Going to Chicago has awakened a sleeping beastie deep inside my psyche. I am experiencing that most dreaded of all gardener maladies….Zone Envy. I envy, oh, indeed, how I am lusting for some of the plants grown in a more temperate climate…

It’s all about the hostas, baby.

You see, I seem incapable of growing a hosta to more than about 4 inches high before it is eaten down to the bare nubbins by snails. (Oh, how I hates me some snails!)

I’d blamed it on the damp, cool, wet springs we have… and yet, Chicago was cooler and wetter than home and it had these incredible specimens.

I suspect the Biltmore Estate has a hosta or three as well. Someday, I’m going to make it to Biltmore. Thing is, see, after seeing Chicago’s gardens, I fantasized about having a home there to garden in.. in the summer. I’ve been north of Chicago in the winter, and that was more than enough for me. Summer, on the other hand, might not be all that bad.

So, would a visit to the Biltmore have me looking hard at Wilmington NC real estate? Me, who has also a desire to someday visit the Outer Banks?

Perhaps not. I don’t really like moving, and I suspect I don’t have the energy, or even the life left in me to make another garden from scratch.

But a girl can dream. And I’m dreaming about HOSTAS.