I'm ba-aaack!

Well, to be exact, I've been back for almost a week now.  Fret not, though, my friends!  The promised ginormous pic-spam update from the Garden Trip Extravaganza is in the works.  Your friendly Floral Avenger has been hard at work organizing and deliberating over which images to share--a harder job than you might think because they're all just SO. DARNED. PRETTY.  (Seriously, I want to jump inside them and live there.)  Liittle annoying things like work and a persistent cold have me moving a bit slower than I'd like, but I promise the goods are on the way!

Here's a sneak peak to tide ya'll over, though.  These critters were in the children's garden at Longwood.

 *giggle*

Garden Trip Extravaganza!

I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for it to get here, and now it's finally come, and I'm super excited for it but also a little frazzled trying to make sure I'm ready and packed and...

*deep breath*  Calm down, Ms. Avenger.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading east with a bunch of volunteer friends for a week-long Garden Trip Extravaganza to Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

Stops on our trip will include:

• Monticello - Home and gardens of President Thomas Jefferson
• Ash Lawn-Highland - Home and gardens of President James Monroe (to whom I happened to be related waaaaay back on my dad's side of the family)
• Winterthur - (pronounced "winter-tour") Home and gardens of the DuPont family and a museum
• Longwood Gardens - Garden wonderland...or so I'm told.  I don't know much about it other than it, too, was developed by the DuPonts.  The Longwood Facebook fanpage has been taunting me with images of flowering splendor for months now.

There will be a free day in Washington, D.C. while we're out that way.  No official garden stops have been scheduled there, so it's up for grabs, but...well, if you can't find something to do or see in D.C., you're probably just not trying.  I'm sure it will be a fun-packed day as well.

I intend to get drop-down, slobbering drunk on flowers and expect to be nearly catatonic after such horticultural overstimulation.  I'd like to offer in advance my sympathies to loved ones who will be forced to deal with the post-trip adrenaline crash.

*massive picture spam to follow, I'm sure*

Vacation Report

A little over a week ago, my parents-in-law were kind enough to haul down their camping trailer to the Forrest W. "Bo" Woods campground in Sullivan, Illinois (near Lake Shelbyville) and then left it there for us while they helped a friend of the family move.  Yes, you should be jealous; they are, in fact, awesome and generous in-laws.  (I would share, but they're rapidly running out of sons to marry off...)  We stayed for a week with most of the comforts of home--kitchenette, bed, tv, AC--enjoying the peace and privacy of a mostly empty campground.

Vacation highlights:

• Douglas-Hart Nature Center.  We stumbled onto this hidden gem on our way to the movie theater in Mattoon.  They have a gorgeous forbs-only prairie area at the entrance, a large nature center with classroom and bird viewing area, woodland hiking trails, a wetland, and another larger prairie area at the rear.
• Reading, reading, reading!  I don't think I've read this much in years.  Finished Three to Get Deadly (book 3 of the Stephanie Plum series), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (Isn't that a lovely cover?  I've never been able to get over choosing books by their cover.), Room: A Novel,...and a romance novel I won't share because I have RRS (Romance Reader's Shame).
• The newly constructed Lake Shelbyville Visitors Center.  Having opened earlier this year, the new visitors center features an interactive learning center, a beautiful painted prairie mural, outdoor balcony with a lake view, and most importantly, Pam the super-friendly park ranger.  We ran into Pam while I was snooping around looking at the rain garden plants they'd used in the drainage ditch.  I told her about my interest in native IL plants and complemented her on their usage, and she promptly walked us inside and dug up the landscaping plans so I could look at the complete species list.  Pretty sweet!
• Joe's Pizza in Shelbyville.  Home of the world's best meatballs.  Seriously cheesy and tender and dee-lish.
• The Book Nook in Mattoon.  Home of the craziest, conspiracy-theorist bookstore owner I ever met.  I can't say I enjoyed his company all that much, but he had a pretty decent selection of used books.  My husband is physically incapable of backing down from political debate, and so we spent longer than I liked talking to the guy.  I ended up walking away from him in frustration before they finished, but now I have a crazy bookstore owner story to tell, I guess.
• My Garden greenhouse in Sullivan.  I can't go to Sullivan and not stop there.  It's a tiny little greenhouse, but I always find something unique there.  Last year's find was candy-corn vine.  This year, a deep red yarrow to go next to the blanket flower I planted a few weeks ago.
• Shut 'em Uppers.  Akin to the s'more, the shut 'em upper consists of one roasted marshmallow and a caramel sandwiched and smooshed between two saltine crackers.  We found the ideal method for cooking them was to place the marshmallow and caramel on the roasting skewer at the same time.  This allowed time for the caramel to soften enough for proper smooshing.  (Credit to my friend, Janet Tulley, for sharing the recipe.  She has changed our camping dessert tradition forever.)

Linky Love

Free pollinator-friendly planting guides.  It's National Pollinator Week!  The birds and bees and butterflies and bats could use a hand.  Plant them a playground!

The history and how-to of terrariums <<Centsational Girl.  I'm fascinated by terrariums.  I've made a few myself, but they suffered from my lack of attention span in regard to houseplants...

Using QR codes in the garden.  How close did you look at the plant care tags on your nursery purchases this spring?  Chances are they may have been stamped with quick response codes.

Holy cow-plops!  Check out the local Manure Share program via the University of Illinois Extension.  Find local farmers who want to share their sh*t.

Streaming "Dean of Green" podcasts.  Don Schmidt, biology professor at Illinois State University, does a weekly 10-minute gardening segment for our local public radio station.  Always informational and entertaining!

Helpful hint on sucking it up through nasty garden chores.  Jenny Peterson of J Peterson Garden Design shares a video tip for how she makes the clock move faster while doing unpleasant garden work.  I may use this the next time I'm digging up dandelions!

I want one...

Photo by swissmiss at Instagram

...for Heartland Gardens.

Children's Garden Party at the ISU Horticulture Center

Don't miss the annual Children's Garden Party coming up next week at the Illinois State University Horticulture Center!

What:  Children's Garden Party!

Where:  Children's Garden at the ISU Hort Center

When:  Wednesday, June 29, 2011 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Ever wonder what life was like for kids 100 years ago on the farm?  This is your chance to find out!  Come help plant the Children's Garden, work on garden crafts, participate in farming activities and games, and enjoy refreshments.  Make sure to wear your gardening clothes!

Contact Jessica Chambers with any questions at Horticulture@IllinoisState.edu or 309-438-3496.

 For more information on ISU Hort Center events, visit http://horticulturecenter.illinoisstate.edu/events.

Of Crushes and Popcorn Lit

During a recent conversation detailing the celebrity crushes of some folks I know, a friend of mine made the comment, "At least those are normal crushes; I crush mainly on fictional characters!", which to be honest made me scratch my head a little.  Wha?  How?  It seemed strange to me...but then my next questions were: 1) what books was she reading, and 2) where could I find them?  (*putting on my Meg Ryan voice*  I'll read what she's reading, yes?)