail - If you compile a list of links, could you post them for everyone? I'm trying to do the same, but I'm so busy I can't keep up. I'm sure we'll hang out in the future-- some of us were talking about putting together an Austin blogger trip to the Antique Rose Emporium or Peckerwood in the next few months!

Diana - I'm poking through everyone's pictures with curiosity, because I was so busy talking to people at some gardens that I wasn't really paying so much attention to the gardens!

Annie - You betcha. Thank god I'm used to the traffic. I hear you about the camera. I know mine only takes good close-ups and would have been useless for the kind of large-scale shots I wanted, but I'm hoping other people will have noticed some of the same things I did. I was quite impressed by the number of people with very nice cameras and figured they could take my pictures for me. ;)

Blackswamp_Girl - I LOVE the landscaping in that area of South Congress. And if you go into the neighborhoods directly off S. Congress, they've been gentrified over the last few years, but the hipsters are also hip to hiring landscape architects, so it's a cool area to explore. I'm glad you found my blog! I've poked around yours in the past-- now I just need to remember to poke my head up and say 'Hi!' :)

Mr. McGregor's Daughter - Road buddy! It was fabulous hanging out with you on Saturday and I had so much fun. And I agree about the restaurant landscaping. I think in Austin they're getting a little more creative, but every time I go back to Wisconsin it's the same three foundation shrubs over and over again...


Thanks everyone for commenting!

Anonymous said...

Like you, I was too busy talking to take photos.

Have you ever read Henry Mitchell? He waxes poetically on the "defiance of gardeners" and every time you raise your conquistador-like fist, I think you two must be kindred spirits.

I enjoyed seeing you again. Please don't be a stranger. If you want any seeds from my wildflowers, let me know. They are rapidly going to seed in this ungodly heat and I'd love to share some with you.

Robin (Bumblebee) said...

Hi Lori,

Things were so busy on Saturday we didn't get the chance to talk. So I'm glad you were also around on Sunday to do another garden and a bit of shopping.

BTW, you look fabulous in the hat and pigtail braids!

Robin at Bumblebee

Lori said...

MSS - I haven't read Henry Mitchell, and it sounds like I should. I'll have to put him on the list, right after I read Robin's book. I'd love some seeds, but I have to warn you that I've had an awful success rate (a great failure rate, really) with seeds. You're going to have to walk me through how you start seeds so I can figure out what I'm doing wrong. Also, I'd love to smell Blush Noisette sometime-- I've been trying to figure out which roses I want for my front-yard re-do, and I definitely need something with a scent I love, but experience has taught me that buying a rose based on smell-by-reputation is nearly always disappointing.

Lori said...

Robin - Thanks! I just went and got a wide-brimmed straw hat for the Austin garden tour on the 19th. Maybe I'll try rocking the braids with that one, too.