Ornithogalums??? Oh vetivert, you are bad, but Ornithogalum is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of spring chores and getting to work outside, usually in late Feb. Now I realize my question could have and should have been phrased a lot better. How about this? If the Bulb Forum members would submit their (own) pics of plants and blooms grown from bulbs for a new forum picture, what should it be? . Should it be open to anything grown from bulbs? Should it maybe exclude such things that have more 'specific' forums of their own, such as Lily, Tropical, and House Plant? Should it be an individual bloom, or as you suggested, maybe a still life flower arrangement of numerous delectable blooms grown from bulbs? Please 'scuse me for just having tunnel vision and tunnel thoughts of just Daffodils. At any rate, the folks who are having their spring now, can hopefully be trying to get some great pics. Ok...so when does anyone think we could/should start taking picture submissions? Should we wait until late 2010 so glads could be included by those in the US who grow them? Should we wait a full year (or nearly) so the members down under have an opportunity to have another summer blooming season, like for glads? hmmm...what is fairest? I guess before proceeding, I should check with the 'Powers that be' to see for sure if they would be willing to get the pic changed and updated with a pretty pic of our choosing. I hope lots of folks will give their input and in time, post their pics for entry. In doing a search here on the forum, it seems that Tulips and Daffs are the 2 things most often posted about. I imagine though that tulips are most frequently asked about, due to them having problems, or emerging early, or for not blooming a second season when they are thought to be perennials like daffodils. Here is a spring 2009 pic of a bouquet of Daffodil Show rejects. Hopefully in 2010, I can put together a much better arrangement and pic. Sue...hoping/planning to start daff planting today...maybe

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!

"I saw where Reba said some of what she found out was disturbing, and she had to do some soul searching. What was that about?" I don't recall exactly to what she was referring, although I do remember her making that statement. It might have been the fact that her 4x great-grandfather George Brasfield was a slave trader. Also, Reba wanted to find out which of her ancestors was the first to set foot on American soil. Her research found that her 6x great-grandfather, also named George Brasfield, arrived in the USA at the age of nine, and he was an indentured servant. She found out that he had made the journey without any other family at all. She couldn't imagine why anyone would send their child, alone, on a journey would took several months, to end up in another country. Reba was upset with her ancestors for having sent their child on such a journey alone at that age. She ended up finding out that young George's mother, Abigail, had died, and in those days it was very difficult for a man to raise a child alone. So, George's father, Thomas, sent him to the States. Apparently it was sort of common in situations like this for a parent to send a child to the US, in the hope of the child eventually having a better life than would have it they had stayed back in England. You can still watch complete episodes from this season on nbc.com.

Yes....that one comes on Monday nights on PBS here. I have a hard time remembering to watch it. They just had a blurb on about it...so at least now I know which night.