I had such a great time Saturday. Made all of the driving worth it.Getting to meet & talk with so many of you for the first time was great!! I wandered the sales area
and the hosta growing area many times. The food was all delicious. I especially liked the baked spaghetti
of Chris's that I've been hearing about for years. Couldn't stop eating it. So yes - you need to keep
making it, Chris.
The afternoon plant swap was fun - got some nice plants I didn't have before from it. Then at the auction
I added a few more that I didn't have. Got one really nice streaked Continental Divide seedling that has
pods on it. That was a nice prize!!
Then we got to paint leaves and there were some interesting ones thatcame out of that. I'd never painted a leaf before & that was a lot of fun. Especially the memories generated
at the table where Brian, Art, Linda Port and I were sitting. Priceless. Thanks to Brian.
After the reaction I got to my 'Six Degrees of Hosta Separation' quiz at my get-together, I decided not to
subject anyone to actually taking it there. I included the quizzes in the Halcyon info I handed out. I'll post the
answers early next week. [When I remember to do it.] So everyone will have all weekend to try to get the
correct answers.
On Sunday, Linda Port and I went over to Hidden Lake Gardens to see the Hosta Hillside there and the
conifer collection. We had so much fun wandering around there. I hadn't had a chance to see the conifers
last year when we toured there with the AHS convention so I was glad I had the chance to get there this year.
We both discovered some very nice and extremely inexpensive starts of conifers outside the gift shop.
We both had to get a new one called 'Nuclear Blast' that bears a strong resemblance to a Charlie Brown
Christmas tree.
Had to have it!! The woman in the gift shop said it's so new that she doubted we could find anything about it on the internet yet.
I took a lot of pics at Hidden Lake and the growing fields at Hallson's but after I saw Mike taking pics of
people, I put my camera away. I knew he'd have it covered.
Linda & I followed Art & Lynn over to Walter's Gardens in Zeeland on Monday. Had a great time!! CH Falstad
and Amy Bergeron treated us to lunch and the grand tour of their facilities and growing fields. After touring
the indoor facilities with Amy, we went to lunch and then the farm. The hibiscus seedling bed [4 acres - ??]
was overwhelming, but VERY cool to walk from one side to the other. Then we got to see the seedlings that
Hans Hansen has under observation and a lot of his seedlings from this past winter. Naturally he has some
pretty cool plants. Before we left, we got to walk thru their test gardens where the new sports are grown near
the parent plant. There are some interesting things in there as well. But most of what we saw there has already
been introduced.
Then we had to head back west and to reality again. **heavy sigh** But it was a great hosta weekend!!!
So good to see everyone and have a chance to talk!! And to have such wonderful hosts as Chris and Brian!!
They were great as always!!!
The food was great, as always. The hosta trade and the acution were lots of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the leaf painting. There were some beautiful leaves. Mike's (hostadesigner's) was fantastic! 
