Gardening renews the spirit. May is time to spread spring wings & take off "Hosta Hunting"; Or just plain climb out of the "rut" & go have fun.

It's tradition for my girl friends and I to get out of town in spring time. We set a date, take vacation time, and away we go. We are never quite sure exactly what we'll do or where we'll end up. But we know we will have fun!

One year we flipped a coin to see which direction we'd go and ended up in the Mark Twain Caves near Hannibal, MO. Once we went to Branson, MO. We just get away for 4 or 5 days & enjoy ourselves.

The past 4 years our Spring Flings have been gardening adventures. We've been north to Willowglen Nursery near Decorah, IA & east via the Dubuque Arboretum to Timber Ridge Nursery near Elizabeth, IL. Next June we are hoping to attend the 2005 National Hosta Convention in Ohio. This past June we took part in the 2004 National Hosta Convention in Des Moines, IA. We've made many hosta friends.

Also see Plant Places & Garden Friends for other fun adventures.

LaDon's Garden - 502 W Main St., Epworth, IA is a favorite spot to stop. Larry Clements welcomes visitors to his gardens with a hand shake and says good-bye with a hosta-hug. An appointment is advised. The garden is listed at AHS Iowa Directory.

Larry is very proud of his hosta introduction 'My Darling' named for his wife Donna. He also has a heart shaped garden honoring the love he & Donna have shared for so many years. He's really a fun guy! If you're ever any where near Epworth treat yourself to a visit to LaDon's Garden.

On occasion we have opportunity to become acquainted with special people. There was no conception four years ago while planning our very first Spring Fling / Hosta Hunting / Plant Safari that we would become friends with Josh Spece.

The trip was planned via an Iowa tourism website featuring unique places to visit in north eastern Iowa. We were “Plant Hunters” searching for big prize trophy plants. We set out knowing only we wanted to visit the Dubuque Arboretum, go to the river boat & swing over to Galena, IL to do the “girl’s day out” thing. Our five day adventure took us to Willowglen Nursery north of Decorah, IA. & east to Timber Ridge Nursery near Elizabeth, IL. The entire trip is memorable but the friendship formed with one very specially talented young man & his family has added great dimensions to my life.

After wandering gravel roads confused, arguing & lost near Independence, IA we finally found, “In the Country” Garden & Gift Shop. Greeted by Sue Spece, Josh’s mom & partner in their backyard nursery business we were instantly at ease, enjoying first the array of huge healthy hosta specimens growing in the old cow lot on the family’s dairy farm then the water features brimming with aquatic plants. Ron & I were just getting started “ponding”. I needed expert advise. This is where Josh came rolling in. His bright green eyes & wispy red hair shone in the sunshine. His sweet smile melted my heart. Hearing the gentle kindness in Josh’s voice I knew right away I could trust his knowledge. We became best hosta friends immediately. Our friendship has grown each season, sharing plants, information, & fun hosta events. The latest aspect of our friendship is Josh being the webmaster here for my very own website. Josh designs web sites & likes to surf the net.

Visit Josh’s website: www.inthecountrygardenandgifts.com There you will discover tons of information on water gardening. I consider Josh one of Iowa’s water gardening gurus. He also has great knowledge of the genus Hosta. He calls himself a “plant nut”. Aren’t we all?

However Josh has courageously overcome huge obstacles in life. He was born with a form of Muscular Dystrophy & uses a wheelchair to get around. He has completed his AAS in Horticulture. Josh wrote a regular column on accessible water gardening for Pond & Garden magazine for some time. He also contributes to many garden web forums including HostaHub; the internet's first categorized hosta directory & the Hosta Library. Somehow, Josh also finds time to be a mentor for a young student at a school near his home. I am honored to have such a friend.

On our Spring Flings we search for new plant places, not the big boys but intimate, backyard places to experience. Lots of times we start out only knowing of one place to go but before leaving there we ask if there are any other plant places we should visit. We discovered The Hosta Leaf nursery in northeast Iowa just this way. We met Bob, Julie, Danielle & Tyler becoming Hosta Friends right away.

Their business grew out of love for hostas & an interest in beautifying their home. And it is a lovely place, carefully tended by the entire family sharing their love of plants & the outdoors. They make you feel welcome the moment you arrive. The display gardens include 3 water features AND over 1,000 varieties of hosta with 500 for sale, plus 200 varieties of daylilies, & many other perennial plants. Yes, it is a good time & yes, you can spend hours trying to make up your mind what you really want to buy while walking through the timber gardens. Bob or Tyler will dig the plants for you. These are not little baby one or two eye plants either, they are young vibrant treasure plants. There are same quality potted plants awaiting you in the greenhouse. The generosity of these folks is almost unbelievable. They do business the way we wish everyone did.

Julie has also converted an old granary building into a small county store offering gifts for gardeners, candles, baskets, & more. Plus Bob & Julie still have their "day jobs" too.

