What a joy it was to spend a week in Hungary, visiting nurseries, plant breeders and botanic gardens. While I am still exhausted, and suffering from jet lag, I am still glowing with joy after seeing good plants, meeting wonderful people, tasting great and unexpected foods and sampling some most unusual local spirits.
First and foremost the Hungarian people were kind, generous and fun. They are a proud people with a rich heritage in architecture, cuisine, plants, beer and wine. Everyone we met insisted that we sample some special Hungarian meal. My goodness, I think I gained 10 pounds on this trip - but I must say that it was well worth it. I took pictures of some of our meals and I expect to share their food with you as well, over the next few posts.
One of the highlights of our trip was a personally guided tour of Budapest at night. The sights were incredible and rich with colored lights reflecting off the mighty Danube River. Statutes, castles, bridges and the sights and smells of Budapest at night made a lasting impression. Oh how sorry I felt for the tourists that missed out on this city in favor of the more routine. Sure Paris is beautiful, but in Budapest we felt as if we had it all to ourselves.
Stay tuned for my next few posts and I will show you the plants we found and some of the food we enjoyed. See you soon. Until then - get out and enjoy your garden. The hydrangea paniculata are in peak autumn color and the caryopteris is in full bloom.
What gorgeous photos.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more details about the plants AND the meals lol.
Dear Tim,
ReplyDeleteI am interested in plants and not travelogues. Your pictures of Hungary are nice, but unimportant. Why don’t you send them to The Travel Channel (Cable TV) or some local newspaper travel section. Looks as if you missed you mission.
Carrol
Ps. I really don’t care if you gained 10 pounds.
Carrol,
ReplyDeleteThank's for the comment. I'm sorry to hear that you don;'t like the travelogues posts. While I appreicate your feelings I have many subscribers who do enjoy the occasional cultural backgound story.
If you look back in the archives, you will see that I have been doing these types of snap-shots from the begining. You will also note that I only do them occasionaly. So if they are not your cup of tea, and if you still enjoy the plant post (which are the majority of my posts), that please bare with me and you will get your plant fix.
To me, hunting for plants is as much about the experiece, the cultures, the food and the friendships as it is about the plants. Yes, finding new plans is exciting. Growing plants, gardeing and learning about plants is great. But I am fasinated by the people and stories behind the plants as well.
Eveyone else out there - What do you think? More plants and less travelogue?
I agree with Carol, you had posted this to be "A PLANT HUNT", not a catalog of feelings , edibles or travelogue. In this day & age of splitting hairs and sticking to the particular subject matter is highly recommended or your following are lost to another. Sometimes it is interesting but when a so-called world touring expert of "PLANTS" drifts off to unrelated subjects you begin to doubt their authenticy. My 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind background information on the countries where you hunt, Tim (as you said, it's not the majority - or near the half- of infos or impressions you provide).
ReplyDeletebrigitte, Austria, Europe
Hi Tim - personally, I'd say it's your blog and you post what you like!
ReplyDeleteSue
Interesting comments - I appreciate everyone's input.
ReplyDeletePlease feel free to lete me know what you want. I am trying to make this interesting to anyone that is intersted in plants, gardening and not just professions, but also regular homeowners. My main interest is to share and educate on the great diversity of plants available to us to make our world a more beautiful place.
Personally, I like the travelogue info. Obviously I read your blog because of your insight on plants,but the story behind the plants is what I find to be really interesting.If the only information is a plant description, then I might as well pick up nursery catalog.It is your blog,write what you want!
ReplyDelete