It's time for the annual ROHS garden tour and plant auction.
Sunday - July 1, 2007
4 gardens northwest of Des Moines, IA - wonderful day of gardens, fun, plant acquisitons, & fellowship.
Begins 8 a.m. in gardens of Greg & Sue Olson - Roland, IA
9 a.m. Skycrest Gardens, Ames, IA - Tom & Marilyn Kinney
10:00 a.m. Bob & Nancy Briggs - Boone, IA
Tour will end @ the Iowa Arboretum about 11:00 a.m. where lunch will be served @ noon.
Then the Hosta / Plant Auction
This year the Cedar Rapids / Iowa City Hosta Society is joining us for our summer tour / auction. It's a time to meet new friends and greet old friends.
ROHS members will be digging some special plants for the plant auction to benefit the club and the organizations we sponsor through out the year.
Contact any ROHS member for details. We would love to have you join us for our summer tour. We always have a great time. And this year there is some special surprise planned for us at the arboretum. And if it is too hot or raining our auction will be held in the cool meeting room at the arboretum.
Contact
Hallson members that are also ROHS members:
Reldon
Pepper One
Trudy
Connie D
Marlys
Also see posting on Marlys' Garden / What's Coming Up
http://www.marlysgardens.com
ROHS (Russ O'Hara Hosta Society) Garden Tour & Plant Auc
Moderators: ViolaAnn, redcrx, Chris_W
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Hosta12_Ia
- Posts: 757
- Joined: Oct 12, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Iowa
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Hosta12_Ia
- Posts: 757
- Joined: Oct 12, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Iowa
There'll be lots of other people there to bid against, Jo. 
But one of the most fun auctions a couple of years ago was watching Marlys & her daughter bidding on the same hosta a couple of times and then Marlys & Trudy bidding against each other for Dorothy Benedict. 
Trudy won. At the height of the action, Marlys' guy Ron usually falls asleep for awhile. 
It's a lot of fun!! You need to be there.
But one of the most fun auctions a couple of years ago was watching Marlys & her daughter bidding on the same hosta a couple of times and then Marlys & Trudy bidding against each other for Dorothy Benedict. Trudy won. At the height of the action, Marlys' guy Ron usually falls asleep for awhile. It's a lot of fun!! You need to be there.
Oh yes, Renaldo, we all remember that auction very well. The auctions are the best part of the day.
mmm Auctions-R-Us.....that is good, Kathy. Of course, Kathy and husband have really nice streak seedlings they have donated for the auction in years past. I will be looking in my gardens this week to see what we can come up with..........
You never know what hostas will show up at the auction. Or what snacks!
The tour will be well worth your time. Marlys has written a very nice post about the happenings for the day.
Please come and join us. We promise you will have a fun time. Who can pass up a garden tour like this. Iowa has some of the best hosta growing soil around.
Would be fun to meet more Hallson folks
mmm Auctions-R-Us.....that is good, Kathy. Of course, Kathy and husband have really nice streak seedlings they have donated for the auction in years past. I will be looking in my gardens this week to see what we can come up with..........
You never know what hostas will show up at the auction. Or what snacks!
The tour will be well worth your time. Marlys has written a very nice post about the happenings for the day.
Please come and join us. We promise you will have a fun time. Who can pass up a garden tour like this. Iowa has some of the best hosta growing soil around.
Would be fun to meet more Hallson folks
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Hosta12_Ia
- Posts: 757
- Joined: Oct 12, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Iowa
-
Hosta12_Ia
- Posts: 757
- Joined: Oct 12, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Iowa
Auction Block
Sue,
Club members bring plants for the auction. Not everyone brings plants and not everyone sticks around for the auctions if it is too hot!
The last 2 years the heat was almost overwhelming! Only the crazy
folks stick around then. We all sweat together! However, this year if it is too hot it is my understanding that we will have the auction indoors in air conditioned comfort in the Harold Hughes Center @ the arboretum.
I did spend most of the morning outdoors trying to decide what plants to dig for the auction. My gardens are becoming over-crowded & this is a great opportunity to share plants with others. I dug Fragrant Blue, Tokadama Aureonebulosa, American Sweetheart, & 3 eyes of my favorite - Regalia.
Man, it's tough to cut into those big perfect, favorite plants. I also dug Blue Moon but it was so perfect I just moved it to a less crowded spot and I also dug Julia Hardy but she was too perfect to let go too so I just moved her to a better spot too!
I'm hopelessly addicted.
I also dug a huge pulmonaira sdlg but it is totally wilted. They resent being moved! Often companion plants show up at the auction also. They sell well too!
Grab your friends & hit the road with us! Once Lisa Putman & Kim Larsen drove down from MN just for the auction. Lisa got the deal of the day on hosta 'Oh Cindy'.
Usually Greg Johnson is our auctioneer. He knows hostas inside / out! He tells the story of the plants so it is very educational too. We are lucky to have him in our club. We also have Audra Wilson in our club who was personal friends with Russ O'Hara & the Benedicts. She often donates hostas OS from those two famous hosta hybridizers plus more. She knows all the hosta people all over the country. She has 15 acres full of hostas and other plants but mostly hostas. She is a very kind & generous person. Also Stark Gardens is a part of our club, now Eric & Shelia Kinman but there is still a few Gunther originals in there. And the guys from Quilted Gardens are in our club. They usually bring not the usual dwarf conifers, ferns, etc. And as Trudy mentioned, Pepper 1 (Kathy & Gary) bring his fun sdlgs. I have 2 in my gardens. And Trudy, of course, brings wonderful plants from her Holland Drive Garden. Many others bring plants too! But most of all we have fun!
