Becky's garden - Summer 2010

With all these blooms, a cross is a very real possibility!

Well, my blooms right now are not producing pollen on the above vine. Who knows why?

Anyone who knows me, knows about my trusty little artist's paint brush. My motto ... never let a viable bloom wilt without first pollinating it! So I get that trusty brush and pretend to be a bee! LOL!

This year my fascination has been on the "speckles", so I have been fortunate enough to get a seed/vine cross from Antoinette that has tons of speckles and lots of pollen! The grow-outs next year could be rather interesting!

This is the NOID Pink that is also getting the paint brush treatment! :-)

As is this NOID blue.

There are several interesting points about the Blue Speckles vine:

1) It has small blooms (almost the size of an I. pupurea) of 3 - 3 1/2", as well as smaller leaves, but is a very large vine! I think it could easily take over a large section of my fence.
2) The blooms are a mix of speckles and blue background petals on many of the vine's flowers.
3) But not all of the blooms look like that! It is a mix of many different characteristics!

Which makes it a most interesting pollen plant. Small vs. larger blooms/leaves. Speckles vs. solid colored blooms. Medium blue vs. all other colors. Could some of the vines produce blue flowers, speckles, and even another color on the same vine? What are the possibilities? Won't know till we grow them out (F1)! And a lot of times, the recessive genes don't show up until the second grow-out (F2)! Such fun!

I always laugh when I see my vines start off doing this. It's like two strangers avoiding eye contact and leaning away from each other. By the time the vines on the right side start really growing strong ... you can bet the Yuuzuki vine (on the left) will be all over it! LOL! The more blooms in one place, the more likely that bees or other flying critters will come to pollinate them! Each vine's purpose in life is to grow, bloom, and make seeds! So they are smart enough to do whatever it takes to ensure that their genes live on!

The more mix of genes you have in a vine, the crazier the blooms. This is my Diluted Fuji no Muraski x Keiryu cross bloom today. Interesting how the bloom looks today, huh?

I find I. nil vine grow-outs more unpredictable than predictable. And that is why I don't get bored growing them. It's a continuous story that keeps me on the edge of my seat from morning to morning waiting to turn the page to see what's awaiting me out in the yard! :-)

That last one is gorgeous!!!

Most of them are in half shade. I know I will get blooms soon, one of them is going wild and yes I am using the bloom booster, weekly.

You could write a book about all the different crosses you're seeing Becky. Holy cow. I too love that last one - stunning!

Hi Becky, your MGs are spectacular!! The mutants are to die for! I ♥♥♥ Silver Wolf!

All stunningly beautiful Becky!!

So pretty Becky, I love it.

What a feast for the eyes Becky! You have amazing talents with the plant kingdom. They must recognize you when you come to tend them.

Becky,

I have serious MG Envy! Your flowers are beautiful as always...

Elsa

Thanks to all of you for the very nice compliments of my bloom photos.

Some of you reading this may think that I am rambling on and on about myself, but in fact the main purpose for creating this thread was to share information with you about what I have learned over the past 4 years growing MGs. I was a newbie not that long ago, as some of you may recall ...

I do not mean to tease anyone with the MG bloom photos posted above. Many of those are stingy seed producers and I will not have enough seeds for trading. Some came directly from Japan and are very new ... and to my knowledge haven't been released by the Japanese commercial seed companies yet. (Maybe I am wrong, but I've not seen any of them advertised for sale.) The seeds were shared with me by several very kind and generous MG seed traders. I believe the reason they are rare is because of the fact that they don't produce many seeds. Some have very unusual qualities which would make them highly desirable. Others are nice, but do not knock my socks off ... I think a "desirable" MG is a preference. A personal preference.

In my years here on this forum, I have seen folks go to great lengths trying to obtain the newest and rarest MGs. Some cultivars may have been worth the effort, but others made me wonder what the big deal was all about! lol Maybe a bit of an obsession? These vines CAN be a bit addicting... lol

I found myself getting wrapped up in the frenzy ... and it was a let down. I have obtained and grown out some very unusual vines, only to be disappointed personally. The Japanese have created some really unusual cultivars in recent years. Some of the flower shapes look shredded. In photos they are beautiful, but as I have discovered ... much smaller than I personally prefer. Some were actually insignificant in comparison to the foliage and vine itself. It's always amazing to me how a photograph can indeed be very deceiving to the viewer.

