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.

A Birthday Gift

My birthday was this past weekend.  Another year older another year to try and get life right.  My friend Karen and I love all things wine.  Karen is especially talented at finding great wine glasses.  She just gravitates toward them.

Here is what she found for my birthday present this year.

 Can you tell what it is?  No, it's not the new Waterford pattern or the latest by Baccarat.

 It's the original Rednek Wine Glass!

Now I ask you, does a Waterford Hock come packaged any fancier?  I simply love it.  The perfect thing to help me "wine-down redneck - style.

The End of October

I'm always reminded, this time each year, of this song by my favorite songwriter / singer / poet, the late Dan Fogelberg.  Enjoy.

Old Tennessee

End of October
The sleepy brown woods seem to
Nod down their heads to the Winter
Yellows and grays paint the sad skies today
And I wonder when you're coming home

Woke up one morning
The wind through the window
Reminded me winter was just 'round the bend
Somehow I just did not see it was coming
It took me by surprise again

(Chorus)
And I hear you're in San Francisco
Living with your sister who's a mother to be
And her husband's way down in Georgia
And I'm still in old Tennessee...
Wishing you'd come home to me

Life here is easy I'm sure you recall
How it's so warm and breezy
In the summer and the fall
But winter's upon me
And I've got no heat here
And I miss your fire so sweet
Dear I miss your fire so sweet

(Chorus)

End of October
The sleepy brown woods seem to
Nod down their heads to the winter
Yellows and gray paint the sad skies today
And I wonder when you're coming home
I wonder when you're coming home
I wonder when you're coming home

H-o-w-d-y F-o-l-k-s!!

The State Fair of Texas started this weekend.  It was the perfect Fair Day.  The sun was out, there was a slight breeze, the temperature was perfect and my girlfriend Karen came up from Houston to go with me.

There are several reasons I like going to the Fair on the first weekend….

1.  The park is nice and clean

2.  All of the Vendors are excited and in good moods

3.  The grease is new and clean

All’s well with the world.

Everyone has their different areas and activities of the fair that they enjoy.  Karen and I like the food, the rides and the exhibits.

Once through the gates, the first order of business is three-fold: 

Fletcher Corny Dogs (regular or jalapeño will do),

Jack's Frys (make sure they come right out of the fryer and haven't been sitting under the heat lamps!), with vinegar and seasoned salt on them.

This year they added a new Spicy variety which boiled down to a little cup of Sriracha sauce; and to wash it all down,

ice cold beer - yes, I realize it is 10:00 a.m. but it's the State Fair, so there.  This was our beer man for the day.  Karen would wink at him and we got them for 6 tickets instead of 7.  Which, by the way, the beer out on the fair grounds is 10 - 12 tickets.  Just go inside the Food Court building and you'll find your cheapest beer.  We researched this very carefully.

So, this was our main diet during the day, but we did venture out to try one of the new fried foods they always introduce.  We're very skeptical about these because, quite frankly, half of them just sound and look gross.  Last year we wasted tickets on the fried beer.  N.A.S.T.Y.

This year we tried the Big Tex Choice for Best Tasting which was the Buffalo Chicken in a Flapjack served with syrup.  Again, the key is make sure they give you one that just came out of the fryer.  This little culinary nugget was a chicken tender on a stick that had been dipped in really spicy pancake batter and fried.  This was passable, but still not worth the tickets in my opinion (better spent on beer).

Some of the others we had no intention of trying were the Fried Bubblegum, Fried 'Kraut Balls (wonder if those are as good as Shweddy Balls?), and Deep Fried Salsa.

Before we left the Food Court, we ran into this sweet young lady who was wearing an apron that I wanted.  They were not for sale anywhere at the Fair; only Food Court employees had them.  I suggested she sell it to me and tell her boss she lost hers and would need another one.  She said her boss was also her aunt and that she would know she was lying.  Great apron though, huh? 

