Sunday, March 25, 2007


I did make it to the New England Spring Flower show. I had to take a shuttle to the commuter rail, the commuter rail to the orange line, transfer to the red line, to the UMASS/JFK stop. Then, I had to walk to the Bayside Expo. It was about 30° and the wind was absolutely howling. I got there about 11am because the hotel guy couldn't be bothered to leave any earlier with the shuttle. I had no idea how to get to the trains, where they were taking me, and people weren't anxious to be of help. I walked around, clutching my map and the directions a nice guy named Rob gave me, over the phone.
This fountain of azalea is the first thing you see when you walk in. I know the picture isn't great, the place was so packed that if you stopped to take a photo, you were kinda pushed along in the stream of ladies with red hats and old men with thousand dollar cameras. They kinda looked at me with my Kodak EasyShare and I felt like I didn't belong. I bought a twenty dollar pass, but they took it from me and said it was $20 EACH time, so I was going to make the most of it.





This Japanese Maple got my attention from across the huge room. It is Full Moon. I have to have one.
Do you prune your JMs? This one has all but the leaves on the ends taken off. I only have Bloodgood, the common one found in big box stores, but I am going to prune mine like this one.



'Dexter's Agatha'
This rhodie flower was as big as my head!!! I was amazed to find all the rhododendrons growing in the East. Most of the yards have them, some look like they were taken out of the south, at 6'-7' tall! Why are they so prominent there, and you never see them here? Is it the wind that kills them, here?

Most of my pictures are blurry and unfocused, because of the difficulty I had stopping to take a picture. I cannot say that all people in that area are like that, but most of the folks we were around seemed too busy to be bothered with us. Train conductors, wait staff, and even fellow pedestrians seemed rude and arrogant. We had a lot of trouble getting around and felt frustrated and tired.
We have traveled alot, this was not something new for us. We did the same thing in Charleston, SC, (twice), Savannah, SC, Tarpon Springs, FL, and have lived in cities where we knew nobody. But Boston takes the cake. They can have it, too. I will try to fix some of the pics I have with Photoshop, but there's only so much time.
The Flower Show was only memorable because of the crush of humanity. Oh, and that fabulous Japanese Maple!


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3 comments:

  1. Is Boston like that all the time? I only know it from TV or movies. It does sound hectic, Sissy, but you got some new ideas on pruning and saw some cool plants. Rhododendrons and azaleas have a tough time in the middle of the country. Wind and deep cold is some of it, but also they grow well where the soil is more acid, like the Eastern half of the US and Pacific northwest. Illinois prairie [like Central Texas] is pretty alkaline. I've always admired them, and had one do okay in Illinois, but it was a variety recommended for the midwest.

    Camera snobs, hummph...my camera is also a Kodak EasyShare, Sissy.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  2. The only two cities I've enjoyed visiting are Toronto and San Francisco. In general I avoid them. I'm sorry the garden show was not what you were hoping for!

    I take the rhodies here for granted, although I've never seen them grow wild in NY like they do along the highways in PA.

    I killed the two JM that I tried here. I loved the one I had in Akron but it was red.

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  3. I'm not big on crowds but there's no excuse for some of the behavior you saw. I guess there really is no place like home. Glad you found some off the beaten path places to give you some nice memories.

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