Written by Alex | August 15, 2013 | 2013 NewslettersNewsletter Tags: flowers, Gardening, jokes, recipies, stories
Third Annual Dog Wash
Newsletter 27 – Thursday, August 15, 2013
Current Hours
Monday Friday
9am-7pm
Saturday Sunday
9am-6pm
Featured Plant of the Week Oakleaf Hydrangea
The beautiful Oakleaf Hydrangea is an easy to care for and low maintenance shrub. Its an ideal plant for a partial sun location. The Oakleaf Hydrangeas are 20% off this week. Hurry in while supplies last and get several of these perfect shrubs for your garden.
Snow Queen
The Snow Queen Hydrangea has large creamy white blooms in June. Then the leaves turn burgundy in the fall for a striking affect. This wonderful Hydrangea grows to 8 feet in height and 10 feet in width.
Alice
The lovely Alice has large white blooms in June and the foliage turns burgundy in the fall. This Hydrangea grows to 6 feet in height and 8 feet in width.
Sikes Dwarf
The Sikes Dwarf Hydrangea has pure white blooms in June through July. The foliage of this smaller Hydrangea turns burgundy red in the fall. This Hydrangea grows 3-4 feet in height and 3-4 feet in width.
Q: What did the hungry Dalmatian say when he had a meal?
A: That hit the spots!
Calling All Dirty Dogs!

All clean and dirty dogs are welcome at America’s Best Flowers 3rd Annual Dog Wash on Saturday! A cool refreshing bath, a nail trim and a professional picture are all a part of our fund raiser for the Dane County Humane Society.
Your four-legged best friend will be in the loving and gentle care of volunteers from the Dane County Humane Society (DCHS), Tabby and Jacks Mobile Grooming and Talbot Photography.
For a suggested $10 donation (or more if you choose) Dane County Humane Society volunteers will shampoo and rinse all those intriguing (?) summer smells from your dog. All proceeds go directly to the Dane County Humane Society.
If Rover or Daisy has a very special bath towel, please feel free to bring it on Saturday and have the volunteers use it to dry your dog.
The DCHS is always in need of towels! If you have any old and clean towels that you could bring to the dog wash and donate to the humane society it would be greatly appreciated.

Stop by and visit Kelsey, a professional groomer, at the Tabby & Jacks Grooming booth. Kelsey can trim those doggie nails either by the traditional method or with a drummel. The cost for a nail trim by the traditional method is $10 and for the drummel method is $15. Did we mention that Tabby & Jacks is donating all proceeds to the Dane County Humane Society? How great is that!
Here is a helpful tip from Tabby and Jacks for owners of long haired dogs; long haired dogs should have a good brushing before a bath to remove any matting or knots. This will allow for a more thorough rinsing of shampoo.