Tucked in between the Food and Fiber building and the Fur and Feather building is a little Oasis we like to visit called the Texas Wine Garden.  There are fountains, pretty plants, jazz music playing and tables to sit and relax.    Each day three or four Texas Wineries are highlighted and you can talk to the representatives from the wineries and taste their wines.  Karen and I know from Wine Trail trips that Texas has some very good wines and I'm sure that the wineries represented Saturday were good as well, but I just can't bring myself to pay $10.00 for a little plastic wine glass of a wine I might not even like. 

 I would do better by buying a whole bottle from the store and try it; which there was one that I am going to seek out.  Karen and I really prefer wines, but the wine sold at the Fair out on the Midway is a little gut rot.  So, Karen and I find a nice table and enjoy the music, our 6 ticket beer and watch people for a little while.

Our next stop was the Food and Fiber building.  This building has all things food; Texas food.  Vendors hand out samples of their products, the Beef Council cooks fajita meat, Borden's has ice cream, and you can learn all about raising bees.

 This is Harold.  He makes and sells "Texicun Gormay Pickuls"  and they are purdy hot!!

 Karen liked the hottest ones; the Dern Hot pickles.  Turns out Karen is pretty hot herself!  Harold told her, "my pickles were the hottest things in here until you walked up to my counter."!


This lady was waiting in the free ice cream line.

We were greeted by Strawberry Shortcake

In the Embarcadero Building you can find anything to buy.  Look here, you can buy a free standing shower with a mirror in it! Oh dear, I don't think I'd want to look at myself in the mirror, in the shower; that means I'd be looking at myself naked....Y-I-K-E-S !!

You can even get a vibrating message and eat at the same time.

One of my favorite buildings is the Creative Arts Building.  Here you can see all the quilts and collections that people enter.  Including this huge wall of preserves and pickled stuff.

Each year there is a butter sculpture in this building.  Sometimes you can see the artist in his refrigerated glass cage working.  This is amazing this year; it's life size.

 Another fun annual contest they have is the Shoe Art.  There are some clever people out there.  Since I love to tap dance and drink beer, this was naturally my favorite.

 "The Stat-shoe of Flipperty"

  "Shoe - Fly"



Time for a little culture so we headed over to the plaza outside the Texas Hall of State to watch different dance groups perform. 

And look at these cuties watching with us.

There was a special exhibit in the Texas Hall of State building celebrating the State's 175th Anniversary.  They had all sorts of artifacts from Davy Crockett's pipe and pistol,

period costumes, including a gown worn by the Grand Duchess of Texas during the 1940 Galveston Mardi Gras,

to this very important piece of Texas History...

 the world's first frozen margarita machine.  As the sign mentions above, this is actually a replica of the original that is housed in the Smithsonian; she is referred to as Maggie-Rita.

I’ve never been crazy about the Midway ripoffs games.  The only thing I liked about the Midway at the Tulsa State Fair,when I was a little girl, was getting the felt hat with a feather in it and my name written in cursive in shiny silver glitter. 

Here's a guy using his very scary appendage to lure us in to his Fright House.

Here's the Midway Barker.  He lives on a pole.  He's actually pretty funny; very quick witted.  I posted a little bit of video I took of him here

 This is a really fun treat for adults and children.  Everything in The Greenhouse is made out of some sort of plant.

 Wind turbines

 My favorite (and the the primary exhibit in here), the trains.

 Even all of the tracks and bridges are made out of twigs and branches.

I could watch these for hours.  But we didn't.  It was getting late in the day and we had other things to see.

Like this.  Wish I had this talent.

 and this,

 and this,

and this (what's up with the animals on the back?),

 and this,

 and this.   Is he sucking that in on purpose??

Now here's a couple of ladies who are mighty proud of the junk in their trunk.  Sure hope the lady in the red shoes has a good man at home to rub her feet tonight!

Well, that was our day at the Fair and we sure enjoyed ourselves!  I'm already looking forward to next year!!