Kudos and then some to Tammy! I'm not surprised because you really, really know your stuff!

Better be careful, though ..... as I see it, when TriangleJohn kept winning all the ribbons, the Fair committee retaliated by electing him an Official, thus ineligible for prizes! Sneaky, aren't they?

Enjoy your Blue Ribbon, Best of the Best status!

P.S. Tammy - the styrax in my side yard is dropping ripe seeds, you'd mentioned wanting some .... if so, email me. I'd love to share - think I'll plant a few myself (see what you started!?!).

Congrats, Tammy! I can't wait to see it! I'll be heading over there tomorrow.

Congratulations, Tammy! We are planning on going to the fair Sunday and will definitely go see it!

Kudos to you Tam. I'm not a big fan of crowds but I just might brave it after reading John's description. Your family makes quite a team I am sure. Adele

Good Job Tammy!
Congratulations on the honor of taking the "Blue Ribbon at the NC State Fair (Best of all Blue Ribbon Winners)!". You Go Girl!!!! Looking forward to your display!.....Dianne

thanks so much guys! i can't take all the credit- lots goes to pete and the kids, too. and john!! i don't know how i'd have ever even gotten started with the gardens without him. rootdigger gave me lots of feedback, advice and plants. and adele helped lots, too. in short- thanks to all of you for your support. i even threw in some tutti frutti agastache, red shield, 'haight ashbury' and alternathera i got at the swap for the red/brown color at the last minute. we really had fun doing it, and got into the theme a lot. we are big time tea drinkers so i t was a natural fit for us.

zigzag, i'll email, too, but i'd love some seeds- thanks so much for remembering! adele- if you go on a weekday it really isn't that crowded in the garden area. probably the lightest day would be tues. no shows, special discount days or anything else going on that day. karen, sorry we'll miss you. i think we're going to be out there sunday. watch for tj, though- he's out there about every day! hope i bump into more of you while we're out there. i'll be entering the cut flower & arrangement shows mon & thurs and then watering. i'll try to post pix soon- probably tomorrow. i'm wiped tonight. :) tam

Congratulations Tammy

Congrats Tammy! Sara and I are going Monday since it's a teacher workday. Can't wait to see your plot.
Dana

Congrats Tammy, Pete and kids, it is awesome!! You all really out did yourselves on this one!

Congrats. It anyone takes a pic, please pot it here!

Congratulations! I knew you could do it. Can't wait to see pics.

thanks for all the kind words! it really does mean the world to us. ok, i'm not sure if i can do this- it's been a while, but here goes. i'll post more if i get better ones.
llooks like i can do it, but i can't seem to get it to be a smaller size. sorry about that.
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and here are a couple detail shots, courtesy of carla (ratgirl)

the cup:
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the spoon:
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and the moon- no really, the sugar cubes:
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WOW!!! That is amazing! You did a great job. You are so creative. Did Pete do all your metal work? You are both very talented. I can't wait to see it in person. You are quite inspiring with the use of props and plants. Shannon/Dirtrx

It looks beautiful. I love the sugar cubes.

Tammy, it was absolutely wonderful. And I have to ask, where did you get the Hibiscus sabdariffa in the back corner? I'd never heard of that one, and then to google it and find out that the calyces are edible.... I've got to try that!

Tammy and Family,

Went to the fair today; made our way to the garden exhibits. Excellant Job Tammy and Family! The chosen plants with their variety of colors and textures were perfect and healthy. Your choices of props were outstanding, it is obvious that great thought and effort went into this project! The Cup; I stood there and speculated; what is it made of? I especially like the marble dot theme that ties it all together. Again Congratulations! This is a must see at the fair!........Dianne

Wow, wow, wow!!! And more wow. That is just amazing. Tammy, you and your family did a job that is definitely worthy of the blue ribbon. WoW!!!!!!!

Wow - Congratulations Tammy and family - can't wait to see it. My sister is coming down to stay with my Mom and giving my hubby and I the whole day off to get over to the fair on Wednesday. It looks so darling in the pictures and I know in person it will be so much better.

Again Congratulations........

Lynne

again, thanks for all the great feedback! when you're there be sure to check out all the other neat gardens- there are lots.

yes, shannon, pete did all the metal work. again and again in some cases- they kept coming out crooked. they still are abit. :) we like off kilter so it doesn't bother us. it was my design flaw- i wanted the curved tri-legs and it's very hard to get them straight with curves and level.

karen- the roselle is an annual i started from seed in late april or may. it's super easy (but does like water). i got the seed at logan's this spring. i'll be chopping up the top of it come the monday after the fair and anyone who wants to try a cutting is welcome to. plus quite a few of the plants will be for sale that morn. i have no idea if they root well, but since most hibiscus do, i'd guess it will. can't tell you what conditions to overwinter it in.

i can't wait to try and make some tea for myself- hibiscus, rose hips and mango are probably my 3 favorite ingredients for tea. i have a bumper crop of hips on the dortmund rose, too, though they didn't color up as well as i'd hoped. probably by the end of the fair- cool weather helps.

off to do some arrangements for tomorrow's show.... tam

Thanks for the pics Tammy. It's marvelous!

