Fall/Winter 2010 Newsletter

As we wrap up our 13th year in business, I honestly feel it has been one of our best, yet. We receive numerous magazines and newsletters devoted to the horticulture industry and with increasing frequency, it seems, hardly an issue arrives that doesn't report the closing of yet another garden center or nursery. The past couple years have been challenging for everyone and those of us in the horticulture business are not immune, by any means. To still be in business is a success in itself. To be able to say the past season has been one of our best, we are very fortunate.

Sure, plants are the core of our business, but there are two more factors that are every bit as important to our success. Maybe even more important. Those two factors are our helpers and our customers.

We are so very lucky to have a number of fantastic family and friends who are critically important to us. If these people were not so generous and giving of their time and energy, we would not be able to do what we do. Period!

And what is a business without customers? Many new customers have put their trust in us and purchased items from our website over the last three years, and some of our local customers have been with us from the beginning. We consider our customers to be our friends and we strive to build healthy, lasting friendships. We hope you consider us friends, as well! A healthy relationship can not be built without communication, so please let us know what we are doing right and what we need to improve upon. We appreciate the support of each and every one of you more than words can express! With your continued support, we look forward to growing into the future.

Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!

We hosted several events and workshops this year and had a lot of fun. I think everyone who attended had a good time, as well. In April we held a Succulent Garden workshop for the second year in a row. Succulents continue to intrigue and delight more and more people and we have already had requests for another Succulent Workshop next spring. If you are not on our email list, be sure to enter your email in the box at the top of this page. Email is often the only way we announce workshops.

Our annual Spring Open House on Mother's Day weekend kicked off the crazy month of May. After 12 years, we've come to expect little to no cooperation from the weather. It was a real heart-breaker to wake up to frost that Sunday morning! Thankfully, most of the plants were still under cover, so the damage could have been much worse. The garden, however, took an additional hit two days later when a hail storm rolled through. I thought gardening was supposed to relieve stress, not create stress?!

Remarkably, by the time our Hosta & Dessert Social came around in mid June, the garden had renewed itself almost as if nothing had happened. Aren't plants amazing?! The day was filled with hosta fellowship, a lively hosta swap, and an interesting hosta seedling contest. The Biggest Leaf Contest is always a big hit and this year's winner was Colette with her 14"+ leaves!

We had the opportunity to do a bit of traveling this season. Between hosta conventions and speaking engagements, we found ourselves in Bloomington, Minnesota and Clear Lake, Des Moines, La Grand, and New Hampton, Iowa. We became quite familiar with the sights along Interstate 35 during June and July! The people we meet and become friends with during our travels are the best part of this big adventure.

In an effort to grow the best plants and offer you the most enjoyable and fulfilling experience we possibly can, we are continually changing and improving our garden and nursery.

A year ago we revamped our main shade house with a permanent lattice top, and the upgrades continued this year with a new shade house in front of our main greenhouse. This was such a huge convenience when the weather turned hot and we had to move all the plants outdoors. We actually had somewhere to go with them! The new shade house was also a big help in keeping our potted plants looking nice throughout the summer.

The mail order portion of our business has grown exponentially every year since we decided to take the plunge three years ago. We still have a ways to go, but we feel we are making good progress on managing this part of our business. One thing we have gradually been doing is growing more of our hostas in pots and fewer in the ground. After the initial disaster of attempting to over winter potted plants, we now think we have a reliable wintering technique. Within another year or two, our plan is to completely convert to growing in pots.

Growing our hostas in pots has several advantages for us and our customers. First, it is a huge time saver when it comes to packing and shipping orders. Our local customers should also appreciate not having to wait for us to dig plants. The wait can be a real bottleneck during busy days like our Spring Open House and the Hosta & Dessert Social. The physical aspect of digging and dividing large clumps, as well as the time consuming task of keeping up with weeding, is getting to be too much. Growing in pots should alleviate a great deal of these issues and allow us to focus our time and energy on more productive tasks.

Growing a healthy plant is always at the forefront of our minds and transitioning to growing in pots will help with this, too. Constantly digging and dividing field grown plants is, unfortunately, a very good way to spread disease. With Hosta Virus X and foliar nematodes (among other things) becoming of greater concern in the hosta world, we feel the risks of field growing out weigh the benefits. Transforming our growing area has been a slower project than we would like it to be, but we have converted another section this fall.

Also in the works this fall has been a new display area in the garden. Our display garden has been at a stand-still for several years due to lack of space. Most hosta collectors can relate - so many neat plants, so little room! This new bed runs nearly the full length of the west side of the garden and will likely be a work in progress through next summer.

There is never a dull moment at In The Country! As you can see, we have lots of exciting, new projects underway in our efforts to continually cultivate a more enjoyable experience for you - our customers, our friends.

Thank you so much for your support and friendship over the past season and we look forward to seeing you (in person or online) in the spring!

Sincerely,
Josh, Sue, & Jim