Benefit auction started - Building a Dream in the Country

[Chris_W]

Hey everyone,

In case you may have missed it, there is a benefit auction going on now to raise money for the Spece family of Iowa. It is called "Building a Dream in the Country" and the items are found here:

http://www.hostalibrary.org/cgi-bin/bui ... josh_hosta

There is more information on this project there, so I won't go into the details, but there are some nice hostas and other items up for auction with other things to be added. Reldon Ramsey organized this, and he decided to name the auctions by the person donating things, so you are kind of forced to look at each and every item to see what is available. In a way I think that will give everything a little more exposure.

One particular donation that we are happy to make is a first time introduction of a hosta that we have been watching for several years and this donation will be the first piece of this plant to ever leave here. It is a yellow turning creamy yellow centered sport of Hosta 'Olive Branch' that we have named Hosta 'Peace Offer'. Barbara King (bkay on the forums) sent us a donation for us to supply something special to this auction, so we decided to offer this plant for the first time. Check it out here: http://www.hostalibrary.org/cgi-bin/bui ... 1370132220 And for those in the business, YES, you can propagate and sell this plant if you want. Please just mention that it is a Hallson Gardens introduction and we are happy with that. We personally don't have any plans to put it into TC, but if the winner wanted to do that themselves, that is fine by us too.

Check everything else out there too, and watch for more additions yet to come!

[thy]

It is so nice to see so many hallson members donationg

Lovely hosta

[thy]

150 items, not all are hostas.
So easy to find something

[Tigger]

Yes, easy to find something, Pia, although...

If anyone is interested, I built off an Excel spreadsheet that Ross Johnson sent some folks with the list of donors and the (brief) item title. I added a column so you can sort by item class (hosta, hosta seedling/sport, non-hosta [plant], other). If you would like this spreadsheet, send me a PM with your email address.

David

[Linda P]

That's good of you, David! It's going to go fast at the end, and I would like to encourage anyone who's bidding to get in there and put in bids early, so you don't miss out. How badly do you want it? Will you ever have a chance to get it again? This auction could come close to bringing the fund to the point where the house can be started.
Go and bid right now!
And thanks to everyone who donated items, and especially to Reldon for putting it all together. What an amazing response, and many of you from this forum. There aren't many people in the hosta world who haven't benefited in some way from all of Josh's efforts on behalf of the American Hosta Society. Almost everyone here has had the benefit of his experience and wisdom in hosta growing. I am grateful for all I've learned from him, and grateful for the friendship that has grown with the whole family.

[thy]

174 items now
Thank you David, even i who can not bit on the plants have used it... are you going to do an up date ?

[Linda P]

And now 177! Let me repeat that. 177 items!!! Wow.

[Tigger]

Pia,

Yes, I have kept it updated, but it now has my notes on what interests me.

Bidding tomorrow might be a last-minute flurry. We're having a garden party tomorrow. I may have to kick people out or escape to the computer for a while.

David

[redcrx]

I'm at a birthday party near Baltimore. Hope traffic is not bad coming back.

[Linda P]

I have a graduation party tonight for my cousin, who has battled her way through to getting her degree in respiratory therapy, while raising 2 young boys, working full-time for most of it, and caring for her husband who has a back injury disability and was diagnosed with cancer in the middle of her training. That NEEDS to be celebrated. So, I will miss some of the end, but hope to be back here around 7:30 or 8.
Oh, and there was one more item added last night, bringing the total to 178 items.

[LucyGoose]

Linda, watching the bidding on yours was the best!! Congrats on that little Cow Patty!!

[Tigger]

Nice bidding war at the end for Ed's final (generous) contribution, and I gave up on the bidding war for 'Fritzy Pickles'. Glad to help the cause, and I did pick up a few things.

D

[Linda P]

I got a few things, too. I got home from my cousin's party in time to watch the beginning, missed out on a few in the middle, then watched the end. I was amazed at how many people thought Cow Patty was worth a bid. Glad to be able to help bump up the total.

[redcrx]

I got 3 I wanted and 2 others that I thought would go for higher prices.

[jgh]

I wasn't registered to bid, so I can't see the results...

but Harbor Lane Gardens (meaning us) had a couple of donations... as promised, we only registered H. 'Derriere' for fun and to use for auctions for good causes. We also picked up an oddity last year... a good sized clump from a breeder who had too many directions going so he sold me a couple of clumps including a cross of the great pod parent Pinstripe Sister with the very blue pollen parent, Indigo (from Halcyon). Hope we were able to give Josh and the clan a little support...

[thy]

Ed hope you like the ones you didn't think you got... what ever it was

With auction time between 2 and 6 AM Europe time... I had to sleep after a few biddings

[Carol O]

I got Ed's 'Red October' but was surprised that I did. Pia, your little stone tree would have been fun to try and see if it would propagate!

[Chris_W]

I'm anxious to see the results

[redcrx]

Hi Carol, I don't know what I was thinking when I put up Red October. Usually I know just which plant I'm going to take apart but I can't remember which Red October.

[Chris_W]

If you need a Red October, Ed, just let me know and I can ship one for you