Penny Carnathan

Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.

Kim Franke-Folstad

Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.

Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.

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Picture yourself here: More photos from The Dirt’s Dirty, Dirty Tour

Posted Nov 2, 2009 by Kim Franke-Folstad

Updated Nov 2, 2009 at 07:04 PM

Penny already has reported most of the details from our very fun (and very hot!) trip to Riverview Flower Farms. So I’m just going to post some of the photos I took during our tour.

Did we mention that it was hot?

I have to say, the group I toured with was unbelievably un-whiney. Die-hard gardeners, no doubt about it.

Ours was the last group to tour the farm, and we had to wait a bit to get going. Penny kept our guests entertained (that’s her in the center of the photo) and answered some questions.

And there was plenty to look at, even inside. The pre-tour buzz: How does Farmer Rick Brown keep his plants looking so great? And will they stay that way when we plant them? (More on that later.)

Rick’s lovely wife, Sydney Park Brown, showed guests how to make seed cups.

And Lois Kessler of Temple Terrace got her seed on …

I finally got to meet some of the best Friends of The Dirt, including Janna Begole and this group: Chip Fulp, center; Chip’s wife, Diane, left; and Janis Vogt, right. Chip and Janis are regular commenters and we LOVE them! It was good to put faces to names. (Diane said she’s a regular reader, but doesn’t always have time to comment.)

We also worked hard to recruit new Friends of The Dirt, including Eric Young, 14, whose posts you started seeing Saturday after the tour.

Rick showed us several plants that will thrive in our gardens – including a sterile type of Mexican petunia that isn’t on the market yet. It’s called Purple Showers and will grow anywhere, Rick says – but it won’t take over your garden. Crossandra Orange Marmalade got much love from fans. And Rick had a dwarf purple cone flower that blooms year-round. It’s a new must-have for my garden. We got to see row after row of gorgeous Florida Friendly plants, including these great petunias.

Rick also showed us a handy “pot in pot” irrigation system using “Little Tunias,” a new kind of petunia bred for winter’s short days. We all wanted to kidnap and take them home with us. (They went on sale at area Home Depot stores this week.)

Tour guests came from all over, and had questions very specific to their zones. A gentleman from Brooksville noted that their temps get much colder than most Tampa area gardens – 17 degrees last winter, he said.  Eda Marman came with other members of the Bartow Garden Club. She took more notes than I did, and asked great questions.

Many thanks – again – to Rick and all the folks at Riverview Flower Farms. And to my fellow Dirty Girl, Penny, for arranging the whole thing.  You guys are awesome.

The after-tour buzz: Everybody was heading to Home Depot to pick up plants!