The Mysterious Garden Muse

My daughter lives in Orlando and works for Disney. I try to get down there every year for the Epcot Flower and Garden Show which runs from early April to the beginning of June. I love Epcot anyway, and the flower show is just icing on the cake. I have so many pictures from this event, it might take more than one post to show even a small sampling.

The Cincinnati Flower Show is the only flower show in the United States that has the endorsement of England's Royal Horticultural Society. Under the leadership of Mary Margaret Rochford and the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, this show draws thousands of people from all over the U.S. -- even some from around the world. I have had the privilege of working with the show for about a dozen years. I am going to attach some pictures from this year's show. Enjoy!

Another of my favorite haunts in Cincinnati is Rowe Arboretum on Muchmore Road in Indian Hill. If you go there, it's a very windy, hilly area with lots of deer. I got to know Rowe Arboretum, in a way, because of the deer problem. Chris Daeger is in charge of the grounds and pretty much everything else at Rowe Arboretum. I met Chris originally at a meeting of the American Conifer Society when it had a rare meeting in Cincinnati. Since then, I run into Chris pretty regularly when we both work on the Ask the Experts panels at the Cincinnati Flower Show. When I first met Chris, though, he was giving a talk to the Conifer Society on his problems dealing with deer at Rowe Arboretum. He made his point quickly and effectively by plonking a huge, dead shrub on the podium -- a shrub that had been killed by deer. Since then, Chris has become the person I always check with first when I'm writing about deer, because he always knows the latest deterrents -- what works, and what doesn't.

One of my favorite places to visit every spring is Krohn Conservatory, up by Eden Park, the art museum and Playhouse in the Park. Actually, there is something to see at the conservatory no matter what time of year you visit. Spring is my favorite because the magnolias and crabapples around the museum are in bloom then, and there are all kinds f blooming bulbs. If you go later in the year, be sure to catch the hot air balloon show at the mirror lake at Eden Park. I'll attach a photo taken by Devon Upton -- the balloons were shot by Devon, I took the plant pix. Back to the Krohn: in addition to their seasonal features, they always have a tropical rain forest in one part of the conservatory, while in other areas you can view bonsai trees, orchids, cacti and succulents. The conservatory is free to residents -- in fact, I'm not positive, but I think it's free to all visitors now.

Hi! I'm back after a long gap, as you can see. I've been traveling a lot in the last few months, and I've still got more trips coming up. So far this year I've been to Robinson, IL, Chicago downtown/suburbs - more times than I can count, Orlando, Las Vegas, McAllen/San Antonio/Dallas, TX and next the Bahamas, then Chicago yet again. We may also squeeze in a leaf-peeping visit to New York/Mass/Vermont in the fall, but that's not definite yet. The big traveler in the family right now is my son, who is getting ready to join his girlfriend in Beijing, China for a week in August, and then they are going to tour Tibet. He keeps telling me about the roads they'll be taking up into the Himalayas, and bridges over 17,000 ft. gorges. Not for me, thanks very much. Anyway, back to the blog. I'm still at Barnes and Noble, moderating the garden book club. Starting in July, I will also be moderating the mystery book club. We are kicking off by featuring a book called The P