Reldon, what are you donating this year?
So to answer your question; there is no way to really tell how many plants will be auctioned off but I bet Gary could tell us all as he is the book keeper for the whole event and also the club treasurer and so much more. Gary??
Price is whatever someone is willing to pay for a particular plant. Dorothy Benedict, I believe was the top selling plant lately. Some plants go for $5.00 some for allot more than that depending on what they are and who wants to pay for them. The auction is our fund raiser for the year. We support the Iowa Arboretum and several other educational - garden related projects. We donate to public garden projects, etc. So when we win plants we are also donating support to many good projects and maintaining our own club. It a good thing.
MM
Club members bring plants for the auction. Not everyone brings plants and not everyone sticks around for the auctions if it is too hot!
The last 2 years the heat was almost overwhelming! Only the crazy
folks stick around then. We all sweat together! However, this year if it is too hot it is my understanding that we will have the auction indoors in air conditioned comfort in the Harold Hughes Center @ the arboretum. I did spend most of the morning outdoors trying to decide what plants to dig for the auction. My gardens are becoming over-crowded & this is a great opportunity to share plants with others. I dug Fragrant Blue, Tokadama Aureonebulosa, American Sweetheart, & 3 eyes of my favorite - Regalia.
Man, it's tough to cut into those big perfect, favorite plants. I also dug Blue Moon but it was so perfect I just moved it to a less crowded spot and I also dug Julia Hardy but she was too perfect to let go too so I just moved her to a better spot too!
I'm hopelessly addicted. I also dug a huge pulmonaira sdlg but it is totally wilted. They resent being moved! Often companion plants show up at the auction also. They sell well too!
Grab your friends & hit the road with us! Once Lisa Putman & Kim Larsen drove down from MN just for the auction. Lisa got the deal of the day on hosta 'Oh Cindy'.
Usually Greg Johnson is our auctioneer. He knows hostas inside / out! He tells the story of the plants so it is very educational too. We are lucky to have him in our club. We also have Audra Wilson in our club who was personal friends with Russ O'Hara & the Benedicts. She often donates hostas OS from those two famous hosta hybridizers plus more. She knows all the hosta people all over the country. She has 15 acres full of hostas and other plants but mostly hostas. She is a very kind & generous person. Also Stark Gardens is a part of our club, now Eric & Shelia Kinman but there is still a few Gunther originals in there. And the guys from Quilted Gardens are in our club. They usually bring not the usual dwarf conifers, ferns, etc. And as Trudy mentioned, Pepper 1 (Kathy & Gary) bring his fun sdlgs. I have 2 in my gardens. And Trudy, of course, brings wonderful plants from her Holland Drive Garden. Many others bring plants too! But most of all we have fun!
Reldon, what are you donating this year?
So to answer your question; there is no way to really tell how many plants will be auctioned off but I bet Gary could tell us all as he is the book keeper for the whole event and also the club treasurer and so much more. Gary??
Price is whatever someone is willing to pay for a particular plant. Dorothy Benedict, I believe was the top selling plant lately. Some plants go for $5.00 some for allot more than that depending on what they are and who wants to pay for them. The auction is our fund raiser for the year. We support the Iowa Arboretum and several other educational - garden related projects. We donate to public garden projects, etc. So when we win plants we are also donating support to many good projects and maintaining our own club. It a good thing.
MM
Looks like we will have great weather for this year's tour and auction...with highs in the low 80's!
We normally have around 100 or so plants donated for the auction. Average price last year was around $20 or so. Very few plants go for more than $50 and a $100 plant is pretty rare (but there can be some GREAT plants offered that are definitely worth that). Actually, there are a lot of nice plants in the $5-15 range. Last year our top plant went for $125.
I think we will also try a silent auction in addition to the live auction this year...Eric Kinman said that the silent auction at the National Convention went well.
Look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.
Gary
We normally have around 100 or so plants donated for the auction. Average price last year was around $20 or so. Very few plants go for more than $50 and a $100 plant is pretty rare (but there can be some GREAT plants offered that are definitely worth that). Actually, there are a lot of nice plants in the $5-15 range. Last year our top plant went for $125.
I think we will also try a silent auction in addition to the live auction this year...Eric Kinman said that the silent auction at the National Convention went well.
Look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.
Gary
-
Hosta12_Ia
- Posts: 757
- Joined: Oct 12, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Iowa
Marlys - I could give you the answer of 'the same thing that I donate every year', but I have a feeling you're trying to goad me into actually bringing something this year. LOL Tomorrow will be decision day for what makes it over to Linda's Hosta Hoedown and the ROHS auction the next day. If all goes well, I will be able to be at both.
But I had a message on my answering machine tonite that my 100 year old uncle passed away this evening. I'm hoping the funeral will be Thursday or Friday, but since one of my cousins lives in southwest Michigan and another in the Chicago area, I don't know for sure yet. And they probably don't either... Hopefully I'll know more by tomorrow.
But I had a message on my answering machine tonite that my 100 year old uncle passed away this evening. I'm hoping the funeral will be Thursday or Friday, but since one of my cousins lives in southwest Michigan and another in the Chicago area, I don't know for sure yet. And they probably don't either... Hopefully I'll know more by tomorrow.