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Wow!! What weather! Good rain and absolutely marvelous temperatures. I love spring and even those all day rains.
I want to highlight the importance of dividing your plants for our plant sale on Sat. May 10. This is one of our moneymakers for the year and our proceeds will be used to bring in fabulous speakers (like Deb Spencer -- even though she was very inexpensive). We, also, will continue to donate money to promote and educate the public about water gardening.
Kenn Outzen and Dean Koob are again our plant sale coordinators for the day. They are very good at establishing fair (and cheap) prices and organizing the day. It is very important to divide your plants when you repot or thin out. These divisions can be placed in plastic bags with tops sticking out, if they are big. Please label as best that you can so that we know what we dealing with. If you know the botanical name -- great!! If you don't the name but know the color of the bloom -- this is okay also -- please label the bag as such. If you do not know anything about the plant, that is okay -- we may be able to figure out what they are. Keep out of the sun and keep them cool until the day of the sale. You can do these divisions like a week or two before the sale if you handle them this way. If you need help getting the plants to the sale we will pick them up. Just let one of us know. You can also donate a whole pot of something. Any kind of plants will be accepted -- they do not have to be aquatic plants. The Master Gardeners and Ames Garden Club are having their sale the same day. The MG are even sharing the DNR Forest Nursery grounds for us to squeeze in. We think we can compliment each other.
We are changing the way we are conducting the sale. In the past we basically had only members buying plants at very cheap prices. We also had the sale on a Monday evening, which gave us very little time to get everything done, and it was tough getting the public there.
Now since you are donating plants and/or are members of our great organization, we need to give you priority in obtaining plants before the general public. So, on Friday evening (May 9 from 8 PM to 9 PM) we will have a presale to members and whoever helps with the sale and/or donates plants. We will be setting up for the sale from 6 PM to 8 PM on Friday evening -- right before we sell anything. So bring your plants then and be prepared for buying what you want that night. We will need volunteers on Saturday also. If you can't make Friday then bring your plants before the sale starts on Saturday -- be there between 7 AM and 8 AM. The sale opens to the public at 8.
Our plant sale is going to be at the DNR Forest Nursery on South Duff, behind the new fire station (map). So -- please donate plants and participate. Remember you do not have to donate anything to participate.
Oh yeah -- we are buying some unique plants that you can't find anywhere else. We will have them available on Friday evening. Plants like Red Stemmed Thalia, Giant Papyrus, and maybe even a Victoria water lily or two.
What a busy weekend and, with our meeting on the following Monday, it will be even more fun. Our program is for the night (May 12) is Ryan Walrod and will be on installing lights in the landscape. Ryan owns the business "The Light Perspective" and has been installing landscape lights for several years now. I might mention that Ryan is going to be a very busy guy that week -- he is graduating from ISU, getting married (parents of the bride and groom are both family members of CIWGA) and then giving a program to us. Gee, I wonder which is on his mind more??!!
Since both sets of parents are members, does this automatically make the new couple members?? This marriage is going to be conducted at the home of the bride (Russ and Jean Buechler) and, of course, it will be conducted by the new pond that the Buechler's installed. I would imagine that the night lighting will be installed by Ryan.
The meeting will be held at Ron and Shirley Walrod's -- Ryan's parents. We are having it there because of the super job of lights that have been installed by Ryan. It will be an experience to see the Walrod's pond let alone to be able to experience the lights. WOW!! The address is 1927 Story St., Boone (map).
Okay -- until I see everybody in a couple of weeks -- happy water gardening!!
The Big Toad, Jamie
