The Super Bowl is Sunday, February 4. Because my beloved Vikings missed playing in the game due to an unfortunate showing in Philadelphia (it still stings), I couldn't care less about the two teams competing for the Vince Lombardi trophy. But since the great state of Minnesota is hosting Super Bowl LII (52), I am super excited for many reasons.
My family and I have been texting all week about stories and facts about the Big Game. It's supposed to be the coldest Super Bowl on record (Sunday's high is 9 degrees), so it's a good thing it will be a balmy 70 degrees inside the U.S. Bank Stadium. No worries about Tom Brady further injuring his fingers or hand due to frostbite.
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| U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis |
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| Endless Summer BloomStruck hydrangea (photo courtesy of Bailey Nurseries) |
Alas, bigleaf hydrangeas, like BloomStruck and Endless Summer, don't grow very well in dry Colorado, but it is a fantastic plant in its own right, with pink or violet-blue flowers, depending on pH. I love that the Super Bowl is using this plant, because the purple flower color is also a nod to Minnesota's favorite musical son, Prince. (Did you know there are Vegas odds on whether Justin Timberlake will perform a Prince song during the halftime show?)
The Nord Farm crew in Cottage Grove grew 3,500 BloomStruck plants to place around the stadium. There's even a rumor that there will be a living plant wall, stacked high with purple and pink hydrangeas. The plants were delivered earlier this week, after weeks of being babied in the greenhouse to get them to flower perfection. They look great!
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| BloomStruck hydrangeas at the Nord Farm production greenhouses |