I have learned to discern for myself what these vines and blooms really look like in real life. I know what I personally like and those unusual cultivars do not really appeal to me at this time. And I don't mean to discount those lovely cultivars as I am sure they are VERY unique and beautiful indeed. Like I said, it is a personal preference.

I have looked at many commercial seed/plant catalogs and they know how to advertise to get buyers! It is so easy to get excited about their newly introduced plants. But when I grew some of those out, they were not what I thought they would be. LOL! Maybe I am evolving personally as a gardener. I like to think so. I have come to the realization that I can only grow so many plants in a season with my limited yard space. So I've become more discriminating about WHAT I want to grow. I now decide what it is that I REALLY want in a plant and that is what I focus my attention on, not the latest and greatest new cultivars.

How do I chose? I personally decide what I want by size, color, habit, and how well it will grow in my zone. And it is still a trial and error for me. But it is also a process of elimination in narrowing down what I need to be looking at when deciding what to grow each year.

There are endless choices of MGs! Here is a collage of some of my own personal favorites from last year's grow-outs! Many of these I shared seeds of in the seed swap. But be warned ... if they were a cross, not a hybrid or true cultivar ... they may not come true to my photographs!

I want to show you another mutant bloom from my Silver Wolf vine. I have no idea if this mutant bloom was caused internally (genes) or externally (fertilizer perhaps?), but I was quite taken back by it! My photo may be the only way I will ever remember it if it never produces any F1 vines showing similar characteristics. But it was certainly an inspiring bloom to behold (in my eyes!).

I find it amazing how MGs can produce such blooms with such intricate detail of colors, patterns, and shapes ... even if for a fleeting moment. They are incredible plants! :-)

This message was edited Jul 28, 2010 9:06 AM

Becky, beautiful pictures!
In fact we know nothing of the origin of these cultivars. The term of the same Silver Wolf is a name given by the public. At the University of Kyushu they talk about Black Dove. This year I could get 5 seeds of Q 1210, I supposed to be Silver Wolf.
There is another dark gray: Q 1231 they call it 'Sunshine Excluded Black Dove'.

Your could be Black Sazanami.

Nice Silver Wolf mutant Becky.

Thanks so much, Dany and Jackie!

Dany - I am not surprised at the naming by the "public" of many of the Kyushu University hybrids! Was the vine crossed until it became an actual hybrid? That is my question. Or is it still just a cross that is not stable? If it is a hybrid, then it would be fair to say than the Kyushu University created that cultivar regardless of the name, right? And they should be recognized for it as such!

That brings up a real dilemma about ethics. The Japanese universities and even some of the seed companies that created those new hybrid cultivars should be recognized for their hard work, right?! I have heard that seed companies steal from each other. This happens all the time in other countries including the USA. They get seeds from their competitors. They rename it and sell them as their "new" hybrid. Under a different name, many buyers really believe it is a new cultivar. At least until they grow it out and discover it's the same vine as the hybrid company (who created it in the first place). How ethical is it to make a profit off another company's hard work? AND ... is it dishonest for commercial seed companies to deceive their customers? I sure have to wonder.

I think if I was a customer and saw a new cultivar name, that I might be tempted to buy it, but ... I'd be pretty mad to find out that I already had seeds for it or had already purchased it a year earlier under the original name. I basically just wasted my money on a duplicate seed pack. And I sure would think twice about buying from that company again. I'd be afraid that I might get cheated again on another seed pack of a different cultivar.

Here are some Japanese Commercial Seed Company websites that seasonally sell MG seeds: (You'll need the google translator program to find their listing of MGs.) How many of these sell MG seeds that are the same cultivar/hybrid but going by a different name and what were they called originally and who was the hybridizer?
tohokuseed.co.jp
atariya.net
takii.co.jp
Sakata.co.jp

This activity goes on in many countries including America! The renaming and claiming of plant cultivars is probably more common than we know. Which is probably why some hybridizers patent their cultivars. Can't blame them ... they did all the work!!! It is definitely an ethical dilemma. And I guess it comes down to the profits that these companies make from all those seeds...

