Thanks for a Great 2009 Planting Season!

Wow this season has been a crazy one with rain and bugs and mushrooms like they get every year in Seattle! Thanks for working with us! If you like, I will collect, clean and store your baskets at no charge, just let me know when you are ready!

In preparation for the 2010 growing season, you have choices.

1-Choose colors, plants now and pre-pay before Nov 15th for the deepest discounts and to hold the 2009 pricing. Just ask me and I'll put an estimate together for you!

2- Give me an idea of what you would like to do next year and give me a deposit to hold the 2009 rates. We can finalize later and pricing will depend on how far in advance we plan.

3- We can just figure it all out next year!

Keep this schedule in mind: I pre-order premium plants mid-November to cut costs I pass on. I pre-order again in December/January for a nice discount! I start some of my own plants in February and grow them in a greenhouse for 4 months before delivery. Beginning in March, I design and plant baskets and planters for Mothers' Day week delivery in most areas, June in Park City/Eden/Parley's Summit.

You're best pricing is now through November 15th and I will let you know when that will change.

I would love feedback on what you loved and what you would like to do differently. Every season has some things that work better than others. Wave Petunias didn't do as well as Cascades, so that is the main reason I am ordering earlier. They are premium plants. Bacopa was stellar this year as were the osteospermums and many varieties of the food plants, including the Heirloom Tomatoes.

We are also working on growing food for the homeless in Ogden and may have a facility to continue this effort through the winter months. This will also allow us to have your baskets filling out by delivery! Yay!

So what would you like to do for next year and would you like me to care for your baskets at no charge? Do let me know so I can schedule pick-ups the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again for a great 2009 season! Roxy, Tegan, Josh, Ian, Jennifer and the crew!

Venting on Poverty Here...

Unemployment seems to be the one thing growing like crazy in the country. My unemployment benefits ended last March. This and that odd job have kept food on the table, but much of what was my lifestyle is quite gone. The big house in Sandy where family and friends gathered at 3pm every Sabbath for Potluck BBQ's. Never knew who would show up with what yummy thing to eat or drink or how many of them would be there. Once we had people from 2 months to 72 years old, several races represented and more than heterosexuals in the sexual preference category! What fun! Live music on the deck and on 2 levels in my house... Good times... But...

Then a year ago last September, Hell-lllo Ogden! Sweet little 2 bedroom bungalow on 3/4 of an acre with 62 trees, quite bucolic and miles from ALL my friends and kids, except Randy and my daughters. Argh! That was tough for months! I never thought I would fit in in Ogden because I don't have a mullet. Crazy spiky hair like I gave birth to a gaggle of snowboarders, which I did!

A year later, it's okay that I live here, mostly. I have made friends, with hearts of gold, have beautiful flower baskets all over town and have a favorite spot or 2 to frequent. Tegan and her son, Matthew and Trevor's family moved up here to be by Mom! I do miss craploads of events I would attend if I weren't 50 miles away and I don't see a couple of my sons very often, Stephan and David. And I'm afraid if I stay here much longer my truck will need low profile tires! But back to poverty...

Seriously folks! 18 months of insanity! I have been around long enough to have been down most roads to the first bend. Generally people have hired me away from where I was! Til May 2, 2008! Bupkiss! I got too high on the totem pole and now people think I won't take jobs for 1/3 to 1/2 of what I was making and they are quite wrong. I even asked about an internship and they thought I was joking! I still have children to raise!!! 2 weeks ago someone on Twitter said he thought I was independently wealthy! Others think I have a rich husband who supports me! Ah the curses of having class!!!!

Why I'm Passionate About Social Media

My passion for Social Media has more to do with its multiple applications.

We know the basics, connect with somebody, anywhere using technology, but all the things you can accomplish are what is impressive! Companies can grab interest, engage in conversations, solve problems earlier on, tease something new then announce it.

Marketers, like me, can blow other people's horns like nothing else can do. We can reach more people in specific demographics and immediately. We can fine-tune our messages with immediate feedback.

Good causes can get to the very people who really care to bring awareness, trouble shoot issues, and thank donors and sponsors.

People who have lost touch can find each other and catch up. Those with a question, answer or other tidbit can find like-minded people.

Those on Social Media police their own. Bad behavior becomes obvious and mentioned and mentioned again. It provides a learning environment for growth, metemorphisis and change. Its options increase daily; to join in is easy.

Social Media used as a tool is the handiest, most versatile one, overall in your toolbox! It is dramatic and commanding and subtle and friendly. It moves things right now and later and even more later. Once something is started using social media it has a life of its own and will reach wherever there is interest and beyond.

Social Media is connecting people all over the planet, creating neighborhoods and communities of some of the nicest people in the world. It is quietly morphing us into creatures eager to learn, to help and to share. It literally is changing the planet into a more correct place to live, in peace, harmony and transparent truth.