Isn't there seeds that you can purchase called Cheyenne Spirit - an AAS award winner that you can try and you'd only be out the cost of a package of seeds and your time? If you winter sowed them, you would probably see some flowers this year as they are described as blooming the first year. The flowers from this mix are bright and quite varied. I, on the other hand, have had very good luck with the new cultivars. I bought many of mine the first spring we were in this house and we've been here for 7 years now. That group includes Sunrise, Summer Sun, Harvest Moon, and Sunset. I would say that Sunset is the only one that is still a small plant and never gets very big. I received Milkshake in a trade a couple of years ago and this double is very healthy and produces quite a few flowers. I had a seedling come up that looks exactly like Tiki Torch. My guess is that it is a cross between E. Paradoxa - another great grower for me - and my Sunset since they grow fairly near each other. I purchased PInk Double Delight in a trade and it did not make it through it's first winter. I received a piece in a trade last year and it bloomed and grew well. We will see if it makes it through this winter. My daughter has had Raspberry Truffle for two year and it is a good size plant that produces a lot of flower. It's a very pretty plant. A friend sent me Pow Wow Wildberry and it has done very well. I love the vibrant color of the flowers which are much more saturated in color than the regular purple cone flowers. Another plus is that PWW is a small plant, great for the front of the border. The same friend sent me Colorburst Orange, which is a bright, orange double. Alas, it has not bloomed as yet and I will move it this spring to a sunnier location. I think a quick growing lilac growing near it has provided too much shade for it. I can share some seeds from some of these if you are interested in giving them a try. Let me know, Linda

Catalonia does quite well for me. It is 2-3 feet tall, lbooms very regularly. The color is very rich. The growth is fairly twiggy and bushy, not stiff and upright. The fragrance is not super strong for me so far, but it is there. I really like the glossy Pernetiana foliage. I find Jadis to be really fragrant and not at all fussy to grow. It is a more conventional type of Hybrid Tea, more upright and with long stems. I just received Typhoo Tea recently from Vintage and the fragrance is really remarkable. I am not sure how it does other than the fragrance, but I think it is really almost worth a try on that alone. Invitation has an excellent fragrance and a nice, complex coloring. It reblooms well, and would probably rebloom more if I deadheaded it. I spray. I have sprayed an average of less than once a month over the growing seasons of the past two years.

Very small, rigidly upright (sorta stumpy, frankly) plant with gorgeous poiple blooms. I disliked his habit. But I'd probably have kept him for the blooms, were it not for the fact that in typical Multiflora fashion, he could not ABIDE my alkaline conditions. Raymond Privat was a more graceful, prettier plant, with blooms so similar that the two are confused in commerce. Best of all, I like 'Baptiste Lafaye,' which came to me from Cliff Orent. It has gorgeous soft, droopy "peach-leaf" foliage, is un-troubled by my alkaline conditions, and is just flat gorgeous. Jeri Baptiste Lafaye:

Beca, I remember a trip to Ely...no help on the garden side though. We had gone there for a Basque festival, food will be beyond wonderful. To get there we drove on the longest road of nothing in the US. It is actually listed as such. I also remember "Desperation" by Stephen King about the road. Ely is a very small town of 3,000+ with many original buildings, very quaint with a few casinos around. Lots of outdoor activities and old ghost towns, hunting, fishing, etc. Hopefully you will get some responses for the garden side. But recommend when you get there to check the library for a garden club and the University of Nevada extension office. Also the local newspaper. Perhaps all are on the net.