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March 30, 2009

New Acquisitions from the Zilker Botanical Garden Festival

This past weekend was the Zilker Botanical Garden Festival, and there was some crazy stuff there. My boyfriend and I volunteered to help the Garden Club of Austin booth, and this year they were selling ferns. Normally, I'm not a fern person, but they've been growing on me. Hanging around them for a few hours made me want a few - with time comes fondness or whatever the saying is.

So I purchased 2 Staghorn Ferns growing in hanging baskets:
There were some mounted on boards, and I felt dumb when I realized the connection between Staghorn and board mounted - you know, a stag's head mounted on the wall? Here's one mounted that was being sold:
I'm not sure where I would have put it. The hanging baskets seemed easier, and well, they were cheaper.

Here's another fern:

It's a Kimberley Queen Fern, and it's HUGE! These beauties were very lush, and you can just barely see the pot and the hook on the hanging basket. Craziness.

I was also given some Kangaroo Fern cuttings... well, not so much cuttings as bits that broke off from the plants being sold. They have fuzzy rhizomes and look very cool:
I was also given this oxalis that wasn't looking so hot. It'll rebound, and I really like oxalis.

There was one booth that had rustic birdhouses, bird feeders, and squirrel feeders. They were all very adorable and some were quite funny. Here's a Saloon bird feeder that I bought for my mom for mother's day:

At another booth, there was a guy selling metal sculpture and garden accessories. He goes to the City Wide Garage Sale, and I love his stuff and visiting his booth. Apparently he does weddings, and this is just a side thing that he does every once in a while. I bought 3 metal plant hangers that you can hang up in trees and put hanging baskets on. He said he uses these for weddings when hanging flowers up there. Easy to install and no damage to the tree.
The Begonia Society of Austin had a booth as well and had several interesting begonias that shimmered in the light, and these are the three that I picked out after about 30 minutes of consideration:

I believe I bought a these cacti from the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society, but I can't be sure.

Here's a little one that won't get much bigger, but I love the huge bright yellow flowers against the almost black skin of the cactus:And here's a fun barrel cactus that's hardy in this area:
It'll be very happy in the hell strip.

I have one more purchase that deserves a post of its own...

4 comments:

  1. You got some great things! That bird feeder is very cute!

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  2. Wa you bought so many new plants! I like the begonia that you have chosen. For mine,the shimmer will become more obvious if I place the plant at a spot where there is indirect sunlight in the late afternoon. Happy gardening!

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  3. I love those golden barrel cacti and recently got one I planted in a pot. Enjoy yours!

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