What a tease!

Boy oh boy! Isn't this weather something? It almost makes you feel like the show is less than a month a way. Thankfully its 2 months away... 8 weeks to be exact.

So, most of you have not been too active on here, and I do not blame you, as there is nothing to remind you to be active... Well I suppose there is always your sense of responsibility as an officer or committee chair, but who am I kidding, I am hardly responsible enough to take care of my car keys and wallet, let alone trying to remember where I left the remote control.

A few things need to be addressed at this time to keep everyone in the loop, so here are the updates I have for all ya'll.

Growing:
Things are seeming to be going fine, plants are growing well, though occasionally there are issues of drought stress. Things that need to be watered daily, or close to, include the sweet potato vine, diascia, callibrachoa in 3-4" pots, and probably our petunias and impatiens as well. There are also plug trays D108 that need to be monitored daily. This Sunday, we will be bringing in around 200 shrubs to start forcing, and they will be placed in C105 on benches. All big pots (1 gallon or bigger) should be moved to the hallway from the greenhouses after the orchid show next weekend. One other thing to keep an eye on are the callibrichoa and petunias, as they were pretty cholorotic by the time of the show last year, thoughts led to they weren't getting the nutrients they needed for the fertilizer water. Also, there needs to be better communication between the grow team and inventory team, along with myself regarding pot sizes and prices, and this needs to be done before Wednesdays. I will discuss more in detail at our next officer meeting. Finally, please make sure that the hoop house and the plants we have in the hall outside the hoop house are being watered. While they are at low temps, on sunny days, they get pretty warm, and start to dry out.

Marketing:
All updates and immediate concerns were covered in the recent post.
Although, I would like the committee to work with Sara Marcucci to make sure photos are being taken at our spring show activities, including potting parties.

Design:
The conservatory design is essentially done on a computer, just needs a few more finishing touches and to be printed. The estimate fore sod is 1400 sq. ft. We will need a general estimate for mulch soon. Make sure to start looking at the plants we have in the houses to see what you want where, so we make sure to have that set aside for you! Also, Jackie talked with a local glass artist yesterday, who will be putting his work in our show, and giving us a 10% cut of his sales (while this is not our typical contract stipulation, we get additional advertising from him, and further beautification of the display).

Donations/Inventory:
I trust that everything is falling into place. I am highly anticipating the wave of plants soon to arrive! There will be another trip to Raker's next week. Please make sure to read in the grower's update.

Children's:
Nothing new happening here.

Construction:
This past week, the deck, potting bench, and A-Frames were built. Now we need to have stuff coated/painted. Please see the marketing team for painting of the A-Frames. I believe there are a few more frames to finish as well. Don't forget to start thinking about getting out the the hort farm to get the rest of the block stacked that needs to be, and meet with Bill when we want to move stuff.

Keep up the hard work, we are almost there!

MZ