Walter, the reason Barry Blyth does not take the Australasian Dykes medal every year, is simply that he does not enter for it. He has not entered an iris in any of the Dykes competition gardens here for many years. That is good for us amateur hybridisers, as it gives us a running chance, although Graeme Grosvenor usually takes it anyway. I think that is very generous of Barry, considering that one of the competition gardes is at Tempo Two. The Australasian Dykes is actually awarded by the British Iris Society, and as far as I know had been awarded here every year for some time. To us in Australia it is far more important than the US dykes, as it is more representative of the type of irises that do well HERE. Most of the Iris society members here are NOT members of the AIS. How many American growers do you know who are members of the ISA? Blyth irises sell well in the US, and it would be great for one to take out the Dykes medal, but it won't effect his popularity in Australia one bit. The AIS holds the world registry for all irises except Dutch. I am not entirely sure that applies to all Japanese iris bred in Japan? It is fairly common for most plants now to have a world wide registry for names, although roses seem to still be in chaos. All the breeders I know have registered their irises with the AIS, except for those who have bred their own seedlings, given them garden names, and distributed them under such names. I avoid those irises like the plague. Personally I have not yet registered a seedling. I intend to put several in the competition garden next year, for the first time. I am fussy, and also my main interest is medians and PCI, which do not get the attention that the TB's do over here. My ambition is of course, to win the ADM with a PCI or an IB. Hahahahahahahaha (ooh that hurts!) Cheers, Jan

Thank you so much Margo and Shirley for the cards :) I didn't sign up for this swap as I was too busy and didn't really pay attention to what was goin on around this time period and rarely even got on the computer...but it was a nice surprise to receive the cards :))thanks so much Shirley for the card with the magnet...the magnet went straight to my fridge!! ..thanks Margo for the card with the winnie pooh stickers (I'm a kid at heart and love Disney) and the echinacea paradoxa seeds! ...ladies you made my day when i got these in the mail and knew ya'll were thinking about me even tho I haven't been too active and talkative here...thanks so much for your friendship I so love this group!, Dianne

I agree that JC will go well with many roses. It depends on what colour effect you want. If you want more complementary colours than yellow will go well with reds, orange and pinks but in similar shades or hues. A strong flaming red for example may not go well with a soft yellows especially yellows like Austins roses. If you want contrasting colours then JC and Ebb Tide/Twilight Zone will work well together. I am going to see how JC does in my garden. She is in her first year and will bloom soon. If it does well, I will get more for my garden. I am always looking for a good disease resistant strong golden yellows in my garden. I love Austins roses but I find his yellows very washed out. I am definitely not a fan of the creamy washed out colours.

Now, back on topic. I love this thread, vapor, and have been enjoying it for several days. Here a some of my free associations: Flowers, I can't get your Rouge Royale out of my head. Tell me your secret of how you grow this stunner. My RR could take a few lessons from yours. But there isn't a rose you grow--or hydrangea, that isn't beautiful. Trish, I think of Bill, and of that magical jacaranda tree that sits in the center of one of your gardens. How I wish I could grow that. Plus, of course, there is your balustrade, and all the lovely levels of your garden--95 steps between them. Kristine, like others, I remember your outstanding and lovely Olivia Rose Austin. And your blue blue delphs. Ingrid, there are many exquisite roses in your garden that I associate with you--SdlM, le Vesuve, and, of course, Potter and Moore. Then there is the dreamy sea lavender, which I covet, not to mention, the precious porcelain that sets off the rose bouquets. Jim, really grows outstanding red Double Knockouts. They always look great and never seen to be out of bloom. He also grows some nice cats--ha--and a cute doggy. Sultry Jasmine grows a great crop of rose dwelling tiny froggies and just about every luscious tropical plant you can think of. Oh, those brugmansias! I love Lisa's Mels Heritage--it's mind blowing. And so precious are all the little blue flowers that make their way into Lisa's fabulous bouquets. She grows a mean Evelyn, too, among many other roses. I'm going to have to continue this tomorrow. There are so many more rose associations to mention. Diane