I took a dozen roses. This was one of those shows where almost all roses received a ribbon unless they were disqualified or really not good. My Mr. Lincoln was in the Classic HT class but only got a 3rd place. I also had a Reve d'Or in the climbers, but it receved a 3rd (I don't think it was open enough). I did an arrangement at the last minute, my mentor helped me and gave me two of her roses, but apparently I didn't label it correctly so it didn't get a ribbon. Honestly, the entry of the Prince in the Fragrance category was a last minute decision. The rose didn't want to open so I just said, what the heck, it's pretty fragrant, what do I have to lose. I think the fact that it was up against about 5 Fragrant Clouds and one JPP (that honestly smelled like cat pee to me) and The Prince has a different scent all together is why it won. So I guess the lesson is, just enter everything, know your categories and make sure you label stuff correctly. The judges I was clerking for wanted to disqualify a rose because it was labeled 'Abe Darby' instead of Abraham Darby. The clerking was fun. The judges I was with weren't too talky about why they were picking certain roses. There was another group that I was able to watch while my judges were picking their best HT. They were doing the OGRs, which I had 2 roses in, so I was evesdropping :). The one judge really loved my Lady Hillingdon, and let the other judge know that the nodding was normal. These were the same judges that picked The Prince and the woman judge said she loves the Prince and it's scent, so maybe that worked in my favor. I also spoke a lot to the photo judge and she told me that the backgrounds in my pictures were distracting otherwise they may have won. I guess most people take pictures especially for the show and use backdrops. I just took pictures that I had that I thought were good and entered them. I am still mystified about all the categories, but it makes a bit more sense now. I'm excited about entering again. I don't think I'll grow roses just to show. Those HTs are nice, but not really my cup of tea. I'll just continue to grow roses I like and enter them in the OGR or Shrub categories and see how I do. The prep room was amazing. I had no idea what went into showing. I received a lot of help, mostly from my mentor but also other exhibitors. When I entered Tamora, it had a side bud and I asked if I should remove it and most said it was distracting, so I did. I think that was a good move. I have to say that minis are fabulous, so perfect and so tiny! there was one really tiny one 'Midget' that everyone was going gaga over. And to see the people in the room put them together was amazing. Then to see the judges have to decide between them. It's hard because they are all so good, one could lose out just because the centers weren't perfect or uniform or just because another one was a slightly bit better. One of the people from my Rose Society won the King for mini's and was so excited. It was great to see.

I might be able to add some perspective here, having run the AHS National Convention plant auctions back in the early auction days, 1984-1992. We raised +$20K at some of those auctions with a lot of effort on everyone's part - with bids often north of $1,000 for the latest and greatest introductions from the early hybridizing efforts. Many people sat in those auctions and just gasped when the bidding went over $100, but others with experience in auctions, the quality of the material offered and the spirit of supporting the AHS would bid within their budget. Was it beyond my budget? Most of the time. Was I serious about generating as much funds for the AHS as possible? You betcha, and we have the AHS still today because of that reason! Membership fees wouldn't cover the Journal and other AHS needs. 1987 Wilmington Delaware AHS National Convention auction story: as AHS auction director back then, supervising the auctioneers and clerks, cash/check flow and plant delivery, if I wanted to bid on a plant, I would properly announce that I was stepping out of my role and would bid from the floor as everyone else, just so they knew. I bid for a gorgeous very large deep blue seiboldiana seedling, can't even remember the name now, but the plant was 3 ft tall, leaves about 2 feet across each and a very thick single division. When the bid crossed $50, I took a deep breath and entered the fray. Recall my mother Pauline Banyai was in charge of the auction clerking: boy, did she throw me a dirty look. My dear wife Lois sitting next to Mom as the record keeper of the auction had gone white with fright at what I was doing! Three small boys to feed at home and this meathead husband is bidding $50 for a blue seiboldiana seedling - he has 100's just like it at home, and his mother even more! What was he thinking....... The bids proceeded by $5 to $75, then some bidders dropped out with just me and one other man (who I didn't know - if I had known him I would have probably deferred to him out of respect!). I finally won the bid at $100 and he was clearly frustrated at not getting it! My mom and wife could barely sit through the AHS Convention Awards dinner and speaker(which directly followed the auctin), they were so mad at me. After that final Convention night dinner and cleanup, I was packing all the AHS Cut Leaf show bottles (we supplied them ourselves back then, and I had to provide 400+ Perrier type bottles!)in my pickup truck, along with that auction plant. As I put the plant in the back of the pickup truck, who should come up but the man who had lost the final bid! He introduced himself, said he would really like to have that plant and would pay me any price to have it! I said he could have it for the same $100: he promptly paid me and was all smiles, as were my mom and dear wife Lois when they finally had a chance to chew me out and hear the rest of the story. I became close friends with that gentleman, who will remain unnamed! He continued for a few years to be a very large AHS auction contributor - that's how we came up with the Big Bucks award to honor both the plant material contributor and the persons buying the most! Bruce

My DQ gets about 2 hours morning sun and about an hours worth of late afternoon sun. It emerged bright yellow this year, and although it is still yellow throughout most of the year it never quite re-captures the same yellow as when it first emerges. It may have different results with more sunlight exposure than I am giving mine, but with the heat and humidity produced by the southern summer I am reluctant to try it. I believe Naylor Creeks Hosta are probably from greenhouses and not field grown. Which may explain why the yellows you received are all green. I would think with just a few hours of sunlight a day (mostly morning sun) you should start to see them change slowly to yellow. I wouldn't just throw them out into bright mid-day sun just because I wanted the colors to change. When you get them planted please show us some pics, nice Hostas by the way. Gary and Jack at Naylor Creek are some good dudes.

Excellent! Hosta Maker shows up with some very promising youngsters. What's worse, having something interesting that's already out there, or having something interesting that just doesn't grow? Do you still use it for breeding? Here's a pic of the Hosta Volunteer Nursery. I think a bunch are from Dancing Queen.A seedling from a streaker found at Cory's Wildflower GardensIt looks like I may need to split it already to save the streaky part. Or is it not worth the effort if it is stabilizing so quickly? Kaleidochrome seedling Valley's Top seedling planted in too much sun. Now where did I move that to? Flash Of Light tet x Lakeside Sir Logan planted in full sun (and also moved later, but not because it needed it.