An event that I
always look forward to is the Spring Master Gardener's Plant Sale
that takes place in Bartlesville, OK, around Earth Day. And starting
last year (or was it the year before?), they also held one in nearby
Dewey, OK, at the County Extension Agency.

Sometimes I feel
like the prices are kind of high, so I don't buy things that I can
get at my favorite greenhouse. But often I can pick up something
that just isn't that easy to find. I'm a sucker for something
unusual or hard-to-find. I bought a Pregnant Onion one year. One
year I found a nice healthy horseradish start and was afraid I was
going to have to get into an arm-wrestling match with a rather
aggressive woman until another specimen was found, held in reserve.
I was actually rewarded for being nice to that woman, because the
plant I was offered (and bought) was a better plant. So there.
Karma Is Alive And Well.

I love the old
historic Iris, and I always watch for a color I don't have.

Several years
ago I found a Hardy Orange plant. I think this plant is also called
“Flying Dragon” or “Bitter Orange”. This is the first year
it has made oranges. I gathered them and have had them spread out on
newspaper. They are not useful as food, there's just not enough
inside to do anything with, except for seeds to plant. But they have
a nice orangey scent and so the thick rind could be added to
potpourri mixes. And the plant itself is very interesting-looking.
Several, lined up closely together, would rival, if not surpass, the
tangle of thorny plants described in a book of my childhood, entitled
“The Secret Garden”. If you want a hedge that's virtually
impenetrable and on which deer will not graze, this is your plant.
It has thorns that are really righteous.

They look better in the summer, when there are little succulent-looking leaves all over it.

We have brave birds.

The first winter, I had a
little die-back but the plant recovered well during the summer.
There is really not much need to get that close to the thorns because
when the oranges are ripe they are cast off onto the ground and all
you need to do is go out and pick them up.

I look forward
to this year's Master Gardener's sale. This year I will probably get
to participate, if I have anything started that I can donate. It
seems like they have a lot of fun with these sales, and you get to
meet some interesting people.