MICHIGAN Hosta Society                            

Dear MHS Members,

The dictionary defines "doldrums" as a period of inactivity or recession. That certainly fits my predicament as a gardener. This time of year, I have had enough inactivity and I am longing to be out in my yard. I'm even looking forward to spreading weed killer, which is my least favorite garden activity.

I hope you have all taken note of the date change for our day in May at Hidden Lake Gardens. Our original date was set on Memorial Day weekend, so it was changed to Saturday, May 18. We will work on the Hillside from 9 am
until 11:30 am, followed by lunch provided by MHS. Our speaker following our lunch will be Mark Hanner, who has
so graciously agreed to talk to us about succulents. Mark has many, many succulents and this popular topic should be
quite interesting to our group. We will also have a bag auction including a wide range of plants and other donated items. Following the raffle we will convene the MHS board for their meeting. You are invited to stay for the meeting if you wish or you could tour Hidden Lake Gardens. I'm sure you could even find more to do on the Hillside. Who knows, there might be surplus Hostas that need a new home! This is an important activity for the club, especially this year, because we are relocating several of the hybridizer's beds in preparation for the American Hosta Society convention in 2021. On June 22 we will be back on the campus at MSU for our annual plant sale and leaf show. We have had great success with our current grower, and I am sure this year will be no different. We will have hundreds of very desirable new plants for your yard. There is always a line of hostaphiles waiting for the sale to open. The last couple of years, we have had a fine array of leaves from all over the state for the leaf show. Sarah DaPra and her staff do an outstanding job of presenting the leaves for viewing and judging. We need better attendance at this event, so you are encouraged to come back to this fun filled day if you haven't been in a while. Also, please try your hand at entering leaves in the leaf show. It is a lot of fun and you might win some awards!

If you can't join us in May, perhaps the August 18 workday/ auction/annual meeting at Hidden Lake Gardens will fit into your schedule. I can't emphasize enough that we need lots of help maintaining the Hillside, and this is another opportunity to volunteer. Also, it is a fun day: lunch and meeting under a tent, a great selection of plants to bid on, and the company of good friends. If you don't know anybody in the organization, come to work sessions. You will leave with lots of new friends and contacts. Last but not least, thank you for your interest in the species 'Hosta.' It truly is the friendship plant.

Sincerely,
Grey Gitzen
MHS President