Saturday, October 16, 2010

I scored big at the 4-Seasons's Plant Exchange


We celebrated Ed Aldrich's 50th birthday at the Plant Exchnge. Ed stands unequaled atop the pyramid of those of us in the DC area that grow hardy tropicals. Or at least unsurpassed. He also stands in the top picture describing one of the many plants he brought to the exchange.I didn't bother to move away from his contributions. We take turns; I had the 19th turn and took Alpinia caerulea from amongst his plants, then Dyckia altissima, and Agave 'Mr. Ripple', Mimosa borealis, Sesbania sp., all from amongst his contributions. Karen got a Russian Pomegranate and an Acer griseum. Someone contributed this huge collection of floral arranging paraphernalia including dozens of frogs. We took a couple of them.

The weather was brisk, the food was wonderful, and the company was congenial. Plus, we all, at least temporarily, satiated our cravings for new and unusual plants. The exchange has been held for years at the home of Jim Dronenberg and Dan Weil. This year they were preoccupied with preparations for another event so Lynn Title generously offered to host. Her garden is both beautiful and interesting; it's a large attractively diverse garden that contained enough unusual selections to stump us all. I now crave her variegated Russian comfrey Symphytum x uplandicum 'Axminster Gold', a striking plant.

2 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Hey, I just discovered your blog while surfing the blogworld... great pictures, and so much good information. Thanks for the pointers to the great resources, I appreciate it... though I am a much more humble gardener than you.

Mary Ann at www.calamityacres.blogspot.com

ChrisU said...

Thank you for the cheerful compliment. I'm humble about many things, but alas, not gardening.

It's funny how things work. I've been feeling a bit down this week and you've absolutely cheered me up!

Thanks again