It is December, but this winter weather is a real shock! We’ve struggled to reach 30 degrees this last week and it looks like the week ahead will only be a little better. We missed out on the big snow storm that hit Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin, so even though it definitely feels like winter it doesn’t look like Christmas, yet. At least not outdoors.

The shop has been decked out for Christmas for a few weeks. Our annual Christmas in the Country Open House was November 17-19. Thanks to all of you who came out for a little Holiday fun! We had a really great reaction to our first ever Christmas Road Trip and were pleasantly surprised at how many of you made the entire trip. This was the first year our Open House has started on Friday. Again, we were surprised at how busy we were that day. Hopefully it was more convenient for some of you.

With the Christmas Open House over, things have returned to their “normal” state of chaos around here. We will be open on weekends from now until Christmas, so if you are in need of a special gift or weren’t able to make it out to the Open House you can still stop out.

While we’re all hunkered down indoors (or in the greenhouse!) for the winter, we’ll be thinking and planning for spring. If you are already tired of winter like me, you might enjoy browsing our 2007 Hosta Listing. We have over 70 new varieties for 2007 and will likely have some more new additions to add closer to spring. You will notice that we are now officially accepting orders online through our new online store. If you are local, you may place an order online to be picked up here at the shop. Of course, you can still stop out and shop like usual any time you like!

Hosta growers should be on the lookout for a couple projects starting this winter. My first article for The Hosta Journal will appear in the spring issue. The Hosta Journal is the official publication of the American Hosta Society. You can find the membership application at www.hosta.org if you would like to join the AHS. I’ve also written a second article that will probably be printed in the mid-summer issue.

I am also going to be doing a Hosta of the Month column in the Eastern Iowa Pond Society newsletter. This will start in the December 2006 issue. You can find out about the Eastern Iowa Pond Society at www.eips.org.

Keep checking our website periodically throughout the winter. We’ll be adding news and updates as things come up.

Until then, Merry Christmas to all of our friends!