2025 has proven to be a year of blessings for our family, filled with new additions – both human and plant – as well as many flora-oriented road trips.
Family Update:
Our grandson Archer joined us in August, and his brother August is growing like a weed. Three is a wonderful age, where children learn and use the word “no” without really understanding what it means. Big brother is exercising his free will and sometimes quite vehemently!
Sam and Danielle are loving and patient parents. Sam is working at Toyota Forklift in Columbus and seems very happy there. Danielle is thriving at her job. We are very proud of them.
Kay met a wonderful young man at Sundown Gardens and married him in early June. Phil is the perfect partner for Kay, and we love watching them together. We also enjoyed welcoming Phil’s lovely family to ours. The happy couple now live in Westfield, and they are landscaping their home like crazy. It’s well on its way to being another extensive Eagleson Garden!
Bill and Elizabeth’s Excellent Adventures:
We took our travel to the next level this year. It all began with Hosta College in March, where Bill held a session on Hosta cultivation. The event was held in Piqua, Ohio, at A.M. Leonard, a garden, landscape and arborist tool company. According to Bill, they sell wonderful products.
May is “open up the camp in the Adirondacks” time each year. We found the house still standing, and the Hudson still flowing.
Many of you joined us for our third annual Plant Sale in June. The event grows every year, but the highlight is showing our clients the additions to our gardens. Please plan to attend in 2026!
The Miami Valley Hosta Society bus tour was also in June. This year we went to Northern Ohio. We saw some beautiful gardens, met lovely plant people, and Bill even did a cartwheel. Be sure to ask him about it next time you see him.
THEN, we had the Conifer Convention in the Quad Cities. Bill got to go by Rock Island Arsenal, an active US Army installation on an island in the middle of the Mississippi. But the paddle wheel on the boat was not what was actually moving us, so Elizabeth was a bit disappointed – it was not a real riverboat!
Immediately after the Convention, we slept for a few hours and then left for our annual Family Beach Week in the Outer Banks. The youngest family member, Sadie, was 6 weeks old and rarely got to be with her mom since everyone wanted to hold her.
In July, we hopped on the Indianapolis Hosta Society bus trip to Cincinnati. We toured many gardens and met very nice people again. Spring Hill Cemetery was a highlight of the trip. It is an exceptionally old cemetery and certified arboretum, just like Crown Hill. Many of the Conifer, Ginko and Ornamental Spruce varieties we have in America originated in the cemetery! Last year, one of the conifer people found a brand-new species of Broom on that property. A Broom is a growth that mutates and starts growing differently from the parent plant. Plant nerds like us splice them with rootstock and create new varieties. Needless to say, it is always a treat to visit Spring Hill.
In August, we made our way back to the Adirondacks with Kay and Phil. Over Labor Day Weekend, we attended the famous Bob Imes plant sale in Ohio, and then drove to Potomac, MD, to pick up some plants we had bought during beach week. We still filled the trailer after taking up all the space in our truck back in June!
September was the 4th Annual N. Indy Farm Crawl. We thoroughly enjoy hosting people who love supporting local farmers. We sold bouquets from our flower farm, which is still doing well.
In October, Elizabeth found out that the Southeast Regional Conifer Society was doing a tour in Raleigh, so we went! Kay came too. We drove 12 hours to get there with many nice stops, toured all day Saturday, and drove 10hours back home on Sunday. It was totally worth it. We saw some nice gardens and an arboretum, and bonded with the small group of plant enthusiasts.
Finally, Bill’s mom had another knee surgery in October, so we went to Potomac, MD, to stay with her. She is doing well and is standing level, walking, and out of pain. We are thankful. She will turn 86 this month!
We are anticipating a busy and rewarding 2026 while also helping homeowners enjoy their outdoor spaces. We are thankful for you, people who are not only our clients, but also long-time friends and chosen family. Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones.
