The 2013 Garden Blogger's Fling is now complete. We flew from garden to garden.
The plant-talking and deer-cursing and micro-climate-bemoaning was squeezed in between picture-taking. Lots and lots of picture-taking. We were a hoard of plant paparazzi.
We descended on gardens like a swarm of hungry bees.
Little time for contemplation. On to the next garden! See today, think tomorrow. A whirlwind of green wanderlust.
Smile, Pittosporum undulatum!
We walked and talked and gawked.
At one garden in Berkeley, we had some extra time while waiting for the tour bus to return. I sat on a shaded bench and shut my camera off.
The bees buzzed; the Bay breeze riffled the lillies; weeping conifers swayed to the song of friendly voices.
I was transformed from a hurried visitor to a serene witness. Yes, I thought, this is why I came.
For the next few days, I'll be mulling over the gardens I visited. I want to figure out why the beautiful gardens we visited were as good as they were, in the hope of improving my own.
Back home, confronted with a garden that looked like an aging movie star with a bad hangover, I did what all other Flingers must do when they arrive home: laundry.
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Not sure where I heard it, but someone said that the problems with cameras is that we spend all our time trying to capture pictures to help us remember, not actual enjoying and building our own mental memories.
ReplyDeleteYes, though I think cameras also make us focus harder (pun unintended), and I also see things in the photo later that I missed in person. I was enjoying every garden, that is for sure.
DeleteLooking forward to reading all of the different takes on the gardens!
ReplyDeleteSorry for delay in reply, a very hectic week. Thanks, Alan!
DeleteOH MY! Plant paparazzi, yet your photos and effects made this even better than what I saw...amazing thanks. Seeing all those folks captured how I remember them seared it all into my mind. And so nice to meet you!
ReplyDeleteWe were a happy hoard, weren't we? :)
DeleteThat's exactly how garden tours are........running around and photographing! It is so nice to sit on a bench and let it all work out in your mind. We are going on tour with our garden club this week for two days, 5 gardens a day.
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly on the Zinnia is such a beautiful picture. is that in your own garden?
No the Zinnia is in San Francisco. I hope your tour went well--the gardens in your area must be really first-rate.
DeleteOh, the first thing I did when I got home was start watering. Laundry can wait, I didn't even unpack till hours later. Loved all your photos and the processing you did on some of them. I really enjoyed meeting you, and I'm looking forward to more of your Fling posts. And that is a stunning photo of the butterfly on Tithonia. Like hummingbirds, I never tire of seeing butterflies.
ReplyDeleteVery nice to have met you, Alison. The Fling was a blast! I had the auto-irrigation on, so no watering when I got home, but a lot of deadheading was needed. Still not done with it.
DeleteWhat a great take on our weekend! It was so good to finally meet you, Hoov. I blame my need to take so many photos on my abysmal memory, but I spent some enforced contemplative time myself due to a dead camera battery. Maybe the best time?
ReplyDeleteMost memorable and peaceful time--yes, maybe the best time. Are not garden and plant people the best? Everyone was so kind and intelligent. I had so much fun.
DeleteCan't wait to read what you thought of the gardens and to see your photos!
ReplyDeleteGetting there! Sorry I'm so behind on answering comments. It's been a busy return week.
DeletePlant paparazzi indeed! I noticed the people at Fioli straining to read our name badges trying to figure out who these crazy people were!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I finally got to meet the lady behind the beautiful photos I enjoy here on your blog. Oh, and I'm with Alison, I watered plants first (so many new things without established roots)...laundry will wait until tomorrow!
You are very kind, Loree! I was so happy to get to meet you as well.
DeleteIt was a bit of a frenzy, wasn't it? I was lucky in that Judy did all the photography and I had a little more time to reflect. I enjoyed this post, looking forward to more.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been good to divide the workload a bit, and now you both have someone to talk over what you saw. Thanks, and I do remember meeting you now--frenzy is right--so much going on in so short a time period.
DeleteI didn't go and I had to water plants every day that I had just transplanted. It was fun to see a stylized representation of the people on the tour. I did go visit a nursery today and I guess the spiky obsession is growing on me, I bought a Sempervivum, which I haven't tried to grow in a long time, I think they usually rot for me in my clay soil, but I'm going to try banking up some dirt and adding rocks and sand to see if I can keep it alive. Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteThank Hannah. Chicken grit or Turface is good as well, I am told--rot is not the issue here, it's dessication.
DeleteIf it's Saturday, this must be Filoli! I'd no idea what the fling would be like but I had a great time meeting so many folks whose blogs I read and seeing all those gorgeous gardens. Love the painting-like quality of your images of people.
ReplyDeleteThanks Outlaw, I tried some photoshop effects on the pictures, just for fun...
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