At last the mountains of snow are gone! Spring officially arrived a couple weeks ago and we’ve been on the weather roller coaster we call spring ever since. In the last two weeks we’ve enjoyed some beautiful spring-like days, big, wet snowflakes, howling wind, rain, and tornadoes. Gotta love spring in Iowa!

There are a couple new items of interest on our website. The first is information about our Spring Open House. The dates are May 10 and 11 - Mother’s Day weekend. Bring along mom to see what’s new at In The Country! We’ll be giving away a $50 shopping spree to one lucky customer. You will find special open house coupons and details on the shopping spree on the Spring Open House page.

You will also find a 2008 Water Plant listing. We are proud to offer what we believe is the most extensive selection of pond plants in Northeast Iowa. You will find several new plants to try in your pond this year, as well as lots of old favorites. If you have a pond, check out the 2008 Water Plant list to see what we have in store.

It is definitely starting to feel like spring and some of the early blooming bulbs and woodland wildflowers are blooming. Much to my disappointment, we found a few hosta eyes just starting to poke out of the ground, too. With the rain we’re supposed to get and then even warmer temps next week…it’s all too similar to last year when the garden sprung to life way too early, only to be frozen in late April. I hope I’m wrong and we are spared the heartache all gardeners in Iowa dealt with last spring!

For you traveling gardeners, I want to mention a few gardening events going on this summer in Iowa and surrounding states. The National Convention of the American Hosta Society will be held in St. Louis, Missouri on June 11-14. What more could a hosta lover ask for that eating, sleeping, and breathing hostas for four days with 100’s of fellow hosta-holics from around the world??

June 26-28 the American Conifer Society will hold its annual meeting in Dubuque. This will be the first ever ACS meeting in Iowa - what a treat! Some of Iowa’s best kept garden secrets are several premier conifer collections. Many are private gardens, so this may be your only chance to see some of these stellar gardens.

Finally, the Midwest Regional Hosta Convention will take place from July 10-12 in Chicago. We are planning to attend both the National and Midwest Hosta Conventions. We will be closed July 9-13, but will try to find a worker for June 10-15, so we can remain open. If you can possibly plan your visit to In The Country around these dates, we would really appreciate it and it will likely save you some frustration!

Within the next week our spring newsletter will be mailed and posted here on our website. Also coming soon are details on our second annual Hosta & Dessert Social. The date is June 21, so keep that day open! We have a few new surprises that will make this year’s Social even more fun than last year.

Spring is well under way in the greenhouse. Everything is loaded with buds that will begin to burst open in the next week or two! We look forward to seeing you very soon!