New this year - 80th street will be CLOSED to parking. I believe there will be signs & police to enforce it. That said, they rope off the enormous field behind the rec center building which is always organized & staffed by Parks employees to keep things running smoothly. You enter from the 30th ave entrance to the baseball complex & dog park. That's where they give away the free log mulch too, so it's pretty convenient. The main parking lot for the rec center (in front of the building) is restricted to disabled parking & festival presenters only. Here is a link that might be useful: click the target & 'zoom to street' for detailed map

I got there yesterday at 8:20am and had to park in the 4th line of cars!!! I usually get there at that time and I'm in the first row. It was really crowded. I was looking for a nice plant to put in the bed on the side of my house facing the street (I'm on the corner lot) to replace an Indian rubber vine. I got a 3 gal hibiscus for $5! It is beautiful. Not a fancy tropical or a double, but the color was just breathtaking. I got it at Esperanza's Garden Center booth. Seemed like a family run business and she gave me a card. They are at 6001 Haines Rd in St. Pete. They had beautiful plants and the prices were so low, but I really can't go digging any more holes in the yard. I have enough to take care of now. I got my free plant(lantana). Only got one this year because my DH was home sick. Did get one little plant from Colorfield Farms (they have great stuff) but I have no idea what it is!lol It's an oak or maple flowering plant with pink & yellow flowers. Also came in red & yellow. I love the Green Thumb Festival. They are so well organized. I wish they would change one thing...keep the dogs out. It's so crowded and everyone's pulling a wagon, some people trying to get by in scooters and then you have two or three people with dogs getting all tangled up. All in all, it's one of the best sales you can go to. Julie

The annual Hanover Tomato Festival is this Saturday, July 9, 2011 at Pole Green Park just off Interstate 295 north of Richmond in Hanover County. If intersted, just search "Hanover Tomato Festival" online and all the details and info should be there. Last year's festival drew about 42,000 people. Admission is free.

Still no roots in water. ( I don't care.) ______________ Perhaps readers here would like to see the amount of activity close to the patio door all morning long, every sunny day. URL of the video file is www105.zippyshare.com/v/q20NVEa9/file.html Although it can be played in the hosting website page, for me it stopped & resumed every second; so, download file instead (name activity2.mov). Colors look ok when played by QuickTime player; quite poor when played by VLC player.