Travel to te Southwest
I'm driving from Maryland to Scottsdale AR near the end of this month. I expect to sorta follow the I40 corridor. Are there gardens and gardeners to visit along the way?
BJ
Gardening, cooking and woodworking in South'n Murlyn'
Gardening, cooking and woodworking in South'n Murlyn'
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(post #11515, reply #1 of 31)
Well, there's moi, but nuthin to look at this time of the year. Hellebores, shmellebores is about all that will be doing anything.
(post #11515, reply #2 of 31)
I have been warned by folks who lived there not to drive I-40 through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona this time of year. Snow is deep , frequent and unpredictable. So I will head south toward Dallas when I get to Little Rock and follow I-20 and I-10. I wonder where Aberwhacky is in Arkansas. She left us and went to Cooks Talk. I never figured out what part of New Mexico the Astrid lives in. Bet that they would know where the gardening highlights are in their areas.
Jeana, I'm leaving on the 22nd and I hope to get your plants to you late that day or early the next morning.
BJ
(post #11515, reply #3 of 31)
Probably a good idea to skip I-40 through Arizona. It runs through Flagstaff where my sister is, and she says they've had a tremendous amount of snow this year, making driving pretty eventful (not in a good way). In Phoenix you should go see the Desert Botanical Garden. They've got a Chihuly exhibit going on now, too, which you should probably make a reservation for if you want to go. http://www.dbg.org/ And if I were anywhere near Houston I'd try to visit Peckerwood Gardens and/or Yucca Do Nursery. http://www.peckerwoodgarden.com/start.htm http://www.yuccado.com/
Isn't Astrid near Silver City?
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #4 of 31)
Well, if he's going to Houston, he ought to go to San Antonio and see their sunken garden. But I kinda doubt he's going near either. Dallas and Houston may not look all that far apart on a map, but TX is a big state and everything is far apart in TX.
(post #11515, reply #6 of 31)
Well, I figured he'd probably go I-20 to west Texas and then pick up I-10, but if it was me on a road trip and the timing were right for a gardens 'open day' I'd head on down to I-10 at New Orleans so I could go by Peckerwood. That would pick up San Antonio as well.
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #7 of 31)
It sure would. I just had to take a jab since I'm a Texan and that's what we do.
(post #11515, reply #8 of 31)
That's OK, I'm not bleeding too badly.
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #9 of 31)
A good friend (a really good friend) has offered to drive with me to Scottsdale. I'll hafta hang around Scottsdale a while so he is flying back and I will be a bit more leasurly driving home. My youngest has chosen the surgeons at Scotsdale to perform an extreem makeover. The surgury is 8 or 9 hours and I have been asked to be an advocate or representative in the event that one is needed. We have scheduled 5 days to get there and I'm not sure how much tourist time that allows for sight seeing. I'll be returning alone so I can wander whereever I choose. If you see a bright red MINI Cooper with a black and white checkerboard roof, honk at me.
Thank you for your suggestions and invitations. I'll look at the map and see how these suggested places fit in.
Beej
(post #11515, reply #10 of 31)
Here's a link to the garden in San Antonio if you go back that way. You have to google Japanese Tea Garden in SA because they now have an amphitheater called the Sunken Garden. Anyway, they just reopened last year after doing alot of work on it.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=san+antonio+japanese+tea+garden&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
(post #11515, reply #11 of 31)
I've had Beej in my clutches today and am so glad for his company. I wish I had more to show him than a few hellebores scared back to near dormancy after our really cold snap. He and his friend head out tomorrow morning.
I hope whomever is in his path gets the chance to enjoy his company. I might have to see if I can get him to give my mother a visit. Hehehe.
(post #11515, reply #12 of 31)
I'm jealous. Did he bring any of those pop/snapper things? My kids still remember and ask about those.
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #13 of 31)
No, he didn't. Now I feel snubbed. But he did bring me two Siamese cats that he carved. Actually, he brought two carved figures in the shape and visage of Siamese cats.
(post #11515, reply #14 of 31)
gee, i'm so glad you clarified that so succinctly! had a vision of horror flicks... <G>
(post #11515, reply #15 of 31)
I talked to Bee Jay last night. The surgery went well and Beej and his friend are sightseeing. On the way they saw the Petrified Forest and saw the sun set and rise at the Grand Canyon (with, I assume, a night's sleep in between). I have had visions of those two ripping down the highway with streamers on the mini, shouting "Road Trip!" And of the two of them prowling the corridors of the hospital, looking for things to fix.
I don't think I hear much about the trip until he's back with pictures to show. He doesn't go in for long chats on the cell phone.
(post #11515, reply #16 of 31)
Tish, thanks for the update. He certainly found the right time to leave Maryland. I'm near where he lives and this morning we have several inches of snow covered in ice. I can feel a bad case of cabin fever coming on!
