St. Louis travels...

A month or so back, good friend and fellow ponder Jamie Beyer called to ask if Harry and I would like to accompany him to St. Louis for a day. He was asked to give a talk there for the St. Louis Water Garden Assoc.'s annual banquet. Well, I jumped at the opportunity, with the stipulation that we got to go to the St.L. Botanical gardens, too. We also had the privilege to stay with some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, Pam and Rick Jogerest. After 15 years of visiting ponds all across the US, I'm always amazed when I walk into yet another jewel box of a garden. Talk about eye candy. Their ponds and entire back yard where just utterly beautiful! Being late summer, it was completely engulfed with plant material. 3 separate ponds encompassed the yard too, along with a swimming pool and large deck area. Party central. Pam is the garden designer and plant specialist, while Rick loves the fish and helps to do the endless watering and care. They have featured their ponds many years on the "Pond O Rama" tour and this year selected to be on the prestigious Botanical Gardens Garden Tour. And she still has more plans for a couple places in the far back yard! They recent redid the smallest of the ponds to include an above ground window. You could look into the pond and see the fish below the surface of the water. Way cool! The newest pond is Rick's Japanese pond. 8' deep and home to some very nice koi.

That evening we went with Jamie to the SLWGA annual appreciation dinner. Their club had about 80 members in attendance. It was held at the Jewel Box, which is a huge glass building at one of St.L city parks. The huge ponds out in front are a club project that they maintain. What a super bunch of people also. The meal was great and Jamie gave an excellent talk as normal. Pam was the club's event planner and I could see why they ask her to do it as it was very well done.

We returned to the house and swam in their beautiful swimming pool , sat in their hot tub, and drank margaritas till almost 3 in the morning. What great host!!! The following day, we were up early, went out for breakfast and Pam escorted us to the Botanical Gardens. What a delight. The gardens there are just beautiful, plus Pam was so knowledgeable about everything there. Was so nice to have a personal guide all weekend. I had a blast. Unfortunately, we also had to drive home the same day. So our 2 day whirlwind vacations ended way too soon. Am so hoping I get an invite back someday, or perhaps our club really needs to plan a trip to their "Pond O Rama" If so, I'm there. It was a great mini vacation and we saw some great gardens and ponds. Flowers to die for....