2010 Events
MEMORIAL DAY PLANTERS  
WILL BE AVAILABLE
Last year we prepared a limited number of Memorial Day planters.  We will continue to introduce these collections for
customers who want to deliver a living memorial to the cemetery for the holiday weekend.  
SEED SAVING SATURDAY - September 11th
The Prairie Pedlar will be hosting our Seed Saver Saturday on September 11th. Visit the gardens and gather ripened
seeds for next summer's garden.  Participants should bring their own containers and markers to label each variety. We
will be in the garden to help identify flowers and recommend favorites that are easy to grow from seed. The event will take
place during regular shop hours of 11:00 AM through 4:00 PM. A free-will donation will be appreciated and visitors are
welcome to gather as many seeds as they wish.  Bring a friend!
LUNCH & LEARN - April 17th

We are packing all of our enthusiasm for spring into one Lunch-n-Learn session from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the
garden on Saturday, April 17.  Participants are invited to enjoy exciting gardening demonstrations and discussions on
both sides of a tasty noon lunch.  There will be "how-to" sessions to insure garden success in 2010.  Learn the secrets
to quilt gardening and get the first peek at new flower varieties and artful container ideas. Participation will include
lunch, instructions on a variety of garden projects and topics, and a $20 gift certificate that may be used at the
greenhouse or gift shop on that day or anytime in 2010.  A registration fee of $35 is required prior to each event to
confirm meal reservations.
Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars is an ecologically inspired book created by Sharon Lovejoy that combines more than 130 green
activities with timeless grandparenting advice. Illustrated with Lovejoy's distinctive, delicate watercolors, it's an inventive resource for
grandmother and grandchild to connect with each other through nature. It is the book to make sure an afternoon, a day, or a
weekend turns into a memory that lasts forever.

Sharon Lovejoy, an author, illustrator, lecturer, and teacher, is a grandmother of four.  She is the children's garden adviser to the
American Horticultural Society, and has been a guest on Today at NBC, PBS's Victory Garden, and the Discovery Channel.  She
speaks at conferences and gardening organizations around the country.  She divides her time between San Luis Obispo, California,
and South Bristol, Maine.  She is also the author of best sellers: Sunflower Houses and Hollyhock Days.
Sharon Lovejoy Returns to the Prairie Pedlar!
We’re celebrating the start of summer with a Tea Party at the Prairie Pedlar.  Join
us in welcoming our garden friend and talented author and illustrator, Sharon
Lovejoy, back to Iowa.  She has a brand new book, and will present a program at
2:00 in the sanctuary garden entitled Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars: Keeping
the Magic Alive Thru Generations.  Follow her on a creative journey to rediscover
the child within and learn how to share your new found, infectious enthusiasm
with the young and old “children” around you.  Tickets are $20 (children under
the age of 8 attend for free in the company of their parents or grandparents) and
include a one-of-a-kind festive garden hat for you to wear and take home.  A
dessert luncheon will top off the afternoon festivities, and Sharon will be signing
books for those who would like to purchase a copy.  Reservations are required.
Don’t miss this chance to meet and greet a nationally best-selling author and a
grandmother who knows how to have fun!
We will officially welcome Spring with our annual Spring Open House
on Saturday, May lst. Come and see a very artful array of hanging
baskets, one-of-a-kind containers and our collections of herbs,
annual flowers and hard to find perennials that will make your yard
the envy of the neighborhood.

For the fourth year in a row, we will also be offering a nice variety of
‘quick turn’ flowering shrubs that start small but develop quickly into
focal points in the yard. The Bloomerang Lilac and the Invincibelle
Spirit Hydrangea debut as the new 2010 introductions and we are
fortunate to have some for sale.  We anticipate they will be in high
demand and there is definitely a limited availability so don’t miss out!
Even if your thumb isn’t green, you will want to come and see the new look in the gift shop(s). While in Atlanta this winter,
we concentrated on decorating outdoors. It will fruit basket upset this spring as we reorganize the buildings and develop
new themes for each shed. We are introducing a new collection of extraordinary statuary, birdbaths, benches and garden
ornaments for outdoors. We are also excited about our menagerie of containers in all shapes, sizes and compositions. The
shuffle of merchandise between buildings will also allow us an opportunity to sort and sell many of our discontinued lines at
garage sale prices this weekend.
May Day Spring Open House - May 1st
Moonlight Garden Party - July 11th
The Prairie Pedlar will host its annual Moonlight Garden Party on
Sunday evening, July 11th. Participants are invited to enjoy an
enchanting garden experience under the stars as moonlight, candles,
and thousands of white lights transform the garden into a magical
retreat. Celebrating our 25th year in business this summer, the Prairie
Pedlar has invited Whispering Hills Winery of Carson, IA for an encore
appearance at the garden. These wine makers from the Loess Hills
were the featured winery at the 2006Moonlight Garden Party and are
welcomed back for wine sampling and an entertaining program. Their
signature wines will be for sale this evening. The Garden and Gift Shop
open at 7:00 PM. Guests are invited to browse among the flowers and
sample wines and a banquet of hors d¹oeuvres while lingering in the
garden and gift barns. The program begins at twilight (approximately
8:30). Personnel from Whispering Hills Winery will share about their
wine venture, explaining and promoting their business while detailing
the wines they produce. Learn how the winery came to be, some of
their hurdles, goals, and achievements.

Festivities will conclude with door prizes and comments from the Prairie
Pedlar owners, Jack and Jane Hogue. The admission for the event is
$10.00 per person. Reservations are required and the group size is
limited. Tickets may be purchased by mailing reservations to: Prairie
Pedlar; 1677 270th Street; Odebolt, IA 51458, or by calling
712-668-4840 with credit card information. Come and experience a
garden celebration you won¹t soon forget!