It’s hard to compete with a street fair, a Touch-a-Truck (“some had air horns!” said one kiddo I know), a nearby harvest festival with do-it-yourself scarecrows, a working waterfront festival a few towns over and a gorgeous warm breezy sunny day that made being out on the water requisite for anyone with access to a boat — BUT Blithewold’s Fall Gardener’s Day was where the gardeners were. I was hoping to meet fellow bloggers and readers but alas you attended incognito and in spirit – those who were here must have caught my shy bug — it’s going around… I was even going to take a guess-who shoe portrait! (If you look really closely, you can see the hazy outlines of at least a dozen pairs of feet who were nearly here – and guess who?!)

Most of my day I bounced from the Blithewold plant sale table (where I was camped to sell begonias, clivias, figs and other greenhouse babies) to the other vendors’ booths where I spent considerably more than I earned that day! I caught snippets of lectures and eavesdropped on rave reviews. By the sound of it Andrew Grossman had everyone rethinking their garden design, Lisa Gibson McMahon sent everyone home with beyond-frost salad starts and Barney Webster spawned a few water gardener wanna-bees. And everyone learned something new from flower drying and arranging, fall container planting, and pruning, to what will change for gardeners as the climate changes.

Just because Fall Gardener’s Day is behind us (and ahead – mark your 2008 calendar) doesn’t mean we’re done showing off the garden – the kaleidoscope continues! And Jake (who answers to many other names) has appointed himself cutest greeter – can you stand it?!