Another year has come and gone and we find ourselves in January once again. Hopefully everyone survived the holidays and the bitterly cold, sub-zero days we experienced in December! So far, 2006 has brought mostly gray skies, but above freezing temperatures. The forecast for the second week of January shows lots of sunshine and a growing excitement for the garden season ahead.

With the holidays behind us, we can now concentrate on Spring. Just within the last week, the coming season has started to look very busy! First up is the ISU Extension Garden Chautauqua on February 4th at the Starmont School. I have been invited to give a presentation on hostas from 2 pm - 3 pm.

Hosta ‘Beckoning’

Gardeners from Northeast Iowa are invited to attend a Garden Chautauqua on Saturday February 4th at Starmont Schools from 9:00 until 3:00. This program, sponsored by Iowa State University Extension, will bring together an array of speakers on roses, wildlife, conifer companions, organic gardening, edible landscaping, daylilies, hostas, perennials and herbs. There will also be displays by ISU Horticulture staff and local nurseries as well as free ISU horticulture publications.

The cost for this program will be $20 for early registration and $25 at the door. Early registrations must be postmarked by Monday January 30th. A sack lunch will be provided. For more information or a registration form, contact your local ISU Extension office or email Bob Hauer at bhauer@iastate.edu

It should be a fun day. You can find the full list of speakers on the ISU Extension website:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/chickasaw/news/chautauqua.htm

Hosta ‘Queen of the Seas’

Plans are underway for our annual Spring in the Country Open House. With the new greenhouse and greatly expanded plant selection, we are planning our biggest Spring open house, yet. We should have some details posted on our website within the next couple weeks.

We’re also working on a few other fun things and will share details as soon as we can!

If you haven’t browsed our website in the last few days, click on over to the Hosta section. Our 2006 Hosta List has been posted along with some pictures of some of the new varieties we’ll have this spring.

January and February often seem like the longest two months of the year, but we have to put in our time to get to Spring!