Mariane Binitti was full of useful information such as soaking delphinium seeds on paper towels for thirty-six hours before planting or just buy delphiniums growing in gallon pots. I bought delphinium seed this year so was happy for the tip about soaking the seed.
Greg Butler gave us a new term, hortisexual, as in I’m a hortisexual. I think this refers to what we do as we propagate new plants. I don’t do much propagating with the exception of my kale, but mostly I just let the kale do it’s thing and I plant the resultant seedlings where I want them. I may have varieties of kale that nobody else grows but they are happy in my garden.
Cisco Morris had some excellent information about wasps or hornets. Those buggers that live in the ground or inside the walls of your house and are so savage—kill them. They are not only aggressive, they will eat the wood on the side of your house and are happy to get into the insulation. On the other hand, the paper wasps that build the wonderful papery nests are beneficial. They eat aphids and other soft bodied plant predators. They don’t get aggressive unless you disturb their nests. Cisco recommended leaving nests alone if they are outside of an area where people will walk into them. Of course nests in public areas must be killed because the venom is so toxic. He also recommended wearing goggles when working around a paper wasp nest because the little buggers can shoot their venom. Isn’t the information we learn at the garden show fascinating?
I got lots of wonderful ideas like using ladders propped up together as trellises and using ethanol for a flame in a fire pit when only a decorative fire is needed. We covered the principles of good design and talked about themes in gardens. I fell in love with a grouping of lavender with artichokes. Oh And! For your outdoor chair cushions be certain to use an outdoor fabric with an outdoor-specific foam pad. If your outdoor cushions get rained on they will dry in an hour if you’ve used the right materials. Otherwise it may take days for them to dry.