I'll be there on the Wednesday night event, and my DH is volunteering on a couple of mornings too.

I have had one heck of a week, so I couldn't reply before now. I had a blast, too. We are members so we got in at 9:30. Needless to say, I made a beeline for the lady that had the $6.00 roses last fall. They were !!$5.00 this time. I got four: Gardenia, Rubens, Natchitoches Noisette (nack-a-teesch) and Variegata di Bologna. At that price, I just grabbed anything I didn't already have. Lol. All are listed as strongly fragrant which is a must with me. Unfortunately, two are monsters and two are only once bloomers. My strategy is to wait until I get a bloom, then decide if I shall keep it, where it shall go in the ground or should it go back to the ghetto til I decide later. This can be done at THAT price. However, having spent 6 months over at the Antique Roses Forum and learning a great deal, I have come to the conclusion that I must purchase those on my top ten list NOW! So I have been online ordering and have 6 must-haves on the way. While there I also got a fireball brom (thanks to some pics from this forum), a taller brom with speckled pink straps and another tropical hibiscus for my collection, Acadian Spring. Because we got there so early, I was able to pick out the broms that had pups. One had two! Love the sale and now I get to go back to the May Orchid and Roses Frenzy, (ahem...I mean sale....) Here is a link that might be useful: Acadian Spring

The other problem was, sensory overload!!!! I kept reminding myself to look for Veronica's visor with silk roses, but OMG there were so many plants to look at! I left, coincidentally, the USF Plant Store (they had the absolute best deals) at 11:30. My intent is to hit USF first next time. Bad Bill was done at 11:30. He had a spiral (wicked) broken leg a few years ago, and the screws and hardware were giving him a time. Re Paw Paw, my brother in Michigan has plenty of Paw Paw Trees on his 15 acres. He lives relatively close to the city of Paw Paw, MI, btw. I didn't realize Paw Paws were heat tolerant. Do you GW'ers want cuttings or fruit from those trees? Those trees must be dormant now, with the cold and short daylight sun. So sorry I missed hooking up with you GW folks, it would have been nice to meet you!

Excellent photo series.. But alas, I am in lust again. What is that flower in the very last pic? Certainly is a good looker and I wonder if it is fragrant? Also, I am nuts about that caladium (I believe) in photo number 33. I spent years looking for caladium humboltii, or wrightii humbolti. The one in Tufa's photos looks very much like it, but with much more white. And maybe tinier... I'll post a pic of the one I have soon. I just tried to find it onlline so I could post a link but did not find anything. I know the one I have can be had from Brent and Becky's Bulbs but I think they are not available till later in the year. I spent YEARS looking for it and only found it 3 years ago. Maybe that tiny white will arrive sooner....