Newsletter 14 – June 4, 2009

Events       Recipe Loaded Oatmeal Cookies       FREE Hanging Basket      

Al's Pick of the Week       Perennial of the Week is Back! 

“A helping word to one in trouble is like a switch in a railroad track

An inch between wreck and smooth, rolling prosperity.”

Henry Ward Beecher

GUEST SPEAKER TONIGHT

Our series of guest lectures continues tonight, June 4, at 6:30 pm.  You can learn how to have FOOL PROOF SUN GARDENS from Rhonda Weber of Northern Sunset Perennials.  Rhonda has been involved in all the facets of growing perennials since childhood.  She will present a power point presentation showing fabulous designs for sun gardens and things to think about as you design your garden.  Rhonda will also touch on various garden types.  As always, the class is FREE.  There will be handouts, including a FREE garden plan.  This is a rare opportunity for you to learn from a true expert.  Please plan to attend, we’re sure you’ll be very glad you did.

The human brain is a wonderful thing.  It starts working the moment you are born, and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. Joke 1

HERB CLASS BACK

by Popular Demand

We had standing room only at last Saturday’s Herb Class presented by Mari Lynn Haugh of the Olbrich Herb Society. The lucky ones got chairs.  People were sitting on the floor and listening at the door.  It got so crowded several of you left because you couldn’t hear. We had requests for a repeat performance, and Mari Lynn graciously agreed to help us out and teach another class.  Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30 pm she will be back, so mark your calendar to take advantage of this opportunity. The class will emphasize designing, planting, growing and harvesting herbs, as well as the many uses of herbs in your food and home. A favorite part of the class seems to be the discussion about making herbal gifts. I know that I (Bonnie) plan to make an herbal pizza dough that can be put in a decorative jar to give for Christmas gifts next December.

Check out our herbal bread and dipping oil recipes that were served at our Herb Fest last Saturday.

A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking  Joke 2

FREE Hanging Basket

A birdbath or fountain can add so much to your outdoor living area. A water feature provides soothing sounds for you to enjoy, as well as attracts birds. This week, at America’s Best Flowers, you will receive a FREE jumbo hanging basket, valued at $39.99, with the purchase of any in-stock birdbath or fountain.  Our selection of water features ranges from elegant to whimsical.  Combined with a stunning hanging basket, this is the greatest deal around. We invite you to come out today and check out our water features while the selection is still good.

Don’t be so open minded your brains fall out. Joke 3

Pick of the Week – ‘My Little Rosebuds’

This week, Al, our general manager, has allowed me to choose the pick of the week.  My choice comes with a story.  Please humor me, it’s good for my soul to tell it.  My Grandmother Wilson was an avid gardener.  Year round her window sills were filled with pots and bottles, each serving as home to some type of plant.  As spring approached, the dining room table was shoved right up to the window to expand the growing space so she could start her cuttings for the garden.  In rural Iowa, fifty years ago there was no America’s Best Flowers for her to shop at, so she had mastered the skills required to keep stock plants over from year to year and propagate new starts from them.  Though very time consuming and messy, her true gardener’s heart loved every minute of it.

After my dad married my mom, Grandma, like all good gardeners, decided to teach her these skills, too. Soon, Mom’s windowsills were also filled with assorted pots and jars containing starts of various plants, from sweet potatoes to African violets, but her all-time favorite was double impatiens.  Grandma had called them rosebud impatiens, and my mom always referred to them as ‘my little rosebuds.’

Earlier this week, as I walked by the bench of the Fiesta series of double impatiens we grow, I paused for a moment.  Even though I lost my mom five years ago this month, I could almost see her standing there, her amazement at how many ‘little rosebuds’ we have.  If she were still with us, I would buy a flat of every color and fill her shady areas just so I could once again see the delight on her face they gave her.

Warm summer weather makes June the perfect time to plant double impatiens. Plant in well-drained soil in an area that receives bright light, but not direct afternoon sun, keep moist but not wet, and feed every week or two with a bloom booster fertilizer.  Your reward will be season long ‘rosebuds’.

If you are an average American, in your life,

you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights. Joke 4

Container Workshop News:

Every year our container workshops are a huge success.  Many of you attend them all.  We have been receiving calls asking when the next one is.  There are no container workshops scheduled in the near future, but you can contact us at 608-222-2269 and schedule an appointment with one of our designers. The only requirement is that you purchase all of your plants here. You may bring in your own pots or purchase one of ours.  There will be a nominal charge for soil, however, the advice and scintillating conversation are absolutely free.

It is never wise to let any piece of electronics know that you are in a hurry. Joke 5

PERENNIAL of the Week - Buddleia

A perennial, by definition, is a flowering plant that lives over two or more seasons.  They die back to the ground with frost but their roots survive the winter, and generate new shoots in the spring.  There are plants that fall somewhere between perennial and shrub.  Buddleia, commonly known as butterfly bush, falls into this category.  In a warmer climate the butterfly bush is indeed a bush.  Here in Wisconsin, it performs more like a perennial.

Fragrant flowers on long arching stems from mid summer until frost act as a butterfly magnet.  Growing from the ground up each year, butterfly bushes reach about five feet.  We have six colors available, including pink, red, magenta, blue, purple and bi-color.

A magician was driving down the road – then he turned into a driveway. Joke 7

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, June 4    6:30 PM  FREE Right Plant, Right Place Rhonda Weber, from Northern Sunset Perennials, will show you how to choose and care for the perfect perennial plants for your sunny garden

Wednesday, June 10    6:30 PM Herb Class with Mari Lynn Haugh.  Back by popular demand.  An overview of planting, growing, harvesting and using herbs.

We’ll be scheduling the How To Winterize your Roses in Wisconsin for this fall and will announce in an upcoming newsletter.

We will have free classes continuing throughout the season, along with more Make and Take Workshops.  Our goal is to hold events that are interesting and helpful to our customers. Please give us your input.  We’re listening!

A woman was bragging about her son, a college student:

“He’s so brilliant! Every time we get a letter from him we have to go to the dictionary.

“You’re lucky,” her friend said, “Every time we get a letter from ours,

we have to go to the bank.” Joke 8

Weddings Galore

There is no question that June is the season.  If you have one or more weddings on your calendar, we want to remind you that a gift certificate from America’s Best Flowers is the perfect gift.  There is no faster way to help beautify the newlywed’s home than to fill it with flowers.  If they haven’t yet been bitten by the gardening bug, you may be introducing them to a lifelong love of gardening. Make it easy on yourself, stop out today and pick up a gift certificate for all the young lovers on your list.  They’ll be so glad you did.

Old people shouldn’t eat health foods.

They need all the preservatives they can get. Joke 9

Bonnie’s Kitchen            Bonus Bread Machine Recipes

This is a delicious and HEALTHY cookie recipe. I love it, and got the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

¼ c softened butter

½ c packed brown sugar

1/3 c granulated sugar

1 t cinnamon

½ t baking powder

1/8 t salt

1 egg

1 t vanilla

¾ c all-purpose flour

¾ c rolled oats

¼ c flaxseed meal

¼ c wheat germ

2 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped

¼ c dried cranberries

¼ c chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown and granulated sugars, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour. Stir in rolled oats, flax, wheat germ, chocolate, cranberries, and walnuts (dough will be a little crumbly).

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Makes about 30 cookies.

Trying to do my share for the environment, I set up a trash basket at my church

and posted above it this suggestion:

“Empty water bottles here.”

I should have been a little more specific,

Because when I went to check it later, I didn’t find any bottles in it.

But it was full of water.” Joke 10

SEE YOU SOON!!!