Ask the Experts – The Best, Smartest, Funniest and Only Plant Blog Panel of Experts Anywhere

Hello endofmayersandmayerettes, and happy Friday!

Welcome back to the Good To Grow site, and thanks for being here.

Woohoo, it’s Friday! We’ve been patiently waiting all week for this day to arrive. So, let’s rejoice!

Let’s get our Friday Festivities started by saying hi to our Experts. Hi everyone!

 

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Liza!”

You’re so cute! From left to right, that’s Andy Williams, Tim Thackaberry, EZ Ed Johnson, Dottie Correll and Lewis Casey. If you’d like to know more about them, please click here.

I may have asked my Experts this question in the past, not sure, but everyone loves a good ghost story, right? I decided to ask again.

Q. Please share with us a ghost story.

Expert Andy, what say you?

A. No ghost stories here, although the movie that probably scared me the most was the Amityville Horror.  That house was the definition of haunted.  Whether ghosts were behind it or not, who’s to say.  But if that’s what a ghost is and does, I’m out.

A.

I may have told this one before, but it still (pardon the pun) haunts me to this day.

My daughter was born in April, 2003; my father died in January, 2003. The fact that he never met his granddaughter still makes me emotional. Anyway, one night I heard Samie giggling in her room in the middle of the room, she must have been 3 or 4 at the time. So I go in to ask her what is going on. She tells me, very matter of fact, that she just saw my dad outside the window, making funny faces and being silly. I say, how do you know it’s my dad, you’ve never seen him. She says “It was Grandpa Paul. He looked like you, but it wasn’t you.”

She insists to this day (she’s now 12) that she saw my father that night. Freaks me out every time I think about it.

A. I was told the story several years ago. She was 19 at the time, but she said when she was a child and alone in her bedroom one night, she noticed smoke coming from the wooden window sill. She moved toward the window, then felt a presence behind her. She turned and thought she saw her grandfather. But the image was quickly gone. The smoke also disappeared, but the wood felt warm. This happened a couple of times. Her grandfather had died years earlier, in a fire. When she told me the story, her voice was calm, but low, as if she did not want anyone else to hear.

————————

Liza here again. Expert Dottie is unavailable this week. Booooo! Let’s admire her adorableness:

And move on to Expert Lewis. Lewis?

A.

Morning,

Rain,rain,rain, sorry to much rain

I am in Denver to celebrate my

niece’s Katie high school graduation today. She is a great kid / young woman and we love her dearly.

Her dad who lives near Dallas was planning to be here but his home was flood on Monday and he was evacuated and staying in a shelter.

Last night he was trying to fly here but the rain delayed and then canceled his flight.

The river is rising again and his home will probably be flooded again.

Ok I love the rain but maybe sometimes enough is enough.

Pray for those in peril and make a donation to the American Red Cross or some other worthy aid organization the need is great.

Thanks

L

Well those answers ran the gamut, didn’t they? I was amused with Andy’s answer – I remember being terrified by that movie back in the day. Both Thack’s story and EZ’s were SUPER CREEPY!!!!! Yikes, those gave me goosebumps!

And Lewis, I’m sorry about your family – those floods in Texas are awful! And there’s more rain on the way for them. It’s really a bad situation all the way around. My prayers go out to everyone affected.

Let’s call that a wrap for this week’s Panel of Experts. The Experts will return in a week. They look forward to seeing you back here.

We’ll move on to the current puzzler now:

???Real or Fake???

Last week, I asked if this flower was real or fake:

Let’s see how you answered:

Joseph Brenner of Texas wrote, “That looks like a very real pitcher plant.)B>{D}”

It seems that Joseph was the only person brave enough to venture a guess this week. Thanks Joseph!

So how did he do?

Let’s take a wider view:

I’m not sure if this photo is helpful or not, but IT’S REAL! All the flowers in this bouquet are real. And really pretty, too!

Real plants and flowers are always better looking than their fake counterparts. Fake plants are expensive, they get dusty, and they don’t clean the air in a room – so why bother? I can actually see the benefit of fake flowers at times – they can be artsy and they certainly last longer. But I still would rather have real flowers any day, fresh bouquets are lovely in the home.

Great job Joseph! I’m not surprised – you’re very skilled at this game. I hope you’re staying safe over there in Texas.

To show my appreciation for you playing, I’d like to award you the following prizes: The end of May, one life raft, one diploma from the school of fresh flowers, three kudos, a salad spinner, 15 1/2 bonus points, one swimming pool, three Opuntia in bloom, five pushups, Cojita, four shades of blue, Brent, seven biscochitos, one swimming pool, three spare big toes, grapefruit juice, two basketballs, Bernalillo County, one pedicure, a vacation to tomorrow, 6th Avenue, two small Koala bears, four Spanish songs, one ceiling fan, four flour tortillas, a gentle breeze, three constellations, one cheerful forecast, four hamburger buns, two Birds of Paradise trees, five accolades, three compliments on your outfit, a chess board, less rain, and a jar of maple syrup.

Congratulations! And thanks for playing!

Up next, the new puzzler:

???Real or Fake???

Is this plant real or fake:

Fair warning: THIS MIGHT BE A TRICK QUESTION!!!!!

Think you know the answer, smartyplants? Leave your best guess in the comments section. You have until midnight MST (that’s 2a.m. EST) next Thursday, June 4th, to cast your vote. I’ll reveal the answer and the winners after next week’s panel of Experts. The prizes may be imaginary but the link to your site and the glory of winning are oh-so-real.