Shortly after Bowood Farms opened its doors on Saturday morning I dropped by to see the new line of black petunias developed by Ball Horticultural Company. Derek Schrof, Ball Horticultural's St. Louis rep, was on hand for a 10 a.m. introduction of this new flower---"the little black dress in the garden"---to Bowood's customers. The ruffled clay pot above is planted with one of the new varieties, "Pinstripe."
The talented staff at Bowood planted several "Black Velvet" petunias in pots to show how they look intermixed with other plant materials. Quite dramatic aren't they?
During my visit a crew from Alive Magazine was shooting a fashion piece for its November issue, above and below, using the nursery as a backdrop.
Later on Saturday afternoon I got as close as I could to the 38th Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race that was held on Central Field in Forest Park, see above. The park was jammed with cars and scads of people walking or on bikes heading to the field to catch the race.
As you may recall, the afternoon was very hot and there was little breeze. In fact, the lead balloon, the Energizer Bunny "Hot Hare" Balloon, floated above the tree line for a short distance, ran out of "batteries," and gently floated back down to earth not far from where it started. An email today from John Marlow, longtime CWE resident and president of the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, confirmed that the Bunny pilot, Glo Kehoe, planned to come down early. He said that the very gentle and erratic breeze sent balloons in all directions, and sometimes the balloons went absolutely nowhere. Most pilots landed in the wide open spaces of the park, which turned out to be an added thrill for the thousands of spectators.
There have been years past when the balloons caught westerly winds and drifted right over the neighborhood...that was a sight to behold. Thanks to John Marlow for his indefatigable enthusiasm promoting the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. It's another example of why St. Louis is such a wonderful place to live.
Comments