Terry Aitken makes the points: 1. Mr. Waters garden was in a heavily wooded area with neither adequate sunshine nor good air drainage. His soil was ammended with compost and produced lush growth. Mr. Waters complained that only the diploids were not rotting or suffering from leaf spot. Living as I do in the same area of the Northwest as Mr. Waters does, my observation is the same as Terry's- that is a sure way to get bad results. I am surprised that the diploids were surviving. Every modern tall bearded iris in commerce will rot here under those conditions. I also grow Highbush Blueberries. If a person wants to grow blueberries in some areas of the country, the locals will inform him about which blueberry variety will grow in their area. No one expects to be able to grow any variety in every climate. If a person wants to grow blueberries he ammends his soil to fit the conditions of ph and drainage that matches those required for blueberries. No one complains. If they want blueberries they do it, if not they don't. For some reason the same logic escapes the iris community. I personally feel that it is amazing that so many iris can be grown in so many areas of the country. The second point Mr. Aitken makes is that the climate that a few of the hybridizers live in is very good for iris. They produce some exciting colors that are not as hardy but are different than anything growing. This isn't particularly new. In the 30's Kleinsorge did the same. If I lived in an area like the deep south where Walter lives. I would be asking Walter about these new varieties before I spent my hard earned money on some of these new exciting colors. I feel that garden clubs and iris societies would be well advised to pool their resouces when purchasing these new exciting colors, then have someone like Walter try them. If they grow for him the surplus could be divided among the contributors.

There have been several drops & adds, but the number remains constant at 38.5 participants for Round 2. (Erica, you're the .5 heheh. I'll add you when I get your information back). Tina_tn has been dropped from Round 2, as I have not heard from her in several inquiries. I will post the original email bulletin here now for everyone's info: To all my "Pick-a-Seed and Pay it Forward" Round Robin Participants: Hello, everyone! If you are on the following list, I have you included in Round 2 of the Pick-a-Seed Round Robin. If you do not want to participate in Round 2, please reply to this notice. STRMYWTHR3 PRAIRIEWINDS CAROL BOWEN SGUANZON MILLYBUG MOGARDENING DREVALVO CEDARNEST OKNISH MNWSGAL JULIE_MN CANDYCOW DEBBYA ETRAVIA MICHIGANALICE JSELWA LISAM627_OHIO_Z6 DAFF_KNEE2000 STRMYWTHR3 COLUMBUSGARDENER MSPRETTYKY FLOWERGARDENLADY MIMIB1 GIVERNY4ME LIL_GREEN_THUMB BETH_B_KODIAK FLOWER_POWER2 LAT0403 CHELTY2 RAMAZZ NATURE_FARMER PAMELAMARIE MARIACAT GARDENINGDUMMIE DEM_PA SHIMLA GARDENSCOUT AMY B We currently have 38.5 (one new unconfirmed) participants for Round 2 (for those of you following along up there, STRMYWTHR3 had to be moved to the end of Round 1, so she will show up at the beginning of one of the Robins, and will be also included on one of the other lists...thereby getting to participate in essentially both rounds). There will be 3 new Robins for Round 2 once Round 1 is over. The new Robins will be split by physical location. I will play Âconnect-the-dots with your ZIP codes again, so that the Robins run as quickly as possible. Please welcome your new hostesses: Debbie C (columbusgardener), Debbie D (flower_power2), and Beth B (beth_b_kodiak). I will be making the original split for the 3 Robins, then I will mail the new packages to each respective hostess, who will also be provided with the information that they need to run the Robins. As with the first round, a ÂMaster List will NOT be circulated with these new Robins. I promised you all as much security as possible with this Robin, and hopefully, that will continue into Round 2. Once the new Robins are off, your new hostesses are Âlarge & in charge. The rules of your robin will likely change little, if at all, but the hostesses have full reign to do so as they wish. Please respect your hostess, and donÂt harass them too much ;) ***IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL: If, at any time, you have concerns about another participant, please inform your hostess. At no point should these concerns be posted publicly to the forum. Your hostess will decide what, if any action should be taken, and will take the appropriate action to alleviate any concerns of the other participants. Thank you again, and if anyone has any questions, please buzz me.

Hi! Dimensions do tell alot of the story. I give you credit for taking the plunge. Enjoy your new sofa! One thing I've learned - from sitting in so many sofas trying to decide - is that each model, even within the same manufacturer, may have a different pillow depth as well as slant to the back part of the frame. For example, alot of Lee's are just too slanted back for my sitting perference. The Norwalk's are less so and 'fit' me better. But I want the hand tied approach Lee uses, so go figure. I've looked at Sherrill, Miles Talbott, Michael Thomas, Isenhour, and a few others. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen in person a high back which works. They are all too deep in the seat (40"). I have narrowed my search to a higher back, approximately 36" deep seat (maybe up to 38"). I've noticed that all the tags for the ones which are too deep are over 38" - still not sure what the depth measurement means, but I have concluded it doesn't account for the back slant. I am continuing my search, if anyone has come across my future couch, please feel free to share where it is! Oh, has anyone bought Norwalk and what do you think of it? They are not 8 way hand tied and that makes me nervous, especially since I want an extra firm seat. Thanks!

My husband has been working on getting several of these made for us to add to our soon-to-be-open Etsy store. Just before Christmas, he made a special one for me, to go on the wall on my side of our bed. I have been ill for quite a while and I'd been wanting one to use for all the sweet cards I receive, in addition to pics, an easily visible calendar and the various reminders from school, church, etc. This one is 28"W X 22"H, covered with a beautiful sage burlap. To add a nice contrasting 'frame', he taped off the sides and used some spray paint left over from another project. Last, he added some really pretty oil-rubbed bronze knobs to the top, which we also already had. I think they mimic push-pins and look as though they are actually attaching the board to the wall. They will be great for holding the goodies we all love to hang - like necklaces, chains, ribbons, etc. The picture does NOT do it justice, but I absolutely adore it ~ especially because he made it just for me! (BTW, he always reinforces the frames, so it very sturdy.) He has made several that look very similar to the ones from Ballard, with the nail-head trim, and some with GORGEOUS frames. He has taken several custom orders from friends and family members. I'll have to get those pics from his computer so I can show you those. But for now, here is the one he made for me.