Nice write-up, Melanie and I really need to get up there to see the USF botanical gardens. I'm not surprised that Selby is enforcing that 90-mile limitation, because I think they have been in financial straits for quite a while. Their prices for admission and memberships go up each year, and the perks you get with membership have reduced a lot. I used to be able to bring in up to 4 guests with me for free. Now the guest limit is 2 and they still have to pay $5. I just upgraded my membership so that at least I can bring in 4 guests now, and it only cost me $20 more for the year so that was worth it.
My membership at Selby also gets me into the wonderful Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City for free, and I'm there a lot since my kids and grandkids live there. So that is also a lot of fun to take the kids now.
Gigi, you will love your little tillandsias, and they will grow happily outside in your oak tree if you have a nice spot where you can see them. I do spray mine with a tiny spritz of orchid fertilizer once in a while and they seem to love it.
Here's my little "tilly ball" that my daughter gave me for Christmas a few years ago. It has doubled in size, and blooms with delicate blue flowers at least twice a year.
A few shots of the school garden where I volunteer - tomatoes on the vine, we're hoping they will ripen up before the plants are killed off by the cold. Also really nice nasturtiums and marigolds going strong. The kids are vastly amused that they can eat a flower off the nasturtiums. Red Russian kale is going a deep purple color in the cold weather.