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
(post #11515, reply #17 of 31)
Yes, Ironic that he was advised to avoid icy road conditions on his trip, wasn't it? But if he was at home he'd be happily finding some useful way to risk bodily harm.
We live in a cul-de-sac in the back of our neighborhood in Silver Spring, so the trucks don't always make it here. My husband is a government contractor, so that means the liberal leave policy doesn't apply to him. He spent several hours this morning clearing our street (with a little help from our sons).
Here's what he had to dig out to get to work. The clear area on the right is the 3'x4' area the county treated with salted sand yesterday afternoon.
(post #11515, reply #21 of 31)
Oh Tish, your poor husband and sons, what a job! If there is any bright note to this (other than the good aerobic exercise they got), it's that the salted sand probably didn't get anywhere near your gardens.
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.
(post #11515, reply #22 of 31)
The phone rang at 8 this morning, it was BeeJay on his way.
We met at the Post Office, and I suggested that we take the river walk which runs along what is called The Big Ditch. We meandered along for probably almost an hour, enjoyed the sunny warmth and the ducks which populate the stream.
Along about lunch time we walked back to the nearest Chinese restaurant buffet and had a very good lunch, BeeJay likes Chinese, and so do I. Then Sir Beej wanted to see my greenhouse, so he followed me to my home, and we talked of gardening and soils, and my peach tree, and cats.
All in all it was a lovely visit. BeeJay is now on his way to the Carlsbad Caverns, and then on to his own route home.
New Mexico home organic gardener
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson
(post #11515, reply #23 of 31)
Now I'm jealous all over again, that Beej got to visit you!
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #24 of 31)
Oh, dear. I hope you will feel better soon, it was a really nice, ordinary visit.
I found I had a temperature of 100 degrees when I got home, had been feeling lousy for a while, the fresh air and sunshine must have done it! I've got my temp down and am hungry, which is a good sign.
New Mexico home organic gardener
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson
(post #11515, reply #25 of 31)
Don't worry about me, I'll get over it. Hope you feel better tomorrow. (BTW, nice, ordinary visits are the best kind.)
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11515, reply #26 of 31)
I always have nice ordinary visits. I brought nice ordinary fireworks to Karens kids. I had a nice ordinary carved wood siamese for Astrid and several nice ordinary brugs for Jeana. I recently took a nice ordinary poncaris distorta (wickedly twisted) to Gretchen. I can't imagine how she can hold on to it to plant it. We miss her on the forum, don't we. I took a particurlarly well illustrated Journal of the American Iris Soc to Sarah C who gardens amidst 18,000 deer and she hasn't spoken to me since so I imagine that I was successful in creating an overwhelming lust for irises. I once gave Jeana a can of ordinary carbide. The kind that coal miners used for their lights and she hasn't blown up anything yet.
See, just an ordinary nice guy. Hehehe.
(post #11515, reply #28 of 31)
Did you manage to make it Carlsbad Caverns?
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11515, reply #30 of 31)
Yup. I made it to Carlsbad Caverns. Awesome.
Did you baptise those cats yet?
BJ
(post #11515, reply #31 of 31)
Nope. They're all goin' to Heck.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11515, reply #27 of 31)
Astrid, thank you so much for emailing you phone number so that I could call and visit. It is definately one of the highlights of my trip. I had been driving interstate highways for hundreds of miles and it was refreshing to leave them and drive on the good scenic state roads of New Mexico.
Some critter had dug under Astrids garden gate, entered her greenhouse and devastated her winter salads. I don't know NM's fauna so I have no idea what did it.
Any gardeners who drive the southern route west will find Silver City a conviently short trip from the interstate and that Astrid is the every bit the gentle, lovely lady that we have come to know on the Forum.
BJ
(post #11515, reply #29 of 31)
It was really fun to meet you in person!
New Mexico home organic gardener
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson
(post #11515, reply #18 of 31)
You shoulda seen all the beer cans they tossed out in my driveway!
(Joke -it was a joke!)
I'm glad they got there and that everything went well. I tried to poke into Beej's brain that he really ought to go to Carlsbad Caverns on the way back. It's not exactly a garden, but it's wonderous and, for most people, a once in a lifetime event. I hope he goes. If not, there's alot of other neat stuff to see.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11515, reply #19 of 31)
I think he is going to go to Carlsbad on his way home. He plans on meandering and sight-seeing.
It is not too late for gardeners to put in requests for visits. I'll be talking to him every couple of days and I'll let him know who wants to see him.
(post #11515, reply #20 of 31)
Carlsbad Caverns is really neat, a great place to visit! Been once, and it is unforgettable.
Silver City is a point of interest (according to the Chamber of Commerce) but out of the way, might not be worth all the driving to visit, IMNSHO.
New Mexico home organic gardener
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. Emerson