Stop The Bus, I Need A Wee Wee
Sunday, the last day of the Garden Bloggers Fling, began once again at 8 a.m., with everyone boarding buses for a long day of garden touring. We again had eight stops, but how do I count how many gardens we saw? Our lunchtime stop was at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and how many gardens are there? (Lots) None of the private gardens that day offered the use of their bathrooms. I don't know about Bus #2, but Bus #1 had a toilet at the back, although it was dark, cramped and hot and there was no hand sanitizer. Once you shut the door it was so dark it was hard to figure out how to lock it (I did, though). The Fling organizers provided a packet of handi-wipes to use when you emerged. I'm not complaining so much as offering an honest and hopefully complete view of what being at a Fling entails. Sorry if it's TMI.
Onward to the gardens.
The Hamlings offered breakfast in the form of mini-quiches and Mimosas. I had already eaten breakfast but I tried a quiche, and passed on the Mimosa since I don't drink alcohol except under extraordinary circumstances (i.e., I'll probably drink some wine to toast my son's wedding coming up this fall). This garden probably was not really big enough to handle all 85 of us at once, but the Fling organizers decided to let us all out here at the same time anyway.
It was really crowded.
The back garden had a patio with a seating area on the left. A fireplace separated the seating area from a dining area, which was next to a sort of par-terre-like garden and a more shady area to the far right under an umbrella.
All 85 people crammed into this space with their cameras, Mimosas and quiche, all talking at once.
Someone (I'm not saying who) broke a glass. It wasn't me. If I were her I'd blame it on the fact that there were 85 people crammed into this garden.
Our third garden was the Borland garden, a garden full of drought tolerant plants that he claims hasn't been watered in 25 years.
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| Jim Borland displayed these "Before" photos |
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| We saw plenty of robust clumps of blue flax in many gardens -- not sure if this is Linum lewisii or Linum perenne |
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| Cheerful yellow flowers -- possibly 'Mesa Yellow' Gaillardia against a stone wall |
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| An herb circle in the back garden |
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| Some kind of horned poppy, probably Glaucium corniculatum |
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| Curious about this flower, I asked -- he said it was a perennial four o'clock |
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| Fallugia paradoxa aka Apache Plume, a shrub with rose-like flowers that turn to seedheads that very much resemble Geum triflorum |
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| Honeysuckle climbing a trellis by the back door |
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| Another honeysuckle on the back fence, this one called 'Kinzley's Ghost' |
Our fourth stop of the day was the Denver Botanic Gardens, which I posted about here. Finally, at lunchtime, a chance to use a real toilet. I went twice for good measure.
We went straight from the DBG to the private garden of Panayoti Kelaidis, the DBG's curator and outreach director, our fifth stop of the day.
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| Waiting in line at Disneyland -- no wait, we're waiting to walk single-file down a narrow path in Panayoti's garden |
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| At the side of the path was a series of troughs each with a tall, snowy Verbascum next to it |
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| This tower of stacked rock with plants growing in it sits over a small pond (I wonder if there was once a waterfall through it?) |
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| Fluffy Pulsatilla seedheads |
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| Panayoti on the right talking to bloggers |
The sixth stop of the day was the Dan Johnson and Tony Miles garden, which I wrote about in Way Too Much Is Just About Right.
The seventh garden was the garden of Keith and Retha Funk.
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| Water feature with a split waterfall |
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| Long drought tolerant bed along the side of the house by the street |
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| Rock garden (because Denver) beside the water feature |
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| The red flower in the center is Monardella 'Marion Sampson' -- I'm pretty sure it's 'Marion Sampson' because that's the only cultivar I've ever seen for sale |
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| Coral pink Peony with lady's mantle |
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| Eremurus and Heather -- the person in the blue hat (I don't think I actually saw any heather the plant in the Denver area) |
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| Blue Flax and Eremurus and Flingsters relaxing on the patio at the top of the waterfall |
I am now going to admit to something that might make me sound like a terrible person. Hoover Boo commented in a previous Fling post that on Flings she liked gardens where we have enough time to sit down and "take it in." I've seldom felt tempted to sit down in any garden I've visited. I would have to be absolutely exhausted, practically to the point of fainting, to sit down in a garden, because it means someone might sit down beside me and want to talk. Talking means the opposite of being able to "take it in." It's a distraction from enjoying the garden. If I could sit down in the garden alone and "take it in" that would make me very happy. I'm socially awkward and not a people person (although sometimes I make a good semblance of it). There is already a lot of talking and interacting on the bus, I don't want to tempt people to think I'd like to talk more. It's also exhausting and overwhelming to be faced every hour with a brand new garden and to try to figure out "what do I think of this?" I worry that I will seem just as judgmental as I worry others are of me (and would be of my garden). It seems it's my nature to mistrust people in general.
Now That I've Gotten That Out of The Way
Our final stop of the day was at Chatfield Farms, where we had an hour before dinner to explore. The Fling often ends with a flourish -- a catered dinner and a presentation by the team who will be hosting next year's Fling. Next year it will be in Madison, Wisconsin.
I took very few pictures. I was tired. There were mosquitoes. Heather of Just a Girl With A Hammer and I made an executive decision that even though we had an hour till dinner we were going to walk to the barn where dinner was going to take place and just wait there till they fed us. Imagine our surprise when we got there and found others of the PNW contingent had already arrived before us and had chosen a table as far away from the band as possible. There was going to be music and dancing (!!!) after dinner. Unfortunately it was also furthest away from the food, but hey, it was a trade-off that was worth it. It was even worth having to eat messy chicken on the bone with my fingers because by the time we got to the food the caterers had run out of knives.
The PNW table was The. Most. Fun. Table. In. The. Room. We killed a lot of mosquitoes. Some of us were almost as good as Mr. Miyagi with his chopsticks. Or Pres. Obama and the fly.
If you've never been on a Fling, you should consider it. It IS a lot of fun. I've now been on four, and despite what sounds like complaining in some of my posts, this one in Denver was the most fun of any I've been to. If you're a people person who enjoys meeting other bloggers from around the country you will love it. If you're an introvert like me, think about how much peopling you can endure for the sake of seeing some great gardens, because you WILL see some great gardens and come home exhausted but with your head spinning full of wonderful ideas to implement in your own.
Thanks so much to the Denver Fling team for putting on a great show, and to the Fling advisory team who does great work helping to oversee the process.
If you missed my other posts about the Denver Fling, you'll find them here and here.