There is a lot of work involved in creating a hybrid. It can take 3-4 grow-outs from the original vine: F1, F2, F3, and maybe an F4. It could take 2-4 years depending on what kind of climate/zone you live in. I live in a tropical zone, so I can get 2 sometimes 3 grow-outs in a year. And sometimes I grow them indoors in my window over the winter months. So I am really fortunate to have the right climate for MG vines. But not everyone does. Though I do believe Japan has a similar climate as we do here in Florida.

Here is a DG thread on hand-pollinating MG blooms: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/732341/ And this is the page in Dr. Yoneda's website book: http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/Asagao/Yoneda_DB/E/Introduction/htmls/43.html

So as you can see, there is a lot of clinical and precise work involved when hand-pollinating. My own way is far from precise unless I am working with a partially sterile vine, which affords me the perfect opportunity and I usually take it! But most hybridizers don't have that luxury, and it takes much more work.

I had talked to Karen (gardener2005) about hybridizing. Many of you know about her work with Speckles and Kikyo MG vines:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1015262/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/989077/
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/989074/

She very kindly gave me a little insight on what it takes to make a hybrid. I hope she doesn't mind my sharing her information. The following is quoted from her:

"Pick two flowers you see things you`d like to combine in one. Like you want a large flower that has the color of another flower. You cross for the F1. F1 stands for filial generation one and you write it without getting carpal tunnel. Then grow your F1 and "tie" (see her method above) to self as many blooms as you can. Then do a grow out. There are some results desired that might require a larger grow out to find them. This is where the culling (removing) comes in handy. You cull out the ones not conforming and it makes room for the good ones you want to keep and it reduces the potential of creating a overcrowded disease and insect problem environment."

And of course, from there I know that you have to repeat those steps by growing out the F2 seeds and culling out all but the vines that are displaying the characteristics that you want in your new hybrid. Then you tie and "self" the vines and then grow out the resulting F3 seeds. Once again growing and culling/removing all vines except the ones that are showing the desirable traits for your new hybrid. An F4 grow-out may be necessary if you are seeing unstable characteristics in any of the vines. The more complex the characteristics, the more grow-outs may be required to get a stable new hybrid.

Note: When I write "self", that means that you have to pollinate the bloom with pollen from it's own bloom or other blooms on the same vine. This helps ensure that the characteristics you want become THE dominate genes so that those traits show up time and time again from any blooms you see on a vine and any seeds you grow from that vine.

But always keep in mind that a recessive gene could show up, which can sometimes be a good thing which might add to the beauty of your hybrid.

Here is a prime example of a recessive gene that seems to show up from time to time in my Silver Wolf vine. This was one of the blooms on it this morning! Very interesting what cultivar might have been used in the creation of Silver Wolf. I would never have thought of a blizzard or striped cultivar having been used.

And your idea about creating a Sazanami x Silver Wolf is a very good one, Dany! I might just have to try doing a cross like that to see what it produces! Thanks for the great idea!

This message was edited Jul 29, 2010 12:36 PM

Well, I'm sure that was a big surprise, lol, very pretty though

Thanks, Jackie!

I want to mention to everyone that Karen (gardener2005) doesn't know I quoted her in my post above, nor that I linked to the hybrid forum to her threads. She is no longer a member on DG, so I sure hope she doesn't mind my using her work as an example of creating a hybrid.

I find it VERY interesting how and what she managed to create into hybrids. I haven't done that myself, so can't show y'all my work, cause I just do crosses. I might take up the challenge and create a hybrid one day though. It seems very fascinating, with a touch of the unexpected thrown in!

Very good information regarding hybridizing.. I am anxious to grow several of Karen's crosses, I just got 7 packs from her and she sent me so many extras... all speckled kikyos and large flowered. I noticed that several people here are growing her speckled crosses and it is good to know that the DG members support her in a big way. Hopefully she will get credit as the hybridizer for those and they make it into the plantfiles before someone else takes credit.

