Sun City’s Sunflower Charter Club will hold its annual Spring Basket Sale on May 11 at Fountain View Pavilion. This fundraiser will raise funds for the Garden Club’s Scholarship Fund for Huntley Community School District 158.
Vice-President Marsha Geist of the Sunflower Garden Club said, “The Sunflower Garden Club has been very active in fundraising and this past year has donated over $10,000 to various organizations.”
The club’s president, Paulette Carrion, said, “When possible, we try to contribute to local organizations like the Grafton Food Pantry, Huntley’s Lion Club, Ride for Hope (Ovarian Cancer Awareness), Illinois JDRF Diabetes Chapter Support, Regional Economic Community Action Program of Illinois, St Jude’s Hospital, and Huntley Community School District 158.”
This fundraiser will support the Garden Club’s scholarship, which will help two students defray some of the costs of an accredited two to four-year college or university.
Geist said, “Laura Martens from Huntley High School helps us select recipients. Students must graduate this spring, be residents of District 158, and pursue a degree in agriculture, botany, horticulture, or environmental sciences.”
Kolze Corner Gardens of Woodstock provides the flower baskets. Bob Kolze has continued his family tradition. The Kolze family were farmers from the 1850s. Kolze’s Dad started the garden center in 1969.
Kolze said, “I have been a lifelong student. There is a lot of trial and error in gardening. I attend Cultivate, a gardening conference and trade show at Ohio State every year. It’s a premier event for the entire green industry. Workshops offer best practices, fresh ideas, and creative solutions.”
Kolze’s two greenhouses are filled with plants at different stages of growth. “We give the plants what they need, when they need it, by controlling their environment so that they can thrive,” he said.
Carrion said, “By manipulating the plant’s environment, we can speed up or slow down the plants’ growth process so they bloom at just the right time for our plant sale.”
Kolze said, “Our signature plants are nonstop Begonias, which are easy for consumers to grow. This year, our greenhouses are growing 190,000 pots of different plant varieties that were all planted by hand. Only ten percent are started from seed. The majority are started from patented cuttings. We have geraniums, Calibrachoa in various colors, and 22,000 Sunpatiens. We also have plants that repel mosquitos and beautiful hanging combination pots I’ve nicknamed ‘porch potatoes.’ They are not potatoes; repeat customers ask for them yearly.”
Kolze will deliver 450 hand-planted and cultivated hanging baskets for the fundraiser on Saturday, May 11th, at the Fountain View Pavilion. The event opens at 9 a.m. The baskets are $23, and there is a limit of four baskets per household. There will be several varieties and colors of both sun and shade baskets.
