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2010 AHS Convention Open Garden Tours

14 years ago

Just got the Hostaphile Newsletter yesterday. They are asking for people to volunteer to show their gardens for the optional tour days. Any of you Minnesotans volunteering to show your gardens?

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Comments (8)

thisismelissa
14 years ago
I was thinking about it, but I'm a bit frightened.... 2 reasons.
1. When I first joined this forum, someone talked about how a backyard in Minnetonka was broken into and some hostas were stolen. Though this house was not on tour, it was discovered during a tour.
2. I'm afraid how my lawn would fare.
3. My garden isn't very mature, so I'm not sure that people want to see 300 hosta that are pretty small yet.
4. I'd volunteer for the Tuesday or Wednesday, but am a bit worried people would try to stop by while we're at church on Sunday.
Teresa_MN
Original Author
14 years ago
That was my garden that was raided and my neighbor caught the thieves. That is exactly why I am not offering my garden for the tour.

Hideko Gowen's yard has been vandelized numerous times. It's far back from the road and easy to do. In addition to having opened her garden for tours, she sells from her home also.

Last summer I was in south Minneapolis when I drove by a house that looked familiar to me. I stopped and got out and I was admiring the yard from the sidewalk. A woman came out and I complimented her on her garden. I asked if she had been featured in the StarTribune once. She said she had been. I told her they had called me a couple of times after my garden had been nominated, but I was hesitant because of what had happened after the neighbor's house was on the pond tour. She said, after being in the newspaper, her garden was raided a couple of times.

That pretty much sums up why I won't be on the tour. My yard is fenced and the gates are locked. Last year I got a garden sign for the front gate and it was stolen. I got the idea from McTavish. It said "Welcome to Teresa's Garden, gardening forever, housework whenever. So now there is another Teresa out there with my sign. Sad but true.

Anyone else out there with a similar experience? Ken in Adrian, MI - has anything like this happened to you?

T
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ManyHosta. Venero IS a private residence.... from which they sell plants. It's hardly a full blown nursery and is right in a residential area. Of the other 7, yes, they were all private residences. On the optional tour, they were private residences, but I do know that one of them also sells plants.
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Babka NorCal 9b
14 years ago
That is so sad. What a sick bunch of people who would steal plants from a person's yard. We had a Japanese lantern (100lb) stolen from our front yard. We put in a second one and rigged it with an alarm. Yes, they tried to take that one too but were scared off by the spot light.

Photos are nice, but one really needs to see some of these hostas in real life to completely appreciate their beauty and form.

We have no hosta gardens out here so I have to grow my own. The only large arrays of them that I get to see are in the Hosta Journal's photos of the tour gardens, and of course in posted photos here.

Perhaps the tourists need to be blindfolded while going to and from the gardens????

-Babka
Teresa_MN
Original Author
14 years ago
I'm sure the majority of people on tours are honest and would not dream of stealing someone else's treasures. But there is always that one bad apple ..............

On a more positive note, my sign came from a guy in Colorado. I loved it so much I asked him to send me a couple of his business cards that I could hand out to fellow gardeners. My sister ordered a sign for herself and one for her daughter. Neighbors of my sister ordered signs for their cabins. And on and on. A former co-worker ordered one and mentioned in their email that mine had been stolen. The guy made me a duplicate - smaller, but identical and sent it to me for free!
hosta_freak
14 years ago
Geez,Teresa,you need to move to another neighborhood! Lol! I live in a woodland and no one would even know what that crazy old man is doing out there looking at the bare ground,this time of year! I can't believe what nerve some people have,to go into someone's yard and steal plants and garden signs! My garden sign is screwed right onto my fence,so someone would have to be well equipped with tools to steal it. Sorry to hear about your losses. I do remember the plant caper from a couple years ago! Hang in there! Phil
thisismelissa
14 years ago
You know what I WOULD be willing to do?
I would be willing to host anyone from this forum.
I feel like I can trust most of you folk.... with a few notable exceptions (you know who you are!)

I think it would be fun to have you guys. So, if anyone would like to visit lil ole me in Lakeville (about 15 miles south east from the hotel), let me know! If you're driving, I'm about 5 miles off of Interstate 35.
Teresa_MN
Original Author
14 years ago
Melissa - I would love to visit you sometime. It does not have to be at convention time either. Any time that is convenient. I have a sister that lives in Lakeville on Upper 178th street.

T
thisismelissa
14 years ago
Teresa, I'd love it!
I'm a bit on the other side of Lakeville... about 10 minutes from your sis.

Say, wanna do a "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" Of course, I've got nothing to show you right now except snow mold.

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