NEWSLETTER No. 99, FALL 2021

Notes fromwww.hornbakergardens.com

email: mail@hornbakergardens.com22937 1140 N. Ave.,

Princeton, Illinois 61356(815) 659-3282

The 8th Annual Artisan Market at Hornbaker Gardens is happening on Saturday, September

18th from 10 am to 4 pm. Join us for an art market with over 30 fine artists, August Hill wine tasting, Flour House Bakery, live music, craft beer, food trucks, Sisler’s ice cream, kettle corn, fresh-picked produce and more. New to the market this year are tasty macarons from Five Points Farm Bakery.

In an effort to reduce crowded areas, we are redesigning the layout of the market this year. We are lucky to be outdoors and have plenty of beautiful space to spread out. You’ll find some of the artists located right as you come down the hill from The Barn parking lot and others in the original location in our parkway. The booths in the parkway will be more spaced out and include Brakers’ Dozen, Hungry World Farm, and Flour House. Be sure to stroll the entire loop so as not to miss anyone. We are welcoming back many of our previous artists and a number of new folks as well.

The musicians will be playing under the big cottonwood tree along the drive in the retail area. The food trucks and kettle corn will be in our lower parking lot, with Lindsay and her crew serving beer and wine nearby. The Sisler’s folks will be under a shade tree near Rich’s front yard scooping up their locally made ice cream. It’s sure to be a fun adventure!

ARTISAN MARKETMUSIC LINE-UP

10 am Al & Jeannie Brown 11 am Daniel Watkins12 noon Jeff Manfredini1 pm Kevin Kramer2 pm Lojo Russo3 pm Kat Bloomquist

LUNCHOPTIONS

Park TavernBertha Food TruckDos Vatos Tacos

ArtistMaggie Off

Artist Rebecca Kautz

Artist Rachel Newell

We planted our prairie five years ago on three acres of what had been a hay field, located along the lane as you drive in. We killed off the existing vegetation the previous summer. Then Dave, Molly, and Molly’s husband, Russ, planted the seed during late winter while snow was still on the ground. Shuffling their feet in an arc through the middle of the tract, they marked off a path that would be seeded to grass the following spring, allowing people to easily walk into the middle of the prairie. Then they marked off around twenty parcels of more or less equal size. They divided the various seeds into twenty containers so that each parcel would get some of each type of seed, and then sprinkled the seeds by hand into the twenty parcels. It took two or three years for the prairie plants to mature, but now the prairie has a succession of colorful flowers blooming all season to the delight of pollinators, various critters and the rest of us.

The viewing platform was added a few years ago, and is a great place to see the prairie from a bit of elevation and to watch the sun set in the evenings. We are excited to share the prairie experience with kids and adults in some upcoming workshops. Carol Flaig started working for us this year and we are very fortunate to have her. She has years of experience within the world of environmental education and is very passionate about the natural world.

PRAIRIEDISCOVERYworkshops

Kids Prairie Discovery Workshopson September 25th at 9 am

and September 30th at 4 pm

Join us for a morning or afternoon adventure in our prairie. Carol will be our guide as we explore bug life and discover together. We will have some nets and bug viewers available. Feel free to bring any of your own gear. Please call our office to sign up.

Sip and Stroll Sunset in the Prairieon October 7th, 5-6:30 pm

Join us in our prairie for beer, wine, and snacks. Carol will lead a prairie walk to highlight the beauty of a fall prairie and discuss prairies ecosystems. If the clouds hold off, we’ll enjoy the sunset together at 6:30 p.m.

Exploring the Prairie

We are just nuts about these new hybrid crosses between the genus Agave and Manfreda. These fantastic succulents grow fast and have some incredibly interesting colorations. We first offered them in 2019. Like hostas, they come in various sizes. The smallest ones are 6” tall and 12” wide. Many of them tend to grow 8-10” tall and 20-24” wide. A couple of varieties can even get 36” wide. Since most of these will be taken indoors for the winter, we will tend to carry the small to medium sizes.

I (Rich here) potted up six of them and have kept them indoors for the last two years in south windows, where they have done very well. My favorite of the ones I potted up is ‘Pineapple Express’, a very upright grower that is nicely compact. It looks like the top of a pineapple. Dave did the

same, and has stepped his up into larger pots and kept them outside during the summers, adding some fertilizer each spring. They have grown like gangbusters. They can be grown in the ground, but they need to be brought indoors before cold weather, so it is easiest to grow them in containers. (You might recall that we have some beautiful pottery out here in which the Mangaves would look great.)

The hybridizers have been busy on these hybrids. Our supplier now offers 39 varieties. Many are splotched with purple. Some turn red if given enough sun. And now, there are several variegated varieties like ‘Navajo Princess’, shown here. Some of the new variegated ones have some interesting yellow and red streaking in the variegation. We look forward to offering several new varieties next year.

Sylvin shows off Mangaves

MAD ABOUT

Mangaves

Mangave ‘Navajo Princess’

Mangave ‘Pineapple Express’HOURS: From July 11 through October 10, we will be open Monday through Saturday,

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and we will be closed on Sundays and Labor Day.