Christmas 2006 Newsletter

Thinking back over the past season, it is a little ironic that the summer seemed to pass so quickly. Spring arrived in Iowa a full month earlier than normal this year, yet the time still raced by much too quickly. It feels like just last week the hostas were poking through the ground and the first lily pads were floating on the pond, but a stroll through the garden reveals that another gardening season has come to an end.

We had a busy, but fun year here at In The Country. 2006 was our first year with the new greenhouse and if you visited us in early spring, you know just how jam packed with plants the greenhouse was. We are pleased with how things went, but are eager to make improvements based on what we’ve learned from our first year managing the greenhouse.

The second weekend in May was our Spring in the Country Open House. It has become tradition that the weather for our Spring open house is less than desirable and this year was no exception! While we have definitely had worse, the cold, wet day was no good for gardening. As gardeners always do, we bundled up and made the best of it! Despite the weather, the Edible Flower seminar turned out to be a lot of fun for everyone. The floral cream cheese spreads made a popular morning snack!

Another first in 2006 was the Pond Expo sponsored by the Eastern Iowa Pond Society. It was held at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids and vendors and speakers from all over the country participated. Being the first time for such an event in Iowa, we had no idea what to expect, but were very pleasantly surprised at the turnout and reaction to our plants. The Pond Society is already making plans for next year and we'll definitely be there!

In June the KCRG news came to film the garden and interview us for their "Our Town" special on the town of Independence. We only had a week notice, so we were in a mad weeding and mulching frenzy that week! Thank goodness we have great family and friends willing to pitch in to help get a lot accomplished. The garden looked really great! We received many kind compliments after the special aired in July. If you didn’t happen to see the clip on TV, you can watch the video in the Hot Off the Press section.

In July we took off to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Midwest Regional Hosta Society Convention. It was three days packed full of nothing but hostas, hostas, and more hostas! The people you meet at these events are the best part. It is great catching up with people you know from years past and also a great opportunity to meet up with “internet” friends. Everyone is so friendly…and addicted to hostas! We visited five gardens in the Milwaukee area. All of the gardens were unique…ranging from collections of beautifully grown specimens and backyard nurseries to serious hybridizing set-ups. All of the garden hosts were more than gracious and accommodating. We all had a wonderful, though exhausting time. If you are a hosta lover, I highly recommend attending a convention. You will love it...guaranteed! We are already looking forward to 2007 when the Midwest Regional comes to Davenport, Iowa. You can see all of our Convention pictures in the Midwest Regional Hosta Society Convention gallery.

We brought back quite a few new hostas from the convention, many of which will be available in the spring. In fact, we have so many new hostas in the works for next year that we expanded our shade house growing area this fall. I hope to have our 2007 hosta listing posted on our website sometime around the New Year, so be watching for it, Hostaholics.

After several years of talking about playing around with hybridizing hostas, the hosta convention gave Jim and me the motivation to finally give it a shot. We still need lots of practice, but are excited to see what will develop from the seeds that resulted from dozens of crosses and hours of work over the summer. We'd love to talk hybridizing with anyone who is interested!

I was honored and excited to be asked to write an article for The Hosta Journal this fall! The Hosta Journal is the official publication of the American Hosta Society. The article will be printed in the spring issue, so there is plenty of time to join the AHS and receive that Journal, if you like. You can find membership information at hosta.org.

Hopefully winter will pass quickly as we tend our hosta seedlings and plan for the coming season. We look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Open House November 17-19. As always, we can't thank you enough for your support over the years. May your Holidays surround you with happiness and the ones you love!

Sincerely,
Josh, Sue, & Jim