I finally had a chance to update my online photo album with the spectacular photos for the Region III meeting and Cleveland Grows! tours.
You may notice that several of the photos are much nicer than my usual work. That's because I didn't take them all. I had a pro with me, my co-worker and partner in crime, Adriana Robinson, came with me on this trip and she took a good many of the pics shared here and on the album.
Like this one! An eye-popping photo of the entrance of our first stop, Willoway Nurseries, Inc.If you arrived early you had time to self-tour their display gardens which was worth getting there an hour early! The day was perfect for walking around the gardens and inspecting plants. I even tried my first goji berry. It wasn't my favorite. Then we were herded inside for a presentation, lunch and our Region III meeting. One of the things that fascinated me most in Danny Gouge's presentation was the infrastructure they've created for irrigation applications. Stormwater runoff is collected throughout the nursery facility and stored in water containment ponds, creating recycled water for irrigation. This, plus large portions of production that has been dedicated to pot-in-pot growing, is the future of greenhouse production!
We were treated to a nice lunch during our meeting, then we hopped on a buggy and toured some of their greenhouses (pics are in my online photo album). I'm sure we all look a little younger from the natural dermabrasion we experienced when the wind kicked up on that part of the tour! We came back to the main building and there was gifts, gifts, gifts! Bulbs, starter plants, Corona pruners (here's a link to a video Tweet I made about mine) and more. Susan and Maria did this thing up right.
And as you can see from another one of Adriana's great pics, they had lots of gorgeous Proven Winners ColorChoice shrubs to choose from. We noticed one of our fellow garden writers from Tennessee had her car filled to the doorhandles with some stunning PWCC hydrangea paniculata!
Our final tour stop was Green Circle Growers. Adriana and I decided to take the long way around when we missed our exit and discovered the next one was 18 miles away! Luckily we were able to easily catch up to the tour at their Just Add Ice Orchids production facility. Of course, it was a feast for the eyes, but it was also fascinating to see their automated sorting and potting lines at work. Also, like Willoway, all of the water they use for growing is 100% recycled and reused. They also have retention ponds that collect 1.5 million gallons of fresh water for every one inch of rainfall received and they use this rainwater in their growing facilities. Seeing all the orchids was spectacular, but I'm such a huge geek that if given the chance, I'd have tromped across the fields to see those ponds. |
| Bobbie Schwartz talks about her back garden |
Then it was on to the hotel where we stayed overnight. The 40-minute drive felt short as we talked about the interesting things we'd done and seen that day. The morning held private garden tours and we managed to squeeze in the beautiful gardens of Bobbie Schwartz. It's a long drive back to West Michigan and I had a personal commitment on Saturday evening that couldn't be missed, so we had to duck out before the final garden tour, but I'll be looking for photos!
Until next week...never stop growing. - Natalie
