Hmm - both excellent suggestions. Wild Horses has been on "my list" for a while, so even if it's not the one, it may be time to get it! I'm inclined to think that Nefertiti is closer - hadn't thought of that one (and it's a Munson - even more of a draw!) From the road it really looked like the eye was blood red. I thought of Todd Monroe, but the shape and size were all wrong. And, of course, it was just an impression.

Hi gang - thank you all again SO MUCH for your support!! Herb is walking again & gaining some strength, has nerve damage in his back so my giant of a man is puny right now, but walking!! I got a weekend job taking care of cats at a big boarding kennel nearby & actually get paid to pet cats. Healing. God is good. Paul, I truly loved seeing your photos - awesome, incredible & majestic Colorado tour you gave your boys AND us. I got to drive through CO once, all I saw was the admittedly fantastic & spiritual views from the interstate & a wonderful diner in Denver where I had the best Denver omelet of my life. Carol, I know you Washington people are used to cool & wet, but it was 110 degrees here the other day, and it hasn't rained here since the beginning of June, so you are actually lucky... I've been feeling very lucky with the daylilies this Summer - the heat has given me oodles of rebloom scapes so I'm going to get to enjoy flowers all this month, too, meaning I'm enjoying daylily blooms for 5 full months this year! AND I got several very promising seedlings, some gorgeous faces that appear to have good branching & bud counts. My favorite has to be an Awesome Blossom x Create Your Dream kid: lavender with purple flames & knobby purple edge. And my 2008 Linda Beck x Bobby Martin seedlings ALL bloomed, just 6 buds each, but they ALL looked like both parents - have high hopes for them. Melinda, our Sunkissed Temptation's registration is now pending & it is going to be introduced at the 2012 National Convention in Ohio. The fan I kept has increased to 5 fans since I mailed yours, sent up a rebloom scape AND has 3 proliferations growing on the first scape! Hope yours is doing as well. Hope all of you are well, cool & happy, Love Marea

Good Morning All, May I be the third in line to say a huge THANK YOU to our Ms. Shirley and to sing her praises? I received a GREAT last minute daylily/hosta swap box from her! I think she miscounted a little on the 6 only items and enclosed a note saying she hoped she wasn't in trouble with Cindy for over packing! Here's what she sent me: Daylilies: American Eagle Angelic Messenger (Ooooohhhhhh!!) Ballyhoo Double Breakthrough Frilly Bliss (Spider -Love this one!) Lavender Bonanza Spacecoast Sweet Eye (!) String Bikini (Another awesome spider) Louisiana Iris (Think these have become my favorite of the irises): Mr. Man (a pass on from our dearly missed Joey's garden) Voodoo Magic Canna 'Florence Vaughn' Hosta: 'Little Sunspot' (Almost just bought this last week! Very pretty!) 'Sitting pretty' Crocosmia 'Norwich Canary' (Love!) Iris 'Champagne Elegance' (2 fans) Shirley, Thanks again for always blessing your swap partner with a most awesome packed full box. Always love my trades with you! Cindy, GREAT box from Shirley! I agree with her- you are a special angel among us and so deserving to be honored with that! Always love your pictures, your shared wisdom, sense of humor and ofcourse your great daylilies! Marea, I agree with Sherri on the prolif info. I just snap mine off the scape and put it in just a very small amount of water - about 1/4" - just enough so the tip of the crown is sitting in. It will begin to grow roots in a matter of a few days. Very easy! Hope the move is going well for you - know you must be getting there! Diann, speaking of baby Ben - how about an updated picture? He must be growing like a weed since his newborn picture you posted. Debbie, please post and let us know how you're doing - it's been way too long. Have been wide awake since 2:00 a.m. so I guess I'd better go accomplish something constructive before work today. Hope you all have a good one! MaryB

Ostentatious stuff - I know who I am, and don't feel any need to impress anyone. Frivolous stuff - when one approaches 80, with a housefull of stuff, (plus garage) one doesn't need more stuff. We in North America and Europe have abused our kids and grandkids ... ... we ran up huge gov't. debts when times were good, and, while Canada has had a balanced budget for a time, the U.S. is still running huge annual deficits, as well... ... we under-funded our pension plans and many are short of funds, plus there are soon to be many more pensioners, and fewer continuing workers to pay into the pension system. We've used up precious energy like it's going out of style: it isn't. But what have we found as alternative(s)? We've polluted air and water. The atmosphere is warming, and whether or not it's a natural change, or we're largely or even slightly responsible ... we can't do anything to alter natural change ... all we can do is alter our actions (and if natural causes are also, or mainly, at work ... altering our actions is the only thing that we can do to alleviate the situation). Some claim that the very continued existence of humankind is close to being at risk: there may be some justification for that claim, distasteful as it may be. We've fished out the seas. We've paved over high quality farmland ... and are running short of food. However, we've chosen to divert substantial quantities of foodstuffs to produce (some say wastefully, inefficiently) ethanol to help fuel our vehicles ... while we've begun to have food riots in several places because the impoverished people can't afford the higher prices. Many of them will be coming here: we can't build a fence high enough to keep them out ... most come by air. While prices of goods have been rising in North America and Europe ... wages haven't (for all but the top 1- 2% of the population), so our standard of living is falling. But many, refusing to accept this, are borrowing using their value of their houses to continue to live at former levels. Question: When they are downsized and forced into early retirement and unable to find comparable employment, with the equity in their homes largely used up ... ... how do they plan to finance their retirement? We're closing a couple of vegetable and fruit processing plants, plus a soup manufacturer locally, and ripping out peach trees that serviced them. Going to bring apples and peach jam (probably soup, also) from China, where stuff can be made cheaply. Yeah - using what for fuel to operate the ships? But there'll be shorter voyages to the east coast, using the nearly ice-free North-west passage. [[End of rant]] I'm getting ready to depart this life ... feeling rather ashamed that we haven't taken better care of this world that God entrusted into our hands. I hope that you all have a happy, thoughtful, fruitful week. Offer a smile and a kindness to the people that you...