There is no doubt in my mind that gardeners have something special in them. Saturday definitely confirmed that true gardeners are a dedicated, if not just a little crazy, group of people!

Despite the miserable, cold, windy, rainy day, our first ever Spring in the Country Open House was a great success. We had a great turnout and the feedback was positive. Everyone, from beginning gardeners to experienced ponders, came away learning something and we had a fun exchange of questions and answers…as well as a few funny stories!

We appreciate our two speakers, Ken Lafferty and Jamie Beyer, braving the weather to entertain and educate us. We’re especially grateful to Ken, because he has been ill recently. There’s nothing like a group of fellow garden addicts to help lift the spirits!

Ken spoke on the basic principals on landscaping around your pond. He stressed that careful planning is the key to an attractive and useful landscape. Two important things to consider are what you need in your landscape and what you want in your landscape.

Jamie spent a great deal of time discussing the basics of water gardening. He cleared up some common misconceptions and stressed his philosophy that ponding should be easy and fun. A great discussion on filtration took place and he showed us his new Grid Veggie Filter and explained how it works. Jamie strongly believes this design is an excellent way to maintain good water quality in most backyard ponds. The great thing about it is it is attractive, effective, and requires almost no maintenance!

All in all, we are pleased with the Open House and I think everyone had a good time.