Kay, she just looks so soft and delicate. ( The Sab Bau baby). I was happy that the Be Thine kid took on some of her character. Rita, yesterdays looked muted and dull. I'm happt she brightened up a bit! Sarah, the red one is a nice height with an average size bloom also it seems to be heat tolerant. The edge on the Sab Baur one could be a little wider but it seems to set off the eye. Deangreen, that isn't a true color. It really looks muddier in the garden. Julia, I am looking forward to the blooms for tomorrow. I should have several new seedling blooming if the rain doesn't get them.. How is your color Chris? Since I got that one from you, they should be much the same. Mine looks muddy in the garden but the photo looks different. I don't remember if it bloomed last year, I'll have to look. I have several in the shade and am planning to move them after bloom.. Thank you all....Ellie

I suppose that it does become difficult to separate seedlings from their parents if they look more or less identical, even if you want to maintain clonal purity... :-) I hadn't thought that one through. It does seem that there is at least more potential for variation and eventual change in a variety's character through hybridization, even if selfed seedlings always come true. Along those lines, I would have to wonder if Millet's improvements could actually have been the result of hybridization rather than simple genetic variation - I guess we need more graduate students interested in violets to figure it out! At least seed generation probably helps to rid the genome of things like viruses and perhaps phytoplasmas, so it is certainly a good idea for a rather disease-susceptible plant such as the violet to be able to at least produce clonal (or nearly so) seed. If my double violet only could perform this simple task, it wouldn't be in such danger of being lost now! No doubt this is equally a failing in the Parmas, and just one more reason to try our hardest to raise new varieties from seed. Stefan

jannie: that happened to me too. I thought I'd overslept. Went to kitchen to hurriedly get my breakfast and noticed the clocks there. I laughed and said 'someone' had April fooled me before I got out of bed. Shirley

Believe it or not a lot of us DONT watch J Gaines - pretty much a one trick pony, imho. Its a fad thats peaked and is on its way out. Now dont get me wrong, Ms Gaines is a talented and creative lady, but the reality is even she was getting tired of her same old, same old! I would question the knowledge of an architect who apparently is not aware that acrylic paint film traps moisture behind it and long term creates spalling, cracking and disintigration of brick. It doesnt happen overnight, but give it 20-30yrs it will. Said architect should have advised mineral paints and other methods which are breathable and dont have this effect. Yknow its fine if you and OP dont agree, but when you post to a public forum, you WILL get opinions... sometimes strong opinons. I think the strip mall effect could have been lessened by - painting those drab white srips a dark gray-green and, more importantly, take out a row of parking in front of the door and do some serious landscaping and create a more inspiring and beautiful entry way.