Wow...haven't gotten back here in a while and I missed quite a bit. I am actually in Austin now so if we want to try doing another nursery hop I'd be up for that. Also, Jacksonville doesn't look to be too much of a drive from my parents place, so that could work as well. I used to organize the roundups in College Station, may be too late to reserve anything for the spring here in Austin but if there's interest I'd be up for organizing something in the fall.

:) Kim

Sounds good Kim, we need some younger blood to take charge of things.

Austin would be great for me! There are lots of great nurseries there too.

Here's a few suggestions and random thoughts if you come to Austin for a nursery crawl:

Zilker Park
http://austintexas.gov/departm...
Fairly central to everything, across the street from the botanical garden. Barton Springs pool is right there. Picnic tables, but no covered pavilions. Difficult to plan for food, and then take off to visit nurseries. Who stays behind and watches tables? Walking to lots of restaurants and bike rentals. Possible to park at the botanical garden for $2. and just carpool to nurseries. No food allowed in the botanical garden.

Barton Springs Nursery
http://www.bartonspringsnurser...
Has a little bit of everything. One of the best places to find native plants. Bananas, tropicals, pond plants, cacti, etc. Lots of gorgeous pots, too.

The Great Outdoors
http://gonursery.com/
Huge nursery, recently renovated. On Congress Av. Another nursery that has everything...or can order it for you. Lots of Mondavi stock too. Has a large tropical greenhouse with hard to find ferns and other exotic plants.

The Natural Gardener
http://www.naturalgardeneraust...
Great organic nursery with so much to see and buy. Lots of natives, vegetables and fruit trees, soil mixes, and entertainment.
This one is a little farther out than the rest, but worth the trip.

Whole Foods was a good place for lunch in the heat of the day. Parking is underground, so we left our plants in the cars so they didn't cook.

There are other great Austin nurseries, but they are too spread out for a day trip. Hope this helps. We're still in the middle of living out of boxes while the house is getting some much needed TLC, or I'd offer our place as "base camp."

I just found this thread, and read Bubbles's account of the RU and Randy's.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, LOL!!!!

That was one of my greatest experiences as a new gardener! I met some of my very best friends there.

Sandy, every time I think of you I smile! Ya'll, she is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet on this planet. So gracious and lovely!

Linda

I wasn't at the RU but I agree that Sandy is all that and more!

Well, that's so nice of you two! And I feel the same way about both of you. We really need to try to get together again. Sometime in May might work. June will be hot, but I'm up for a hop in either month!

That would be fun!