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March 24, 2007
The Watch List
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| I bought my first house in Chico ten
years ago. That was the same year I got married, turned 30, and lost
one of my parents. It was a pretty big year as far as life changes go. Owning the home brought out all sorts of desires to change it so that it would reflect our lives. We even skipped a honeymoon and instead used our savings and time off to replace the failing fences around the property. And we began planting our own plants. On weekends we'd walk downtown for coffee and then on to Hubbard's Nursery (now closed) on 6th Avenue. Round trip it was about 50 blocks. It's amazing how much spare time you have in the BC years (before children). During those long walks I spent lots of time checking out people's landscaping. That's when I noticed azaleas. I noticed other things as well... roses, dogwoods, elephant ears, Japanese maples, and the list goes on. I started looking up at some of our towering Chico trees. Recognizing the intricacies and differences in our green canopy made Chico more interesting to me. I even started noticing the differences in wildflowers in Bidwell Park, and took time to really look at them beyond the pretty colors. This time of year some of the azaleas are carpeted with incredible blooms. Some of the older examples of these plants are huge and vibrant and deserve an extra look since the blooms don't last. Chico State's campus will be a nice walk in the coming weeks to see a variety of azaleas, camellias, dogwoods, and other plants in bloom. Take a little time to appreciate these plants, and your Chico spring will be even more scenic. |
Posted by Lon at March 24, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
Azaleas are cool -- but they are poisonous -- here's a link: http://www.mountlehmanllamas.com/azalea.html
The best part, "Vomiting, slow pulse, incoordination and paralysis are the symptoms of azalea poisoning." I think every Friday and Saturday night there is a bunch of azalea poisoning happening downtown at the Bear.
Dave
Posted by: Dave Brobst at March 23, 2007 10:52 AM
There are two pearls of wisdom I would like my regular blog reader to take away from this post.
1. Do not eat the landscaping
2. Llama related web sites are a primary source of botanical knowledge.
Thanks Dave.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at March 23, 2007 11:30 AM