Thursday, June 4, 2009

Let's Take a Drive...

What's a gardener to do when it's drizzly out and not gardening weather? Go nursery hopping, of course! One of my all time favorite hobbies!

So one state, two counties, and 45 miles later...I reach my first destination. I love to just browse and sometimes even leave without a purchase...GASP!! Keeping mental notes (I'm not a list maker!) of what costs what and which nursery had that particular plant, keeps me occupied for hours! Walk into a greenhouse filled with colorful hanging pots in every color of the rainbow, and you just can't NOT go nuts! Then I start daydreaming how great it would be to run a nursery... just to enjoy the eye candy...not how much work it would involve!


Six hours and 5 nurseries later, I'm tired but very happy! Besides the prerequisite annuals for pots, my new treasure is a tri-color beech tree! And what else...new daylilies!


This picture had to stand alone as it's my favorite scene of the day...all colors of the wave petunias. A great choice for containers but I like it in ground too, as they really do spread!
So get out and enjoy your local nurseries...or cross the state line...and find a new favorite!

P.S. What a headache trying to create this collage...any tips out there from the experts?

23 comments:

  1. What a beautiful wave of petunias. I love them too. Glad you had such a wonderful time. I need to do that. Have a good day.

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  2. Hey Lynn you did a beautiful job on the collage. I'm with you - I'll bet if we lived closer together we'd never get anything done but nursery hopping. I think nothing of going out of state to Oregon (not that far) or north through 2 counties to see flowers.
    I did a collage through slide.com on a post and loved it - very easy - go look at http://gardeningbytrialanderror.blogspot.com/2009/04/sunny-thoughts.html#comments
    Also, photobucket has nice ones and they are really easy too. I tried Picasa but they went into my files and brought up everything and I didn't like that - I hadn't told them to do that!
    Well, good luck.

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  3. I love petunias and your pictures are great. How lucky to have so many nurseries near you! We only have 2 really good ones by us. We're heading for one today since it's supposed to be too hot to actually work in the garden.
    I've tried collages too on Picasa 2 and it seemed to really mess with my computer. I'm going to try the ones Linda suggested. Your first one turned out great!

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  4. I think your headache was worth it, at least for us! Love the Petunias, headed to some nurseries tomorrow!! WHOO HOO!!

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  5. Bliss - lots of garden nurseries - what an idyllic way to spend a day! Your collage is great!

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  6. Sounds like a fun filled day! I love nursery time and can't wait to check out a few myself.

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  7. Thanks, Becca, I DID have a wonderful time...and best to go alone so you're not rushed..lol.

    Hi Linda, not get anything done is right but we'd have fun though! Thanks for the tips on collages..I did use Picasa 3 and it too took over my photo files. I found it very hard to edit through Picasa so finally deleted the program after I did this one.

    Hey Catherine, share what you bought today! I can name at least a dozen nurseries within 10 miles so I AM lucky..just like to try different ones now and then. Good luck with your collage, too!

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  8. I love going to nurseries and plant markets. I dream of owning one too just to enjoy it all. Sounds like you had a fun day! -Jackie

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  9. I love doing this too! I love the photos you took! I stink at taking photos..so no help from me!

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  10. When I go to a nursery... I can spend hours there too. From the photos, looks like they have many beautiful flowers. Must have been a good outing for you :-)

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  11. Nice college and beautiful flowers.

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  12. Hi Lynn, thanks for the visit and the comments. My best advice on ponds? Get some! Any size, depth, shape - then get another one!
    Your nursery hop sounds like lots of fun. I did a little one with my mother and it was very relaxing - but I still need to get some of the flowers in the ground.

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  13. We've crossed the state line to attend a church convention. My husband has business meetings all day. I'm going to follow your lead and search out some garden centers. AND I will walk a few streets of small towns to gather ideas and take in the beauty of homes and gardens!

    It was good to "meet" you and exchange comments! I'll be back.

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  14. The collage looks really great. I've not tried to create one yet. Probably because I don't have Picassa on my computer and am afraid to get it. It might make more work for me. lol

    I just got back from NC and had fun visiting a nursery and Lowes and Home Depot. They often have different things in different states. I got a few good bargains. You must tell us about that tricolored beech. It sounds very interesting!

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  15. I so want to get out and do just that, Lynn! It's POURING rain out (not drizzling!) and I've got this silly boot on...probably won't be able to get out today!

    BUT, your photos are uplifting, so that's got my day off to a great start! Your collage is perfect. It was worth your effort. I like making collages better than uploading individual photos now that I've learned (on Picasa). For some reason that's going fine with me. I don't do well anymore with bringing individual photos onto a blog post...they keep getting spaces b'twn them and I can't seem to complete a post! I'm doing better with posting now that I've found the collage feature. I can't help you, though! I'm not very good at explaining anything!

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  16. Haha...thanks Darla! Hope you got lots of goodies on your trip!

    Stephanie, When I saw all those marigolds (top left photo in the collage), I thought of you in your profile picture!

    Tina, Picasa is a free program to download..which I did but then deleted it after I made the collage because it was too confusing trying to edit the other pictures...I'll let you know when I find an easier method.

    Hi Jan, you explain fine...at least I understood you..but what you said made me laugh! It's wet here today, too! Keep on healing!

    Thanks all for your visits and comments, it's always wonderful to get feedback :)

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  17. Lynn I think the collage looks great! I couldn't have done a better job, and I'm a graphic designer :) Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. And yes, I do know [of] Hà Xuân. I see her post at GardenWeb a lot, and I am a daily lurker there! I never knew she had a blog though. Thanks so much for her link!

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  18. Lynn,
    Your collage is lovely. I just love nursery hopping. :) I try to make shopping lists ahead of time, which generally keeps me from impulse buys. This doesn't always work, however. Ah, so much fun!! The petunias are beautiful!

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  19. Beautiful Collage Lynn. I use a program that I downloaded for free called Photoscape that creates collages easy. Good for you not making impulsive purchases, it's hard for me to walk into a nursery without walking out with something. ;)

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  20. Beautiful blooms, lovely garden and a very nice blog !!

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  21. What a fun way to spend a rainy day, nursery visiting is a top pastime here, especially when traveling. Even though we have nearly every plant that can be grown in our area already, it is a rare nursery where something doesn't hop into the wagon to come join in the fun. :-)
    Frances

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