Put a bunch of gardeners in the same room
…and you have no choice but to learn new things. Today a good friend and I drove to Ottumwa (my first visit; a very cute town!) to attend the Iowa Horticulture Expo. BH&G garden editor Denny Schrock spoke on alliums; Stephanie Cohen, co-author of the Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer, gave the very entertaining keynote speech on garden design (the woman is a hoot); and the Dr. Ann Marie VanDerZenden of ISU spoke to sustainable landscape.
I came away with a lot, including (but not limited to):
A bag of compost from Chamness Technology;
A packet of lemon balm seed and a packet of giant italian parsley seed thanks to Seed Savers Exchange;
New knowledge about an awesome technology called pervious pavement (and its sisters pervious ashphalt and pervious pavers);
A link to information about rain gardens from the University of Nebraska;
A resource for groundcovers called steppables.com;
Great plants for the great plains, a website dedicated to things that do well in the upper midwest;
and my first-ever speeding ticket! (not, however, my first time speeding, so I probably deserved it).
We were going to go back tomorrow, but the unexpected reminder that spring is still a few days away has changed plans. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Dan Heims of Terra Nova Nurseries before so I’m sad I’ll be missing him but I’ll be okay, I’ve got gardens to plan. A day like today is nothing if not imspirational.
One thing I didn’t come away with, because they were all gone by the time I went back – heuchera ‘Sweet Tea.’ It’s on my shopping list tho!