I noticed at The Hosta Library six new introduction plants with Colesburg as the prefix name: Colesburg Blue, Colesburg Crocodile, Colesburg Frogger, Colesburg Julia Lynn, Colesburg Sonny Boy, Colesburg Tyler John, evidently all from the Hackbarth family. Wow!

The American Hosta Society 2005 National Convention June 16-18, 2005 Cleveland, Ohio 'Hosta Heartland'

Connie & I attended the 2005 American Hosta Society National Convention. It was in June but it was our 'Spring Fling' 2005. We actually made plans & everything instead of just jumping into the vehicle & heading for the hills as we sometimes do. And amazingly, somehow, things went pretty good. We stopped at every garage sale from here to Ohio & visited just a couple more plant places on the way home including Hornbaker Nursery near Princeton, Illinois.

'Hosta Heartland' tour gardens were fantastic. We attended Wednesday optional tours also. Helen & Ken Walkerly - 'Gardens of Faith' - Wooster, OH Doug & Mardy Beilstein gardens - Mansfield, OH Van & Shirley Wade - 'Wade & Gatton Nursery' - Bellville, OH

Thursday garden tour & catered garden supper was hosted by:
Pat & George Raeder - 'Garden of Weedin' - Akron, OH

Friday Garden Tours Jon & Eileen Soucek - 'Angelica Gardens' - Avon, OH Buddy Miller - 'Hidden Oasis Gardens' - Avon, OH Paul Klein - North Ridgeville, OH (his neighbor's had a garage sale) Bob Kuk & Joe Duale - Kuk's Forest Nursery - Brecksville, OH

Saturday Garden Tours Dave & Sue Mills - Mills' Creek Park - Chesterland, OH Allison Titgemeier/Dick Herr - Grey Horse Farm - Chardon, OH Peter & Jean Ruh - Homestead Division - Chesterland, OH

2005 Convention Plant (given to all attendees) FREE!
Hosta 'Miki'
A Japanese hybrid from seed cross (Hirao Majesty x Hirao Supreme) being Hirao Tets
It is rather open, medium-large, yellow, slightly wavy leaves, with violet flower.
Named for H. Sugita's daughter, then a little girl who is now married and works for radio & TV as an announcer & singer.
Registered in 1991 - has never been sold or distributed.

Vendors attend the national convention from all over the country. They bring the newest & the best to offer the hosta world. In 2004 Barry Sligh brought product clear from New Zealand. 2005 - Jim Schwartz of Jim's Hostas brought a mature hosta 'Gunther's Prize' priced at $600.00. Hosta connoisseurs converge in droves anxious to buy up hosta treasures. It's very stimulating elbow-to-elbow competition. There's also an assorted array of numerous hosta related paraphernalia. It's all too much to absorb in just one visit. Many shopping trips are required to soak it all in.

Hosta 'Guardian Angel' was awarded the Alex J. Summers Distinguished Merit Award by outgoing AHS president Kevin Walek. The mini hosta 'Surprised by Joy' won the purple ribbon at the cut leaf show. There are several other prestigious awards given each year at the national conventions.

Of course, we also attended the cut leaf show (very exciting) and the Friday & Saturday evening banquets and the Saturday afternoon Hosta Auction! Don't ask what we bought or how high we bid on certain plants. Also don't ask how many plants we brought home with us. Let's just say the van was over-stuffed. We only had to unpack & repack once at Hornbaker's on the trip home to get in next-to-last purchases. Then we stopped in Palo, IA at a garage sale & that wonderful Cedar River Garden Center. Yes, we were holding things on our laps all the rest of the way home again! No, we didn't get much sleep. The vendor areas stayed open till after 11:00 p.m. and the buses left early for the tour gardens. The banquets and other activities kept us busy in the early evenings and we went to a garden party at Dr. Dave Bowe's home on Wednesday evening. Dr. Dave is a hosta friend we met first on-line on the Hallson's Hosta Forum then in person at the 2004 national hosta convention in Des Moines, IA.

There are so many great hosta folks out there. Connie & I have made so many wonderful hosta friends & had so many exciting hosta adventures. I don't know what life would be without hostas & great hosta friends.

For lots more Convention photos, see the Convention Gallery and the Convention Slideshow.

My friend & fellow master gardener, Marilyn Van Wyk and I attended the regional Master Gardener conference in Cedar Rapids, IA. We had a great time. On Friday we were joined by Eve Vanden Broek & Erin Hiemstra (our group coordinator).

Thursday was non-stop garden tours, then outdoor dining at Bruce More Mansion. We returned to the motel 12 hours after our departure time. It was a very good day.

Friday was filled with gardening related presentations by various expert speakers. There were vendors too and dinner Friday evening in the motel.

Saturday morning was breakfast & more presentations, then an expert panel discussion forum for our questions. Vendors were still there!

It was a good time.

See more pictures on the Upper Midwest Master Gardener Conference page.