Visiting the Bluebonnets - Better Late than Never

We usually visit Texas in the winter for the holidays, but having missed the spring wildflower show for the past 18 years, I thought it was time to see it again. Luckily Parker's spring break in California timed well with the flowers this year. 

I'd been feeling like a poor excuse for a Texan mom because I had never gotten a photo of my child sitting in the bluebonnets. So now was our chance.

As soon as we left the airport, the roadsides were full of bloom. I immediately made Jay pull over so we could explore.

We saw Coreopsis, Indian Paintbrush, some kind of cool thistle thing, and Verbenas. I'm afraid I didn't learn my botanical latin until moving to California so you'll have to put up with common names on these Texas wildflowers. 

The pink buttercups were lovely - Oenothera speciosa, I think. And every now and then we would find a very light blue or white bluebonnet. (Lupinus texensis - I do at least know that latin name.)

As a youngster I had never noticed the amazing smell of walking through a field of bluebonnets. It's quite delicious.

Mission accomplished. I've now fulfilled my duty as a Texan mom.

We tried to get Parker to do the Longhorn symbol with his hand but it ended up being the "hang loose" symbol — California boy through and through.

Hopefully we'll visit Texas again during the bluebonnet bloom. Maybe someday for a photo of the grandkids? Or maybe just to walk through that delicious scent again.

2012 Asheville Garden Bloggers Fling - Day 1, morning

Oh hey. What's up? It's been awhile. Hope you all have been well. Me? Oh, well the last couple of years have been kind of crazy. We sold our house, bought a new one. I've been growing my garden design business like mad, raising a kid, raising a dog. And in my spare time last year I was working with a great team, organizing the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling. It's all been a lot of fun but I haven't had much time to share things on this blog. I've been posting a lot on my Instagram feed but camera phone photos are terrible and I miss my big girl camera. It's time to haul that DSL monster out again and start sharing photos of my new garden, not to mention all the other fun plant-y places I go. But first things first - I'm an orderly person and I feel the need to pick up where I left off - Asheville. Right after I got back from the Asheville Garden Bloggers Fling things went coo-coo for cocoa puffs so I never got to post any photos from my visit there.

So, let's take a trip back in time...the year was 2012 and we'd just exited the bus for our first tour, Christopher Mello's garden. Now it was my understanding that this was not only Christopher's garden but also a site that hosted gatherings and creative events for youths. It was certainly a very playful garden - not only all the Tonka trucks but the playful color combos in the plantings, the recycled bits of rusty machinery and all the vibrant bottle trees.

These are the blue poppies that Chris had selected and seems to have stabilized the color. I wish I had gotten some seed. 

The next garden we visited was of a similar vein, combining gardens with a place to be creative. The Burton Street Community Peace Gardens were created from an abandoned lot and allowed neighbors to grow veggies in raised beds and provided a safe space for kids to explore, create and learn. I have to admit I found the recycled-multi-media sculpture/play areas endlessly fascinating. 

Patron saint Fred Sanford:

In the next post I'll cover our mid-day visits to two eateries and the pirate wonderland Wamboldtopia.