Good luck on your flower show entries.

Tammy, the rose hips may not be all that you hoped, but I overheard people talking about them at the fair.

Congratulations Tammy! I love your display.

Carla

I saw Tammy's display in person yesterday and it looked great!

Can anyone tell what the lavender-flowering plant is that's at the entrance to the cut-flower exhibit? The flower resembles a skullcap.

thanks shari! i managed to get 8 small arrangements and 1 wreath done, plus some cut flowers, so we'll see. next year, you guys should really try it out- the cut flowers especially are not hard, and it can really add up if you do well! i earned $111 at the first show (not counting the garden) for potted plants, cut flowers and arrangements. the kids crafts and arrangements rarely have many entries, and it's a great way for them to get a ribbon and a little spending money. oh, and you get to park on the grounds for free and no admission charge (at least til 3 that day).

alicia, i'll ask if i remember next time i'm out there about the skullcap looking blooms. which end of the flower house were they on? were they part of duke's display or actually outside? or are you talking about at one of the gates?

glad to know the rose hips were at least noticed. they are stunning when they color the whole way. it's a really weird coincidence that i love dortmund and have it for the flowers and then this year i discover it turns out to be one of the very best for edible hips. my pink pillar's hips are pretty too, but taste metallic, so i hadn't taste tested too many after that trial.

i forgot to explain what the cup was made of. you know those clear bubble umbrellas from the 60's? well, i figured those were a nice cup shape, and they are still made. so as i went searching, i found out they make an extra large size. i figured i could paint it white inside, then line it with that expanding foam stuff and have a nice white shiny surface for the outside that would look like porcelain. the foam stuff is a pain to work with and get smooth, but i knew that up front, and it hardens nicely. it all worked up til the great stuff made the vinyl pucker. agh!! panic time. so i kept covering it with more and more layers of things til i got to where it is now. thank goodness i have sewing skills and know how to work with 3-d forms. it has packing foam sheeting on there and plastic tablecloth, and then the top layer is cheap fabric from wallyworld. it's the same fabric as the spoon, but with white backing instead of black with tiny silver dots that make the 'metal'. i used it inside out, and then turned the edge for the silver gilt. the inside has the great stuff, then foam sheeting, then the white plastic. i didn't do fabric in there. the base & handle are fun noodles with wire run through for shape and attached with glue & screws. we opened it before all this, ran a screw into the handle to jam it open, then sawed off the handle &butt end. the whole shebang is fairly heavy, but quite flexible, which is why we needed the support. we considered doing it with hypertufa, but it would have been soooo heavy, and hard to get shiny. i never saw any pots that would have worked for less than $100 (and they were all too small and would still have had to be modified), so i guess we came out ahead, but i shudder to think of the hours and money we put into that blinkety blank cup.

the spoon was easy in comparison. it was flashing bent to form the handle over a rebar support pete welded, then covered to match the top in fabric. the top was a heavy wire edge, and the form was chicken wire that i then went over with duct tape. i first tried aluminum foil, which looked 'planet 9 from outer space' bad. that was when i remembered the fabric at wally world. i used a blue version of the same stuff for my mom's wedding table arrangements last fall. nice stuff- it's stretchy, cheap, and doesn't ravel when cut (though if you stretch the edges they run like pantyhose). it was just a matter of carefully cutting and covering it by attaching with spray mount/super 77. it slips in the handle in the back.

the teapot is just very thin plywood/luan cut to the correct shapes and painted many times that we salvaged from a plot from last year. they are held up with rebar. the sugar cubes are 3/8" plywood covered in sheet foam, dusted with 'diamond dust'. i will keep the cubes for sure, and probably the spoon for the heck of it. the cup- i don't know how practical it is for long term use. we'll see. the teapot umbrella is just a regular umbrella- albeit a wedding 16 panel version- so we'll reuse it.

I'm so glad that you posted photos! I really love what you've done and thanks for describing it, too. I know I probably won't make it to the Fair this year.

Congratulations!

