Spring has Sprung...well, sort of.

Our weekend in the Twin Cities continued on Sunday.  We enjoyed a delicious brunch with our son, his wife and their sweet twins and our daughter and her boyfriend at The Red Stag in downtown Minneapolis.

After brunch the "guys" all went to the famous Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum.  You might remember that four year old Harry has been mad about trains ever since he discovered grandpa's 1950's Lionel Train!

The "girls" weren't invited.  But we didn't care...we had our own plans, thank you very much.

We spent the afternoon at the Spring Planting Event at The Holasek Greenhouse in Chanhassen, Minnesota.   Here's the scoop:

Just a small portion of the Greenhouse

You bring in your empty planter pots and choose from an enormous collection of beautiful flowers and other plants...

Planting Stations

...then you find a spot at a planting table and begin to create your special container gardens.

Miss Lucy and Auntie Jen putting mulch in their pots

...first, you put a nice bed of mulch in the bottom of the pot. 

Lucy and Auntie Jen scooping their planting soil

 Then you fill your pots with rich, beautiful soil (compliments of the nursery)...

Lucy patting down the soil in her planter

Lucy and her mommy planting their flowers

Next, you gently but firmly plant your beautiful flowers in a pleasing arrangement.  This might take a little time but with some trial and error and some serious discussion it all works.

Jen's Copper Planting Box and plants

Nicely done!

These were the flowers that Lucy chose...nice job!

So here's the best part:

It's still mighty cold and snowy here in Minnesota so a container garden wouldn't have much chance of survival outside.   But if you are lucky enough to take part in this Spring Planting event, the lovely people at Holasek's will keep your plants safe and sound and well cared for in their special greenhouse until it's warm enough to place the planters outside!  Each pot has it's own number which is listed on our receipt. 

How cool is that?

Our lovely creations all set for their stay in the greenhouse

(If you click on the photo, you might be able to see the labels I put near our planters.  Should have made the text a little larger, I think.)

Off they go to the greenhouse!

Then all of the carts with their cargo of planters are linked together into a train of sorts and hauled to their respective storage spaces.

We're told that by the time we retrieve our planters, they will have grown into beautiful displays.  Nice and healthy and all ready to place out on our patios and decks.   I'll have to remember to take photos of them. It will be fun to compare the "Before" and "After" shots.

We've decided this was so much fun that we're going to make it an annual event!