LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Garden Tour

Our house was on the Garden Tour today. My husband is the resident expert on the plants, so I fully expected to simply greet folks and smile a lot. He has jury duty this week, but this is a small town and what were the chances he would be on a jury Wednesday? Pretty darn good, it turns out.

My friend (many of my friends are funny) said I should simply use my nursing background and make up some clever-sounding names. After all, the medical language is Latin, and the plant language is Latin, so who would know the difference?

I was a bit worried, but I didn't care much about the medical terminology idea either (although I really came up with some beauts). I decided to be forthcoming and tell people the little that I knew, use my husband's notes (which were about as readable as if they were in Latin) and do the best I could do.




I should not have worried. Group after group of people came through in a steady stream. Almost every group included a master gardener who would say, "Look. They have (insert plant name) and isn't that a beautiful (insert plant name)!" Here are the questions people most frequently asked me:

Where did you get that lovely stained glass lawn ornament?

A friend who is a periodontist does this for relaxation

Oh! Did a local potter make the mushrooms?

Yes, they came from Muddabbers.
And what about the yard bird?

Also from Muddabbers.
By far, the most frequently asked question:
Where did you get that wonderful banner?
It is a nice banner, one of many that we have, but I really don't know where my husband got it.
And look...it's just as lovely on the other side!
Thanks, we really like it, too.

It was a very long day. People crowded through from 10:00 until 12:00. I was constantly greeting, constantly smiling and trying to look comfortable. I took the Golden Girls for a walk between 12 and 12:30, drank several glasses of water, and prepared for the 1:00 onslaught. Another steady stream from 1:00 until the end of the tour at 3:00 (actually four people showed up at 3:15). It was an exhausting day. When the stragglers finally left, I took the girls out again and changed clothes, sat in the recliner, and cooled off with some lemonade.

My poor husband came home just before 5:00. He has to go back tomorrow for the judge's instructions and the jury deliberation. He asked how the garden tour went, and I said, "JUST GREAT!"

5 comments:

The Birdlady said...

What a good sport you are! And - you made it funny to boot. Thanks for an early morning smile.

Kerri Farley said...

Those are probably the same questions I would have asked. That stained glass lawn ornament is FABULOUS! and love those mushrooms!!
Thank you for sharing this with us!! Hope Jury Duty wasn't too bad for your hubby.

NCmountainwoman said...

Helen - After a day of rest and relaxing, it doesn't seem so bad.

Kerri - The trial lasted only a day and a half and he loved every minute of it. Our neighbor in WI made the stained glass ornament. We also have a glass sunflower that is just gorgeous.

Mary said...

What a great event! I would love to have people stroll through my gardens (what little I have) and watch them enjoy... You are a good sport and really didn't need to know much, right? LOL!

I like your banner, too.

Jayne said...

How fun to have people come see your garden! Exhausting, but fun!