Bloom N’ Garden Expo 2011

Today was my day to visit the Bloom N’ Garden Expo in Williamson County, TN. It’s a garden show put together by the Williamson County Master Gardeners which features talented speakers and all kinds of vendors ranging from carnivorous plants and daylilies to soaps, jams, and grape juice. There’s all kinds of neat stuff to see like the display gardens.

 
Why should you go to a garden show near you? Well if you like plants then one reason is probably obvious but beyond that it’s a great way to get to see what nurseries and companies near you have to offer.  Think of it as a preview of what you could find if you went to visit them at their place. I enjoy walking around and looking at the plants. I don’t any attention to the vendors who sell only slightly related gardening services and goods. The landscaping display booths are interesting but I’m of the mindset that if I can’t do it myself I probably don’t need it in the garden. I won’t be hiring any landscapers any time soon. 😉

Another cool thing about these garden shows is running into people. I talked a few minutes to Barbara Wise of www.BWiseGardening.com (her blog BWiseGardening). If you ever need container planting advice she is an absolute expert on the subject. She was also selling plants from her greenhouse that she uses for her containers. The selection she has is pretty amazing!

I also spoke a few minutes with our local Middle Tennessee Herb Expert Cindy Shapton. If you haven’t seen her website the Cracked Pot Gardener you should visit! She also has a blog where she posted a picture of her new chicken coop – which features a green wall planted with what else? Hens and Chicks! Three of the plants I brought home came from her booth.

Inevitably I end up bringing home plants. It would be just wrong to be in a place with that many plants and not come home with something wouldn’t it?

The first plant I bought was this daylily called ‘Primal Scream’. I’m not sure why it’s called that, maybe it screams with color in the garden, the picture did look pretty cool. It’s an orange flowering daylily.

The other three plants are in the picture below. Pineapple sage is on the right, stevia the lower left and comfrey the upper left.

• I bought the pineapple sage because it performed really well last year in the garden. It’s leaves are scented with a pineapple fragrance and the flowers are a bright red. The deer don’t come anywhere near this plant!
• The stevia is said to be a good sugar substitute. Once I figure out how to use the leaves in tea we’ll give it a shot.
• Comfrey is recommended as a good mulch and compost element. It brings the nutrients from deep in the soil through the root systems and into the leaves. The leaves are full of the nutrients that plants love which makes it awesome for composting.

As soon as I try propagating stevia I’ll pass on that information to you. I suspect it will be fairly simple but you never know! What have you brought home from the plant shows this year?