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 thanks go to hybridizers Bob Longhenry, Don
Selinger, Dave Kollasch, Sue Jackson, Jeff Radunz, Robert
Schalow and Lyle Madeson for allowing us to showcase their fine
creations. The class of 2011 promises to be very exciting
indeed!
Two
new hybridizers join our family. A big welcome to Mel Schrimpf,
and John Meyer. Mel, a life long showman from Amery Wisconsin
brings his first creation, King Tut. This 266 has its eye on the
court of honor with a high order of beauty and appeal. John
Meyer is a farmer and glad nut from Potsdam, MN (that's a big
corn field northeast of Rochester, MN.) I've noticed John's
seedlings over the last couple years and was able to trial
several in 2010. Fantastic! The mouth watering Candy Kisses won
the seedling show at Honker Flats. China Doll is of the most
exotic style, and Ella Anne is bright, cheerful and easy to
grow.
Dave Kollasch continues to increase the value of our
miniature offering. Lemon Chiffon, a 216 is light and fluffy and
sure to please. Tea Cup, a 175, has small round florets that are
very uniform from spike to spike and has show winnings to its
credit. Trixie a 373 from Don Selinger is almost a pastel, but
has a big snap to get your attention. All of these will add to
the fun and enjoyment of glad growing.
You will also find some great new additions to the
catalog. Longtime favorites of ours- Aaralyn, Ebony Beauty,
Fireball II, Kings Court, Laurita AA, Lingerie, Nestiedies, Old
Spice, Queen of Hearts, Raymond C., Emerald Spring and Ocean
Breeze.
If some varieties seem to be missing, they have been
pulled from the catalog to rebuild our numbers. Most should
return to the list in 2012.
I
often get asked; how do we keep our glads standing up so
straight? The most important thing here is genetics and
selection. Stay away from commercial cut flower 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 years offering.
The Minnesota Glad Society had a great year. We enjoyed
our time at the picnic hosted by John and Barb Meyer. A great
turnout for our 3 big shows with over 300 spikes shown at each
show, 295 designs of unrivaled quality and imagination. If you
didn't attend the state show at New Ulm, the MN State Fair Show
or Honker Flats Glad Festival you really missed a spectacle.
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. Our number of local exhibitors continues to
increase, with many first time exhibitors. If you grow glads
bring them to show, we provide glads if you want to participate
in the design show.
A big announcement! The Minnesota Glad Society is
making plans to host the NAGC (North American Gladiolus Council)
Convention, starting Labor Day weekend 2013 in the Minneapolis
area. This will be the very first time the convention and full
scale show will be held in gladiolus growing season. A big
change from a January time frame! This is a very exciting time
to belong to the MN Glad Society and NAGC.
Our main business of Honker Flats Greenhouse continues
to flourish. We now prepare for our 37th 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 is a huge success for our Bare Root
Barn. It is cool and bright and keeps the bare root nursery
stock in great shape, and makes for easy shopping. The cooler is
also very useful in the fall when working with cut flowers and
vegetables. We specialize in the newest introductions to
horticulture and yes we will have the new Black Velvet petunia,
as well as Pinstripe and Phantom- this is cool stuff.
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
New Products for January
 Ocean Breeze $1.25 |
 Raymond C $1.50 |
 Queen of Hearts $2.00 |
 Nesteides $0.00 |
 Lingerie $3.00 |
 Laurita $2.00 |