I don't know what they are. The squirrels and frost heave did away with all my tags that I had.I can only guess from pics of the crosses that I have, and even then I can't seem to guess where some came from! I was dissapointed this Spring when I saw they were either laying on the ground or placed nicley around the yard. Sorry...*sniffle sniffle* The orange toothy one I think came from Heman x August Flame. The dark toothy one(s) I think is from Blackberry DRagon x Dragon fang. I have no idea what the black one could be from...I had no black crosses! Dani

We do not post publicly how the Stout vote breaks down by region since that is not a requirement to win the Award. You can find the HM and AM results posted by region, since votes must come from 4 regions for the HM and 8 regions for the AM. But with the Stout,it is simply the cultivar that gets the most votes. The number of judges varies by region. There are more judges in the regions with the most AHS members. Region 2 has our largest number of members, and also the largest number of judges. Region 4 is the second largest region and it has the second largest number of judges. Some regions with low numbers of AHS members ( Regions 7, 8,9) also have fewer judges.I don't think that having the largest regions represented by the largest number of judges would skew the vote. It would just give an accurate representation of what our membership reflects. Most, but not all, judges vote each year!

"Tunica saxifraga was new to me it looks very sweet, how do you use it?" I've used it planted in a stone wall that had soil behind it, and also at the top of a stone wall at the edge of a perennial bed. Right now I have it growing in a sunny bit at the feet of a lilac and also a clump of several plants along the edge of my new shrub bed. Like DtD, I like the feathery foliage which has surprising mass when planted in quantity - mine under the lilac looks like a groundcover over several square feet, though it's only three plants. The flowers look a bit like pink double baby's breath, but it doesn't self-seed rampantly as baby's breath has done for me. (I've ended up ripping out the baby's breath.) I often underplant it with small bulbs as it doesn't interfere with the bulbs' sprouting, but its fresh green foliage helps distract from and cover the dying bulb foliage. I got my original plant from White Flower Farm, probably 20 years ago, and when I recently went looking for more, from Bluestone, though I'm sure there are other places that carry it. It's a plant I've never seen locally, perhaps because it's subtle enough (sort of like witch hazels) that it might not sell itself well at the garden center the way that big, bright-flowered plants do. It's a plant I really enjoy & I think is best planted where it gets seen close up, like near a doorway or path, and where there is contrasting bolder foliage nearby.

Ale (or beer) and cheese soups have a long tradition in England and early America, Westelle. In my experience, nobody is indifferent to them---you either love 'em or hate 'em, with no middle ground. We attended a Madrigal dinner at the local college, where one of the courses was Stilton & Ale Soup. What surprised me was how many people actually liked it. Or pretended to, at any rate. I enjoyed it. Friend Wife took one taste and passed.