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The Newsletter of the Michigan Hosta Society
June 2017 Volume 18 Number 3
Message from the President,
Now that summer has arrived, we all should step back from
planting and rearranging our flower beds to take in the beauty
and joy of what ,the just past, spring has brought us. Don’t
stop too long, or if your garden is like mine, the weeds will
take over.
I would be remiss if I didn’t write a few words about the
passing of a good friend ,personally, and a great friend of the
Hosta world. I of course am referring to Van Wade. I last saw
him in March at Hosta College. He was frail, but determined to
continue as the only person to have attended every one of the
annual events. What he did for The Michigan Hosta Society, as
a member and as a benefactor was unlimited. We will miss him as
both.
August 20, 2017 please consider joining the other members of
the MHS at the Hidden Lake Gardens in Tipton for our semi-annual
workday, annual organizational meeting, plant auction, and Sarah
DaPra’s famous Hot Dog Lunch. If you arrive not knowing anybody
in the organization I guarantee that you will leave with many
new friends and contacts. Maybe even a couple of new plant. Remember
hostas are the Friendship plant.
Grey Gitzen
Come join us for our annual meeting at the Hosta Hillside at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Road (Hwy M-50), Tipton, MI 49287 around 9am, August 20. We will begin by gathering at the Hosta Hillside to spruce the gardens up. There will be jobs that everyone can do so if you have a physical limitation there will be tasks that meet your abilities. We would like to focus on mulching the beds from the middle to the south. The north half was well mulched in the spring. There will also be jobs for deadheading, weeding, labeling, and possibly removing some plants that have taken over. Please bring your gloves, a bucket, maybe a shovel, pitch forks (really useful for mulching), possibly pruning shears and other tools you feel might be helpful for the event. It is not a bad idea to put your name on your tools in case they get left behind.
Around noon, we will assemble at the big tent adjacent to the main parking lot for our luncheon featuring Sarah's famous hotdogs along with the usual trimmings which typically include chips, salad, some type of desert and drinks. We ask a nominal donation to help offset the cost of the luncheon. Following our lunch we will have a brief business meeting that will be followed by our annual plant auction. If at all possible, please bring a plant(s) to donate to the auction. With the passing of Van Wade, the many plants he donated in years past will need to be replaced with plants from our other members. The sale of these plants is a major source of funds for the Michigan Hosta Society.
Please come to this year's event even if you are not able to
work in the gardens. We want you to feel welcome and be able to
socialize with all of the garden friends that share a common interest.
If you haven't been to a meeting in a while, we want to see you
back and reconnect. If you have other gardening friends whom
you think might be interested, please bring them along so they
can see the beauty of what we have done in creating the Hosta
Hillside at Hidden Lake Gardens. See you there!