Tomato Mania!

This weekend (March 9 – 11), Roger’s Gardens held a Tomato Mania event.  Tomato Mania is the world’s largest heirloom tomato seedling sale.  They have over 150 varieties of heirloom & hybrid tomatoes.  And there are many “tomato experts” to help guide you in your decision of varietals, fertilizer, soil, etc. for a successful tomato growing season.

Jeff is always looking for the best tomatoes to plant in our garden, so we went to Roger’s on Saturday.  WOW!!! I’ve never seen so many tomato plants!  And I’ve never seen so many people at Roger’s.

We asked one of the tomato experts if he could only get 3 or 4 tomatoes, which ones he would choose.  Here’s what he recommended (and what we purchased):

• Sunny Goliath – yellow/gold, very sweet & juicy
• Creme Brulee – deep carmel color with hints of red & chocolate, full-bodied flavor
• Carbon – black, very flavorful
• Green Zebra – yellow & green stripe with citrus flavor

As I walked by all the tomatoes, reading their descriptions, I kept thinking of all the wonderful summer dishes we’ll have this summer.  There’s nothing better than an heirloom caprese salad with home-grown tomatoes.

The checkout line took 40 minutes.  If you don’t mind missing the tomato lectures (Roger’s has a mini amphitheater for lectures), purchase your tomatoes when everyone is listening to the lectures.  It’s a much shorter line.

We kept running into friends on Saturday, so I wasn’t able to browse the rest of the gardens and snap very many photos.

At the checkout (in the Victory Garden area), they have beautiful displays of herbs.

For those of you in California, you can see where other Tomato Mania events are held by viewing their website.  Tomato Mania

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So Cal Fall Colors

Breathtaking … isn’t it?  These are just a few snapshots of the grounds at Roger’s Gardens.  Does it inspire you to replant for the fall?

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Halloween Ideas from Roger’s Gardens

Each year, I look forward to visiting Roger’s Gardens in Newport Beach to see their Halloween and Christmas displays.   I went to Roger’s about a month ago and then again last weekend (with my parents).  This year’s Halloween exhibit is called Blackstone Theater.  All the rooms are painted black and most rooms have chandeliers and velvet draping … as you might see in a theater.

When you enter from the orchid rooms (those of you that have been to Roger’s will know what I’m talking about), you see a large mirror with crystal chandeliers and cob webs.  They sell the beaded cob webs … I had to get one of those!

My mom was disgusted by this rat-infested sofa.  She wouldn’t get near it.  I thought it was great!  But I’m not willing to tear up any of my upolstered furniture to create the look at home.

This year they had a lot of black and white decorations.  They had a room filled with skeletons,  one with white pumpkins, another with skeleton heads and plenty of black and white Halloween dishes.

There was a very large book case that has all types of pumpkin faces displayed.  These two were some of my favorites.  Aren’t the faces incredible?

If you get a chance, it’s certainly worth a visit to Roger’s.  The Christmas displays opened to the public last Friday.  I’ll be going in a couple of weeks with girlfriends.

Happy Haunting …

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Summer Gardens

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I made a trip to Roger’s Gardens (in Newport Beach).  It is a gardeners’ paradise!  They have an incredible selection of plants, very helpful employees and even beautiful things for the home.  It’s worth a trip if you’re in the area!

Aren’t  the colors breathtaking?  Does it inspire you to get to work on your garden?

LOVED the foxglove and hydrangeas!  I could have a yard full of both.

While I didn’t find these particularly attractive, they were certainly the most unusual plant life we saw.

Happy Gardening!

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