Cameron

Tammy,
I knew that "Tea Cup" was a work of art (sounds like many hours of art work!). The whole arrangement is just perfect!. Will you be going into yard and garden design? I know you know your stuff!.....the "Tammy Family Rocks"!...Dianne

Tammy, the plant with the lavender flowers is inside the building where the cut flowers are shown -- I think at the end nearest the Elizabeth Lawrence garden entries, and the little greenhouse with the salvias.

ok- i'll try to remember to check tonight, alicia. that's the duke garden exhibit. i had a feeling- they always have cool stuff in there.

thanks for the sweet comments, dianne, but no, no plans to become a garden designer. i have too many hobbies & interests, and not enough time. the problem with most of them is that if i tried to do it 'for real' i'd get bored and tired of it quickly. i like the challenge of this but wouldn't want to do it full time. my garden at home and the fair garden is enough! not to mention- i'm quite sun sensitive, so it wouldn't be a smart career move (i work in the shade at home, and planned carefully when i worked at the plot). besides, i'm not trained in horticulture or landscape design or any of that, nor do i particularly want to be. i appreciate a well designed garden, but am not into the overly planned look for myself. the beauty of my job as a freelance retoucher is that it leaves me enough time to indulge in things like this and volunteering at school that i wouldn't have time or energy for if i worked full time. plus, each assignments is little different which keeps me fresh and challenged.

alicia - maybe it was a plectranthus??? There are a few blooming in the Duke display on the corner inside the building and some got entered in the cut flower show. Everything from the first show got thrown out and now we have the second show going. On Wednesday the second show gets tossed and the third show starts on Thursday.

alicia- the only thing i saw was plectranthus in the duke section. there are 2 clumps of it. or maybe it could have been an annul cut flower?

Yes, that's definitely it! I don't I've ever seen it before.

oh good. i know the first time i saw that plect blooming it stopped me in my tracks it was so pretty. that was in duke's display and tj's harry potter garden several years ago. it took me a couple years of asking ?'s to figure out what it was.

Fantastic. And everyone pasing by was commentiong on the amazing metal-work. Killer, Tammy and Pete!

Ditto on being glad that someone posted pictures. Terrific display Tamelask.

Congratulations. Tam! Thanks for posting the great photos, too. How wonderful...

Sally

Got to see the displays on Wednesday and all were so fantastic which just goes to prove how innovative and good Tammy's was. To John and everyone who worked on that part of the fair - thanks. It is even better in person than in the photos - congrats again Tammy.

what I do want to know - which display entered the garter snake or it that a permanent resident - lol - he sure seemed to be having a good time in all the Elizabethan gardens on Wednesday and was the topic of conversation.....

Lynne

Well, I'm really embarrassed to admit that I went to the Fair on Tuesday and managed to miss Tammy's prize winning garden - am sooooo ashamed. Problem is we went unprepared and consequently did the entire fairgrounds backwards, leaving the garden area on the last leg (at which point we all were hot, hazy and seeing double!).

Being old codgers, including my 30-something son and his wife, we had only gone to the Fair for the livestock (they're new chicken farmers!) and the gardens - but still managed to blow it!

Thanks for the pics here of Tammy's Tea Party - sorry I missed it in person, but the few gardens I did see (before giving in to the vapors!) were wonderful.

Long live the Garden Club(s), TriangleJohn, Tamelask and all the rest of the folks who make this yearly event happen! Thank you.

Just looking at Fair wrap-up - Tammy won 20 1st place ribbons! You go girl!

how'd you do that brenda? i didn't know you can do that. do tell- that's pretty cool and a bit creepy at the same time.

yeah, i did pretty well with arrangements and cut flowers this year. not so much competition. not counting the garden, i won more than $300 for cut flowers, arrangements, and potted plants. one of my kids had over $50, while the other mostly struck out with about $15. pete doesn't compete other than helping with the garden- i have yet to convince him to enter a cooking contest (he's really good). i'm telling you guys- there's some real dough to be made, and it's fun, too. at the same time, i'm so glad it's over for the year! whew!! lol.

Pete should compete in art, along with photos and paintings! There were a few metal sculptural pieces there, but none as good as Pete's stuff. I framed and entered 2 of Mike's photos as his birthday present in 2005. He did not win, but he was tickled and surprised to be looking thru all the photos, as he always does, and find his own hanging. You can see all of your prizes at http://www.ncstatefair.org/2007a/winnersearch/index.asp

Congrats again.

what a sweet surprise for your hubby!! you know, it never occurred to me to enter him in the art category. maybe we'll do that next year. there's a lot less competition in the 3-d category. i've thought about entering paintings and or photos, but there's so much competition, and since it costs to enter, i just never bothered (i used to up north, and won a few times). that's what i like about the garden competitions - they're free so even if you don't win you haven't lost anything, so to speak. liv entered a drawing this year in in the indy category (no charge for kids). she didn't get anything- strangely, all three that placed where photos, not handmade art (ok- photos are art, but shouldn't be competing against paintings & the like. they're very different art forms and can't truly be compared. they separate it for the adults & they should for the kids too).

thanks for posting the link- i'm gonna go check that out! fun fun.

Congratulations. I only wish I could have made it to see it in person!