Fall/Winter 2008 Newsletter

2008...A Year to Remember

The past year has been memorable, to say the least. Be it the astronomical gas prices or the volatile economy, the record breaking floods or the monster tornadoes, everyone will remember 2008 for one reason or another.

Here at In The Country Garden & Gifts, we have numerous reasons to remember 2008, as well. Despite all the gloom and uncertainty about the economy, our season was quite successful, overall. Spring started off strong with our Spring in the Country Open House on Mother's Day weekend. The weather was on our side for once, and we were more than pleased with the turnout. After the long, frigid winter, it seemed like everyone was eager to get out in the garden.

In early June we headed to St. Louis for the National Hosta Convention. Sales at the Convention were very good and our expanded line of hosta gift items, including mouse pads, key chains, checkbook covers, coasters, bookmarks, and three new t-shirt designs, turned out to be very popular.

I was surprised and honored to receive the Best New Author award from the American Hosta Society for contributing to The Hosta Journal over the past year. I was also asked if I would be interested in taking over the position of Website Coordinator for the American Hosta Society website. I am still learning on the job and look forward to helping the AHS grow through their website.

When we left for St. Louis, the flooding was just starting to get serious. We had no trouble getting there, but we quickly realized getting home would be a different story. What should have been a five hour drive home turned into a nine hour, round about trip.

This season was a challenge for the water gardens. After the severe winter, many pond owners found dead fish once the ice melted. Then the spring and summer were so cool and overcast, the water lilies were sluggish and did not bloom as prolifically as usual. As gardeners so often say, maybe next year will be better!

We were very lucky to avoid the natural disasters that devastated so many families in Iowa this year. The evening of the monster tornado in May, tornadoes passed about 15 miles to our north. We were very soggy from the copious May and June rains, but we are nowhere near the flood zone.

The excessive spring rains wreaked havoc for so many, but the hostas sure did thrive with all the moisture. We escaped this past spring with only minor frost damage and with all the rain, I can't remember the hostas looking bigger or more lush! The hostas were in prime condition for our second annual Hosta & Dessert Social in mid June.

The day could not have been more perfect to talk hostas with friends, both old and new. The turnout was fantastic, with people coming from as far away as Wisconsin and Illinois. About 25 hosta nuts took part in the hosta swap. The Biggest Leaf contest was new this year. There were some huge leaves entered, but Doug Blanchard of Denver, Iowa took home the prize with his mammoth leaf of Hosta 'Big John'.

In early July we packed up again and took off to Schaumburg, Illinois for the Midwest Regional Hosta Convention. Great friends and amazing gardens were the common theme for this trip. I was especially excited to visit Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery, where the barbecue was held on Saturday evening. What a wonderland of unusual trees and dwarf conifers!

The weekend after we returned from Schaumburg, the Harshbarger Hosta Society stopped for a visit. Between 20 and 30 hosta aficionados toured the garden and did a little shopping before heading on to the next destination on their trip. In October, the Harshbarger Hosta Society sponsored Bob Solberg to speak to the group in Coralville. We had the pleasure of attending. It is always a delight to soak in some of Bob's infinite hosta wisdom. He is hybridizing some truly groundbreaking hostas - red hostas, anyone?!

To wrap up the season, in August we set up at the Brucemore Garden & Art Show in Cedar Rapids. We had heard many great things about this event, but had never been there. We were not disappointed! Sales were good, we saw many familiar faces, and hopefully reached out to a few new people.

The Brucemore show gave us the perfect chance to debut our new Gardener's Touch Hand Cream. Back in June when we were in St. Louis, we just happen meet a business man who presented us with this new opportunity. The initial response at Brucemore was encouraging, but we have a long way to go realize the full potential of this new product. Gardener's Touch Hand Cream can be purchased on our website or here at the shop. It would make a wonderful Christmas gift for the gardeners in your life!

Having only launched our online mail order store in 2007, we are very pleased with the increase in online sales in 2008. This growing portion of our business brings along new challenges and hopefully, a few changes we are planning will help smooth out the bumps for next season. Speaking of next season, our 2009 Hosta Listing will be posted on our website no later than December 1st. Once it is up, we will begin taking orders for spring. We will always try to make sure we reserve stock for our local customers. If you see something listed that you can not live without, though, consider ordering it early to make sure it will be reserved for you. As we experienced this season, several extremely limited hostas sold out very quickly! Local customers can pre-order and you will not be charged a shipping fee, if you plan to pick up your plants here at the nursery.

Another change for us at In The Country is our decision to not have our Christmas Open House anymore. Sue and JoAnn have been in the crafting business for nearly 30 years. They have seen many trends come and go over the years and have noticed attendance and sales decreasing the past few years. We decided it is time to focus our energy on the core of our business - the plants. Sue and JoAnn appreciate everyone who has purchased their hand crafted treasures over the years!

We will always remember 2008 for one reason or another, but it is now time to begin looking toward the year ahead. What will 2009 bring? Who knows!? It is always an adventure, so let the fun begin!

Thank you to everyone who visited us here at the nursery, ordered from us online, and bought from us at the Hosta Conventions! Now more than ever in this time of economic uncertainty, your support is needed and deeply appreciated. Have a warm Holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the spring!

Sincerely,
Josh, Sue, & Jim