Welcome to Honker Flats
Welcome to Gladiolus Exoticus, our catalog of designer glads at Honker Flats. We are the Wallace family, Lew, Tammy and Marcus. We are pleased with the response from the past year and appreciate our new customers, friends and repeat orders.
Special thank go to hybridizers Bob Longhenry, Don Selinger, Dave Kollasch, Sue Jackson, Jeff Radunz and Robert Schalow for allowing us to showcase their fine creations. The class of 2010 promises to be very exciting indeed. We welcome Lyle Madeson of California with two of his creations, Bethany and Wonderful World. Read their descriptions, I’ve been giddy over these since their first bloom. Longhenry’s Horse Feathers was a big hit at our Glad Festival with a color that melts in your mouth, and Radar dispels any notion that brown glads would be dull. Don Selinger’s Noel is a stand out miniature with expressive color and style.
I often get asked how do we keep our glads standing up and so straight. The most important thing here is genetics and selection. Stay away from commercial cutflower types (mostly offered for cheap prices at big box stores and general garden catalogs). If you want quality you need to focus on the specialty glad catalogers. I like the strong, stiff, slender stems of this year’s offering.
There are some great photos on the website www.honkerflats.com. It’s a great venue to see more.
The 2009 growing season was challenging for everyone. By the end we did have watermelons, corn, tomatoes, and I must say it was a good year for cabbage. The glads grew well for us and September was way above average so lots of things caught up.
The Minnesota Glad Society had a great year. We enjoyed our times at the picnic and the 3 big shows. Grand Girl made the court of honor at our MN State Fair Show, Youth Single and 3 spike for Marcus, and Reserve Open Miniature Single and Reserve 3 Spike Miniature for Lew. Grand Girl was introduced from Kollasch as a 112 (light yellow) but we now think it could pass well as a light green. We’ll see as we look at it again.
The design classes continue to be the most competitive anywhere. Marcus finished his youth showing with champion in the 3 shows and a fantastic Grand Large Basket at New Ulm. Tammy had many creative arrangements and several section champions. Lew had many champions, including the Carl Fischer award at New Ulm with a pedestal arrangement; NAGC Best Arrangement with “Black Thursday” at the MN State Fair; and “Goose Droppings” , Grand Interpretive Arrangement at the Glad Festival.
The Glad Society has such a talented group of people and we do have a great fun time together. Many of these people made the drive up to Middle River to make the Honker Flats Glad Festival happen- without all of you it surely wouldn’t be so grand! 390 spikes and 50 arrangements filled the greenhouse. There were 18 spike exhibitors and 20 design exhibitors, all of the highest quality. They came from Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, all points in Minnesota, and several good friends from Winnipeg, Canada, including the design judge. Our visitors numbered in the hundreds and what a colorful and entertaining group they were. The weather was perfect, we had plenty to eat, musical entertainment was great and we even had a visit from Lena. It’s all in the plans again for this year! We look forward with anticipation to the 2010 growing season.
Our main business of Honker Flats Greenhouse continues to flourish. We now prepare for our 36th season. We appreciate those that “come home to Honker Flats” each year to shop for their bedding plants, exotic annuals, perennials and nursery stock. The walk-in cooler was a huge success for the Bare Root Barn. It was nice and bright and kept the bare root nursery stock in great shape. It was very useful in the fall when working with the cut flowers and vegetables.
Whether you purchase glads from our catalog, visit our greenhouses, visit a show, join a society, or come to our Gladiolus Festival in September, “Welcome to our Honker Flats Family!”
Lew, Tammy, and Marcus Wallace
gladiolus, glads, glad bulbs, glad bulb catalog, glad cut flowers, glads, gladioulus, honker flats, minnesota, greenhouse, Middle River, nursery, bare root, flowers, annuals, perennials, Lew Wallace, Gladiolus Exoticus, bedding plants, honkerflats, Agassiz, Thief Lake, glad bulbs for sale, Gladiolus Festival, Middle River Honker, Honker Flats Greenhouse and Gladiolus Exoticus growers of high-quality gladiolus, annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, and fruit trees
Welcome Guest! Would you like to log yourself in? Or would you prefer to create an account?
