Thanks, Irina. Yes, it seems to have many good qualities... symmetrical, good bloomer (6 bloom stalks already, in various stages), blooms held above foliage. But, that being said, it is quite ordinary looking and not registration material.... Really, though, I am not really expecting to get something worth registering.... Have just always been curious about doing something like this and wondered what crossing two of my favorite violets would produce. We'll see how the other 14 turn out.... :-)

i think Marie B is one of my favorite clems, certainly one of the oldest. For the last 3 years she has given me at least one semi-double flower as well as a multitude of big single flowers. This is the only picture I have of her on photobucket, from 2007. But this Spring there were no signs of life when the others were leafing out. So I trimmed off a little of the vines. The next day a little bit more, and so on until I had a foot high thumb thick piece of brown sticking up from the ground. I thought she might have bloomed herself to death last year. I pulled out the ivy that had spread toward her stem & kept watering when it was dry, and sprinkled some alfalfa pellets on the ground near the stem. Was hope some new shoots might come up near the seemingly dead one, but it was not to be. Then one day about 2 weeks ago I spotted what looked to be a green dot about half way up the brown stem. And little by little it has grown to about 1.5 inches & looks like it is trying to put out leaves. I know I won't have much of a show this year, if any, but I am so happy she is still alive. Before I saw the spot on the stem I was looking at clems at one of my fav nurseries & noticed a small but healthly looking Alabast. I thought I would plant it about 3 feet away from Marie's spot, on the otherside of the brass bedpost. It is doing well but not flowering yet. And then I learned that Alabast is a cross between Marie & Henrii. Probably will have somewhat smaller flowers than the 8 inch wide Maries. So maybe you could find an Alabast until you can get another Marie. Marie in ME

Jill...you must have been posting at the same time I was, I missed you, sorry! :) Glad you enjoyed my dl's. Tammy...I'm sorry, I failed to answer your question about my camera. It's a Fuji Finepix S700. The macro and super macro capabilities are wonderful as is the 10x optical zoom. It really lets you get up close and personal with your blooms. LOL Shelly....I totally understand, my list just keep growing and growing and growing..kind of like that Energizer bunny, you know? :) I've had MM for a couple of years now, and it's really struttin it's stuff this season. FT is brand new and that was the FFO on it. It's one of my brightest dl's. Chris....You're gonna love AS, it's one of my favs, but then I've got so many fav's!! LOL Thanks for the comments, glad you enjoyed looking. Jan

How long have you been in that house, lilyfinch? Are any of the meatball shrubs foundation plantings? If so, replacing them with deciduous probably isn't what you want for that area. Have you lived there long enough through the seasons to know sunpaths, prevailing wind/air circulation, drainage of rain and moisture absorption? Got deer? They love hydrangea. Is that really a Japanese maple? Takes a long time for these slow-growers to recover from being shape-sheared in preparation to sell a house. If it's a JM, you might ask a professional arborist if it is moveable this fall.