yes, deeje, but I know many GW peo who only read one or 2 forums. i have just discovered the design forum, did not recognize but 2 names of the few pages of threads i checked,(that is, 2 peo I know from the new eng , perennials , trees ,and shrubs forums.) so i thought this design forum might find some of the 'lessons' of worth. if a design forum reader DID happen to see the post elsewhere, well, they could just skip reading it here, OR they might find design forum readers' responses interesting.... best, mindy

My big lesson this year was that I have a lot less sun than I thought. All my lilies that were up against the house bent nearly horizontal to try to keep in the sun as the day passed. Had to move all of them, which meant FIND a place to put them. Lilies have always been fool proof for me up to now. Finding them places to grow that weren't in the middle of the driveway was difficult, and there isn't any 'back of the bed' area for them with sufficient sun, so I'll just have to look at them while they brown and wither away. I could and would plant them along the driveway where they'd get sun all day, but my daughter has parked her dead car smack in my way, and I don't know when it's getting towed away. My learning curve as to what will grow here was a lot steeper than expected, because my winters here can hit high 20's (which killed a lot of stuff) and my previous lows were low 40's, high 30's, and I am SO shady (which killed nothing, but many things were less than pleased). BUT - my Cl Cecile Brunner is really happy where I planted her, and when she blooms she'll be great! After trotting her around in a half barrel for years, where she bloomed every year but never got really large, she's happy to be in the ground. Once I get the bigger things situated, I can start shuffling around the smaller things. All my narcissus etc. are in a wire cage that is barely deep enough because I had to dig it in the Not Digging Season. I could move it now, but I don't know where I'd put it, so it's going to have to wait until next year at the earliest. I need the bones of the bed settled before I play with the rest of it.

How I am going to cull will depend on the cross. I bought most crosses with the specific intent of making sib crosses or even crossing back to the parent (when I own it). I don't expect anything of value to come through in the first generation. In those cases, I will make seeds, destroy the all the sibs, and then select in the following generations for horticultural merit. And by this I mean tall scapes, topped with large, flat and abundant flowers - good foliage, too. A plant with good proportions. I know it's against the trend, but I'm not hung up on branching, it's not the end-all and be-all. I think a high scape:fan ratio is a valuable statistic, too. I have a seedling that doesn't branch at all, and is awash in well distributed blooms, great shape, great color... scapes like crazy (its flaw: very weak, skimpy foliage). Other crosses will be ready for selection next summer. To give an example, I think "Born To Run" has a superb floral face and color. I actually bought "Born To Run" to compare it to all the seedlings I have grown in order to have a gold standard. To know if "Born To Run" is improved upon, I must have that plant... So to condense all this rambling, what you select depends on the cross.

My lessons this year: 1. Just because you have the seeds, you don't have to start them. I was lucky and found homes for my extra 300 plants but it was touch and go for a bit. I still planted 50 plants and as I can, for the third weekend in a row, am seeing the error of my ways 2. Those cute little plants become giant mangled monsters so - don't over plant in small raised beds. They will get bigger - keep up on the pruning unless you want a tomato jungle - use better and more supports to keep the giants from falling over - write down what's planted where because sharpie will wash off sticks and the plants will grow big enough to hide the name sticks 3. Hail is horrible! My beautiful plants have looked beat up for three weeks now. 4. Chickens do not belong in the garden once the tomatoes begin to ripen... Unless you want them pre- tasted Already saving seeds and thinking about next season!!!