Garden Writers: Day 2

My adjustment to Portland weather has been a lot faster than my adjustment to the Pacific time zone. I was up at 5:00 AM this morning, par normal to my 7:00 AM wake-up in Iowa. I was less than enthused, though I did managed to roll over and take a nap for a few more hours.

The morning began with an engaging seminar by Jack Hart, writing coach and former god-at-the-thrown of The Oregonian. While not engaged by his prescriptive note-taking assignment, I did manage to scribble down a few notes that apply to thoughts I've had recently about my columns and book projects. I even got to hear a little affirmation. It's nice to be right once and a while (and be reminded of it)!

But let's cut to the chase. After all I'm a plant geek, right? I was willingly kidnapped after the keynote by a gang of fellow plant nerds who hastily assembled into what has become known as the "Dan Van" or the "Fairy Van" (an explanation would probably be pointless). Ably led by plantsman extraordinaire Dan Heims, we drove to the Expo Center to bear witness and partake in the semi-annual Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Plant Sale. Flippity wow! 76 vendors on a state fair-sized trade floor with more plants than I could humanly digest. I even ran into loyal iris co-horts Terry and Barbara Aitken, along with others, at the Greater Portland Iris Society booth. Who knew and what a surprise!?

I, along with Steph, Leann, Rita, Dan, Chris, Jimmy, Felder, Sharee, and too many others, ran around like kids in a candy store with pocket change from grandma. They gave us boxes to fill. They provided us with a holding area. They took plastic payment! Feel the crescendo? I promised mom I wouldn't bring home much from this trip. I managed to call her this evening to "amend" my promise with small clauses for "really cool stuff simply can't be avoided" and "under no circumstances shall must-haves be avoided simply because we're tired of planting". I of course am not as tired of planting as she is. As usual she didn't put up much of a fight. Why bother? After 17 years of gardening, she might as well give in. She gets to enjoy it too after all.

What did I bring home? I'll save that for a post-convention analysis post. I'm too tired to editorialize on the nature of feverish purchases. I'm not even sure what all I have.

The garden tours we're equally excellent though not enough time was given to see them all. All were smaller, urban gardens and most possessed incredible amounts of spirit, flair, and good taste. Our thanks to them for opening their outdoor homes to us! See photos below. More tomorrow!