St. Louis and Back....

Hello dear friends! My oh My have I been Busy, with a capital 'B'!!! On February 16th-18th my fellow Horticulture Students and I went to St. Louis for our spring Field Study. We had a wonderful time and I even got to tat on the bus! I'm working on an antique pattern in Lizbeth red that I think will be a contestant for the Boone County Fair this year. In St. Louis we went to the Botanical Gardens and saw their Orchid Show and got behind-the-scenes tour of their production Greenhouses.
We made 7 stops and each one corresponded with one of the degree majors that Kishwaukee College offers. Our first stop was at Stark Brothers Nursery where we got to see them grafting tree stock for the upcoming season. Fruit and ornamental trees are their specialty. Next was that St. Louis Children's Hospital where we toured their roof-top garden that offered a glorious view of Forest Park in downtown St. Louis. The Botanical gardens were incredible and our tour guide was such a hoot! He's an older guy who has been there for 20-some years and loves tropicals. It was great to get to chat with him and learn more about tropicals and his job. On the 17th we saw Dierbergs floral headquarters and the cooler that they keep their flowers in is half the square footage as our house! It smelled amazing in there! Bellerive Country Club was the stop for the Golf Course/Turf majors. We had an great opportunity to see all the inner-workings of a VERY expensive golf course. I was afraid to touch anything! They have millions invested in equipment and their mowers are HUGE! The last day we were in Missouri, we visited the Nestle/Purina grounds in downtown St. Louis. They have extensive gardens, and trees, paths, and ponds at their headquarters. You can even bring your dog to work and bring Fido outside on your lunch break for a romp in the dog park.
The very last stop of the trip was to Buckley Growers. They have almost 4 acres of greenhouses were the concrete floors are heated and the roof gables will open up on an automated system to cool the houses! It was my favorite because, naturally being a Greenhouse Major, I'd love to work in that kind of environment.
It was amazing!


So even though this post doesn't have a whole lot to do with tatting I thought I would share with ya'll what I've been up too. I'll have pictures of the red antique doily up soon. OH! and I've finished the remake in the soft lime green, size 30 thread! Pictures are on their way! Be on the lookout!
Have a Blessed Sunday everyone!
Allison