Yes. The yellow iris - which was supposed to be blue and descended from the blue flags of Mary Gardiner - is blooming right now. It is bearded. The bud starts out blue tipped then opens to yellow standards and blue striped yellow falls. Within a day or two the blue stripes turned brown and the yellow standards were not really clear yellow any more. We have had heat and rain so that may account for the dulling of the colors. The plant is robust and spreads rapidly. The flowers are 30"to 36" tall and smaller than those of today's. Meanwhile we have been in touch with Dr. Favretti and he says that we obviously have the wrong iris as his ARE blue. He has recently divided his, discarding the extras but has offered us another try after his present clump spreads enough for another divide.I expect to get in touch with him again to see if he knows the botanical name of the Gardiner Island iris and if he could send us a picture. We also tried to make contact with "the President's House" at Yale but got no response, and we have e-mailed the museum at Worden in Holland asking for information about corespondence of Mary Gardiner. Also no answer to date. So the hunt goes on. At least we now know that the yellow iris we have been cherishing as blue flag Gardiner Island is the wrong one and we may discard it. Gnomlet aka Marianne

Trades are getting slimmer. I've been weeding out the plants I don't want over the past few years and haven't got enough of the plants I like to be able to divide much. Hope that changes in a year or two! I can bring: My seed stash 1 black walnut seedling Daylilies (unknown type but definitely not ditch lilies) Mums (yellow) Black eyed susans Grape hyacinth bulbs Lycoris bulbs Small flowered coreopsis seedlings Russian sage cuttings (roots easily in water during the spring) Star of Bethlehem bulbs (can be VERY invasive and is very poisonous to dogs and cats but perhaps in a pot it wouldn't be too bad) Hyacinthoides (wood hyacinth)-white I may not get to dig all of these (time is getting short), so let me know if you want something and I'll make sure I bring it. Diana Lynn

Likewise!! It was so wonderful actually meeting everyone and thank you SO very much for your generosity! Gardengramma, thank you especially for hosting, and providing such a gloriously beautiful place for us to meet. (You did am amazing job dialing up the weather as well). Since I got there without my leucojeum or redhot poker I'd be open to making one-off arrangements. I had to get the leucojeum right back into the ground but I can dig some more. Some people also mentioned a possible fall meeting? Which of course would be better for leucojeum, peonies, other fall-dormant plants... One other note - I thought I'd be able to tell people this as we traded but it was a little too chaotic -- in our area we have a serious problem with Japanese stilt grass, very invasive in the woods near us. I don't know if it's widespread but I don't want to be responsible for spreading it. I'm pretty sure I did not include any ride-alongs in my trades, BUT, stilt-grass makes a lot of seed. It's incredibly easy to pull up and easy to kill, but if it goes to seed, it makes an awful lot. Don't let anything grassy come up in your transplants...

I'm so late getting my "game on" this year. I am contributing plants to a community fundraiser the same day but I am saving lots to bring to GG's and can't wait for the fun! I'm digging this weekend and will post those things later. Here is my "WANT" list: Delphinium Aconitum (Monkshood) Lupine Rhubarb Fig Kiwi Blueberry Rose cuttings (I want to attempt the potato rooting method) woodland anemone lady slippers Toad Lily (Trycirtum) Lily, "Beverly" Lemongrass Stevia Canna, Phasion, Stutgard, any other mint lobelia cardinal flower clematis (any, will also like to try rooting a cutting) plastic pots, all sizes, seed starting to 5 gallon 3 and 5 gallon buckets posts, plant supports, bamboo (no roots, just pole - I can come to collect if you don't want to bring them), leftover pieces of wire fencing, Tree Peony SEEDS any other flower seeds