It was a beautiful day for our annual garden tour and club auction. Lucy and Bill Schroeder hosted this year’s event, providing members an opportunity to see their wide variety of plants and truly creative theme gardens. Her potted plants were spectacular and provided a warm welcome to the home entrance. Also amazing, but unfortunately the wrong time of year to bloom, were her countless potted Amarilis placed around her garden – one can only imagine the beauty when they are all in bloom. We really enjoyed seeing the creative ways they blended plants with garden art. Many thanks Lucy and Bill for hosting and arranging catering, making this a wonderful time for us all!

An added unannounced bonus, NWHS founding and still active member Peggy Freitag, who lives next door to the Schroeder’s, let members visit her garden as well. Peggy helped Lucy with some of the preparation for this event and provided parking along her long driveway. A highlight in her yard (along with her huge hosta collection) is a flowing water feature next to her house that includes a bridge over the water to a sitting area. Thank you, Peggy!

After touring the gardens, members were treated to a fantastic lunch before the auction. This year is the Northern Wisconsin Hosta Society’s 30th anniversary, and a celebration cake accompanied the delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, fruit salad, and many other desserts that really hit the spot! But no napping after this huge meal as the auction started promptly after lunch. As you can see in the picture below, members provided some awesome plants resulting in some fierce, but fun for all, bidding. Many of the plants were mature specimens you just don’t find at most garden centers.