Dont forget the brush! Poochie Portraits, from Talbot Photography will be here to photograph your best four-legged friend. How about a picture of the two of you together? Look at these two sweeties that posed for Terry at his studio on Atwood Avenue.
Poochie Portraits will be set up in an air conditioned area, so both you and your dog will be cool, calm and comfortable for your photo experience. Fifteen percent of photo proceeds will go directly to the Dane County Humane Society. How picture perfect is that!
Whats a dog party without prizes! There will be door prize drawings during the dog wash. You must be present to win. We will provide water and treats for the dogs and, ah, those necessary plastic bags (well even do the picking up!)
Bring your darling dirty dog(s) in for a day at the spa and help us reach our goal of $2,000 for the Dane County Humane Society.
Please check the website www.giveshelter.org for a list of much needed dog and cat items. We will have collection bins for your generous donations.
Let us paws a moment here and ask Mother Nature for a beautiful day! In the event of lightning, thunder or hurricanes, it will not be safe to continue with the dog wash. However, we would move Tabby & Jack’s indoors to join Talbot’s Photography and everything else will continue as planned.
Please sign up for your dogs bath and nail trim upon arrival at the registration table in front of the main greenhouse.
For safety reasons all dogs must be on a leash.
Remember to mark your calendar for Saturday, August 17th, from 11am 3pm. Its clean dog day at America’s Best Flowers!
Playing Chess
A man went to visit a friend and was amazed to find him playing chess with his dog.
He watched the game in astonishment for a while.
"I can hardly believe my eyes!" he exclaimed. "That’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen."
"Nah, he’s not so smart," the friend replied.
"I’ve beaten him three games out of five."
Its true! America’s Best Flowers is having another Flea Market!
Back by popular demand! Our July 13th flea market went so well that we are going to have another one!
You have another opportunity to clean out your garage, basement, and cupboards and bring your treasures out to our Flea Market on Saturday, August 24, from 8am-3pm.
To participate we require a non-refundable registration fee of $20.00. After you arrive and have your space set up on that morning, Americas Best Flowers will present you with a $20.00 America’s Best Flowers gift card. Each vendor will be allowed two parking spaces, which equals one booth, to display their wares.
More vendor space is available for an additional $10.00 for each parking space. Additional space must be requested at the time of the initial registration. Each vendor is limited to only one $20.00 America’s Best Flowers gift card regardless of the number of parking spaces.
Rain or shine! Set up time is at 6:30am and the starting bell is at 8am. This event will end at 3pm. Vendors will need to bring their own furnishings, tables, awnings, chairs, etc.
For safety purposes all vendor vehicles must be parked in a separate area and will not be allowed in the market area until after 3pm. Space is limited. Dont wait to register!
To register please send a check to America’s Best Flowers for the number of booths you would like to reserve. In the memo section of your check please put Flea Market. For clarity include a short note stating how many booths you are registering for, a telephone number and/or email address for contact purposes.
Our mailing address is:
America’s Best Flowers
4311 Vilas Hope Road
Cottage Grove, WI 53527
There are a few restrictions on what may be brought to the flea market at our greenhouse. They are as follows:
- No firearms or ammunition,
- No live animals,
- No flowers and/or plants,
- No alcohol or tobacco is allowed on America’s Best Flowers property.
Remember, one persons junk is another persons treasure.
If you are interested in joining us contact Shirley at abfscimino@yahoo.com or call the greenhouse at 608-222-2269.
Q: Why are frogs so happy?
A: They eat whatever bugs them
The Joy of Fall Gardening
From now until September 15 is a great time to plant cool season vegetable crops. Fall gardens are easy to grow, and its a delightful time to work in the garden there are fewer bugs and its not too hot. To get you started we have cabbage, kale, broccoli and Swiss chard plants.
Because they mature in progressively cooler temperatures, fall crops have a wonderful flavor. Much better than spring crops.
Cool fall weather actually holds the crops for you right in the garden so you can enjoy your harvest well into October. Fall garden care is similar to spring gardening, except you dont have to water as much. All you do is dig in a little compost at planting time. If you dont have a compost pile available, we have it in ready-to-use bags.
Q: What belongs to you but others use more?
A: Your name
Art in the Garden
Featuring Local Artisans
Saturday, September 14, 9am-3pm
Our 4th Annual Art in the Garden event is right around the greenhouse corner.
Over 40 talented Wisconsin artists will be at our greenhouse displaying their unique creations. Some of the items available include: jewelry, paintings, weavings, carved gourds, pottery, woodworking, textiles, photography and much more!
Remember to mark your calendar for our 4th Annual Art in the Garden event on Saturday, September 14, from 9-3. What a great opportunity to get a jump start on your holiday shopping!
For Art in the Garden Vendor Information please go to this link: www.americasbestflowers.com/newsletter/2013/26/index.html#article1326
Send Al your gardening questions!
Americas Best Flowers wants to help you succeed in your gardening efforts. If you have gardening questions send an email to Al Lunde, at abflunde@yahoo.com. Al will get back to you promptly.
Q: What do you get if you cross a cocker spaniel, a poodle and a rooster?
A: Cockerpoodledoo!
Lucys Story Chapter 18
Shhh, Lucy doesnt know it yet, but she is going to have a bath on Saturday! Hubby and I love this. Lucy gets a nice refreshing bath and Hubby and I stay dry!
At 1:30 Dr. Sara, from Northside Animal Clinic, is going to do an acupuncture demonstration on Lucy. This will be just a short demo as a normal session usually takes about 45 minutes. We are not sure how Lucy is going to react to having people and dogs watching this. You know what Im saying? She is used to being at Dr. Saras nice quiet office with just the three of us in the room. So, please keep your fingers and paws crossed that Lucy will be okay with the change of venue. If all goes well, then Dr. Sara will do another demo at 2:00. Space will be limited, so if you are interested in being present for this please send me an email at abfscimino@yahoo.com. If Lucy isnt comfortable with having the actual procedure then Dr. Sara will just point to specific areas and discuss the affects and benefits of acupuncture. Dr. Sara will have handouts available for you to take home.
By the way, Hubby has a new expression for Lucy. He refers to her as our roundabout. Can any of you figure out what it means? Send me your guess at abfscimino@yahoo.com. You never know, your response may go in next weeks Chapter 19 along with Hubbys definition of the term.
`til next time,
~ Shirley
If any of you other dog people want to share a dog story send it to abfscimino@yahoo.com.
Q: What do you call a laughing motorcycle?
A: A Yamahahaha
Upcoming Events
Sat, Aug 17 | 3rd Annual Dog Wash Fund Raiser for the Dane County Humane Society 11am – 3pm Bring your dirty dogs out to the garden. |
Sat, Aug 24 | Flea Market 8am 3pm Rain or Shine |
Sat, Aug 24 | Tomato Tasting 11am – 2pm – Taste the difference between varieties. |
Sat, Aug 24 | Contest for Kids 10am – 2pm Bring your colored chalk & color our parking lot! A prize winner for each age group (2-5) (6-10) (11-15) A PAPA JIMMYS $20.00 GIFT CARD for the Grand Prize winner. |
Sat, Sep 7 | Autumn Container Workshop 10am -4pm FREE soil and assistance. Create a beautiful container in our greenhouse and well clean up the mess. Bring in your own pots or buy some of ours. |
Sat, Sep 14 | Art in the Garden 9am – 3pm Talented artists display and sell their unique items. |
Our Kitchen
Our recipe testing frenzy continued last week with Marge trying this too-good-to-only-be-served-in-the-fall pumpkin creation. It all started when she looked at the back of the pumpkin can and was told to visit the Duncan Hines website http://www.duncanhines.com. She made it just like it said except the can of pumpkin was 29 oz and she used it all. Everyone agreed we should share it now, even though its not quite pumpkin time.
Duncan Hines Pumpkin Pie Crunch
- 1 (16 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Classic Yellow Cake Mix
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
- whipped topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom of 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan.
Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt in large bowl. Stir until well blended. Pour into pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle with melted butter.
Bake at 350°F 50 to 55 minutes or until golden. Cool completely. Serve with whipped topping. Refrigerate leftovers.

Edward Knapton says Keep on Smiling!
Sec – Treasurer Berry Hill Farms, Inc.
DBA Americas Best Flowers Garden Center
4311 Vilas Hope Road
Cottage Grove, WI 53527
608-222-2269 Fax 608-222-1234 Cell 608-698-5627