Invited to jaw Columbus during its reallybig gardening trade showand then shown a fabulous time in their clean , beautiful city , how could Inotwrite good things about it ?
I ’d never taken part in a “ press outing ” before and design to correct them – if ever asked – to avoid a conflict of sake when writing about the company that hosted the trip . But for a city , especially one I ’d heard bang-up things about ? No problemo !
So here ’s the scant version of the slap-up time shown to 10 of us “ garden printing press ” byColumbus . ( The 10party animalshard - working magazine editors and bloggers are revealed below . )
We brunched at atTill Dynamic Fare , Columbus ’s best new restaurant of 2012 . They have their own bio - dynamic garden in the back , and serve only locally source ware . As if that were n’t cool enough , how about the sleaze onco - proprietor Magdiale Wolmark ?
At theNorth Marketwe were founder gift certificates and say about the revitalization of markets in Columbus ’s business district . We also learned that Columbus isdefinitely nota Rust Belt metropolis , having never had the industriousness that has since abandoned cities like Detroit . But like city everywhere , Columbus had experienced white flight and the resultant downturn of its core , which has since amount back with a retribution . Indeed its business district is super - alert , and not just with students at Ohio State but with actual adult , too .
That ’s our group din atThe Seasoned Farmhouse , above , a just - open “ recreational cookery schooling . ”
Our dinner companions include the adorableGretel and Steve , who supplied the flowers , and local brewerMatt Barbee . It seems that Columbus is full of cute young artsy people like them . ( I ’m sure they ’re notallcute but the ones we met for sure were . )
TheTopiary Gardenincludes a replication of Georges Seurat ’s painting “ A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte . ”
We made a whirlwind stop at theFranklin Park Conservatory , where the sunny outdoor gardens had us run for relief indoors .
I block here to photograph a fabulous glass art slice byDale Chihuly , an creative person already well known and make out by everyoneelsein my group . well late than never .
Fortunately there are lots more indoors with AC .
No , these orchids are NOT real .
TheChadwick Arboretumat Ohio State host a receipt for all the attendees at OFA . The trial gardens are , I ’m trusted , where important research is done but I could n’t drag myself off from theSteven Still Perennial Gardendesigned by Adrian Bloom . ( Steve Still being a renowned hort professor at the university , not thedrug - puddle former rocker . ) Can you imagine possess this outside your shitty old dorm ?
Evendinner at the Columbus Hiltonwas made into an event for us . Chef Bill Gloverhas bragging rights to the Hilton chain ’s only eating place that sources topically and has its own bee hive on the roof . get soon – a rooftop garden , too .
Our Columbus keepers knew that we ’d all require to see some private gardens , so they show us a locality that ’s full of them . Really nice ones . That’sGerman Village , with its carefully touch on nineteenth hundred family and even fancy service department like the one above that contain five cars .
We image tiny , fabulous garden , with containers to equate .
There are fun signs , too . The quote on the right – “ The hay is good and the firedog ’s so fat ” – had us scratching our heads . The other sign is pretty clear .
Schiller Parkin German Village boasts thumping repeated borders , maintained by legions of volunteers .
Our guides were so attentive , they even allow for photogenic heel for us to include in our garden shot .
Thepark on the left , in the heart of German Village , was funded and is maintain by the neighbour .
Finally , the merry band on the “ pressing omnibus ” . Front row from left : Katie Ketelson ofBetter Homes & Gardens , moi , Stephanie Petersen ofGarden Gate , Anna Laurent ofGarden Design , and Kylee Baumle ofOur Little Acre . Back row from left hand : James Baggett ofCountry Gardens , Helen Yoest ofGardening with Confidence , Steve Aitken ofFine horticulture , and Laura Kunkle ofOFA .
A Brobdingnagian thank - you to our hosts Scott Peacock and Beth Ervin ofExperience Columbus , who with help fromAmy Weirickmanaged to show us a big clock time without anyone getting lost or in too much difficulty .
Addendum : If you go , render to see the governor ’s mansion garden , which Iraved about here . But get hold of them early ; the visiting hour are special .
