Bulb and Plant Mart

Last month I traveled to Houston for the Garden Club of Houston  annual  Bulb and Plant Mart. Why travel all the way to Houston to buy my bulbs, you ask?  Quality, my friends, quality.   I started buying my bulbs at this event in 2000 and have found them to be the best quality bulbs that I have ever planted and have had the best results with them.  Also, these Master Gardeners really know their stuff.

For the past five years there was no reason to go since we were not in a house and I had no yard.  I was so excited to be able to go back this year.  They changed locations and have gotten even bigger than before.  This year it was held at a really nice assisted living community called Holly Hall; and for you who are familiar with Houston it sits just east of Reliant and the Astrodome.

I departed Dallas on a Thursday night directly from work and drove to my friend Karen’s house to spend the night with her and her husband.  Friday morning I drove to the bulb mart early to get a good parking place and to make sure I was able to snag a Radio Flyer to pull my wares around in.



When you get through the gate they hand you this super informative brochure with loads of garden help in it; and this cute little fan came in handy too.

I become a kid in a candy store when I come here.  But, who wouldn’t?  Look at all of these bulbs!!

I only wish I had the land and the staff that Martha Stewart has so I could plant drifts of 250,000 bulbs in my yard.  I was constantly reminding myself that I can only plant so much this year (heck, I don’t even have the beds for these built yet!).  I wanted to buy practically everything I saw!



There were tulips, daffodils, amaryllis, snowflakes, anemones, and hyacinths.  



I bought some of these for myself, my mom and my sister.  I bought the actual bulbs, not the picture.  I crack myself up.



These ladies are separating iris.


These young ladies are selling them.  Everyone is so knowledgeable and can answer any question you might have.

I had to high tail it out of the bulb house because I was finding excuses to add more and more bulbs to my wagon.  It becomes an obsession with me.  I want them all.



Wandering outside there were just as many temptations.

I bought this Orange Flame Justicia.  I'm all about the perennials.  I like them to come back every year without my having to re-plant everything.

This Pink Jacobinia caught my eye too.

Zebra Grass. 

These are not what I thought they were.  As a child, when I would visit my grandpa's farm, I was fascinated by the tumblebugs, or dung beetles.  Tumblebugs are black beetles that roll manure into balls as large or larger than themselves.  Female adults lay eggs in the balls and bury them to supply food for the larvae.

These are balls of clay and compost that have wild flower seeds rolled up in them.  You simply toss them around in your yard, along the roadsides or anywhere you would like wildflowers to grow.  I'm going to toss them in our front pasture yard.

The Plant Mart makes for a very educational day.

One of my favorites is the butterfly tent.

You can learn everything you need to know about growing a butterfly garden and raising butterflies.

Time to check out!

The line was very long; well, the credit card line was long.  Look how short the cash /checks line is.  This was so much fun for me.  This was just the beginning of a fun weekend.  I headed back to Karen's and we loaded up the car for an excursion to their place in Corpus.