Is that video tutorial she did for us still here on DG.. that was pretty neat and easy to follow. I'm sure that helped even the older mg growers that didn't/don't know how to pollinate. I like Dr. Yoneda's site too.

Thanks Becky..

Antoinette



This message was edited Jul 29, 2010 1:17 PM

Antoinette - I looked for the video and it is not here on DG. Was it here or some place else? Great idea to include that video in this thread. It was really neat to see, especially for someone like me who is a visual learner. LOL!

I believe it was here on DG, maybe it was linked to her homepage, or U-tube. Hopefully someone here bookmarked it. I've got to finish some projects here and then I'll help look for the link if you like.

A.

A - That would be great! I'd love to have a link here to reference it. That video was pretty cool! Thanks for reminding me about it! :-)

I really enjoyed doing the group seed swap last year and got so many wonderful species and cultivars of MG seeds from everyone! I hope the participants enjoyed it as much as I did!

Again, I apologize to anyone who got a “cross” from me that doesn’t look like the photos I posted. I wish I could’ve shared all hybrids, but I’ve yet to attempt to create stable vines/seeds.

Trading vs. buying seeds is a topic that has some interest to me. I would imagine that most of us do both! I truly enjoy trading with folks! I love sharing what I grew in my garden in hopes that others get as much joy from the plants as I did. And I love getting other’s seeds to grow out. When I grow out a vine that I really like and it was shared with me, it becomes that much more special! I think of the kindness and generosity of that person and how grateful I am that they shared something so beautiful with me! Sharing and trading makes communities! And we, here on this forum and other websites, have formed a community because of what we have shared not only in trades, but also in photos, personal correspondence, and posts. It has brought the world closer to home for me. How else could I trade seeds with folks across the USA and in other countries? The internet has opened up possibilities for me that I could never have otherwise. Isn’t the World Wide Web truly wonderful?!!! :-)

For me, gardening is a bit of an expense. Due to the fact that I have gone to container gardening, it requires a bit more work and money initially. Using 5 gallon containers for most of my plants is a lot of potting mix! I have learned to buy in larger quantities at a substantial discount and I have also learned to mix my own potting mix for my zone and climate. And I buy fertilizer as well. In spending money for the basics, that leaves my garden budget about depleted when it comes to purchasing seeds and/or plants. Trading seeds is a way for me to get what I might not otherwise be able to afford. With the current economic recession, things are tight and I know it is for a lot of other folks, too! Last year’s seed swap was great! I got a LOT of seeds for just a little bit of work and money. And for those participants, it was basically for the cost of postage to send and receive their share of seeds! As well as perhaps purchasing seed zipbags and labels. The work involved for most participants was collecting seeds to send. Or in the case of a few folks ... purchasing seeds to trade in the swap. But when I looked at the sheer amount of seeds we each got in that swap ... what a DEAL!!!

I, personally, do mostly seed trading. Very little purchasing. But on occasion I will purchase some unopened original Japanese seed packs. I’ve found them to be a bit expensive but worth the money. When I buy commercial JMGs, I am usually pretty confident that I am getting what is photographed on the seed packet. I haven’t been disappointed with any of the seeds I’ve grown from those Japanese packs. They usually come true to the cultivar. I do know that they are coated to help them germinate, though I know some folks have complained about low germination. I think the trick is to make sure the temps are higher when sowing them to prevent seed rot. I. nils especially do the best in higher temps of high 70’s and up! So when I purchase, it’s for cultivars straight from Japan.

Sometimes there are new Japanese cultivars that are hard to find. I truly appreciate all the folks who have traded/shared these rare ones with me! Most traders are very generous as I found over the years. And any that aren’t good seed traders ... well, I just won’t trade with them again.

I know that there are a lot of sellers on DG’s MarketPlace. Probably some folks from this forum sell there. I have no issue with sellers unless what they are advertising/selling is not what they send or the seeds are old and won’t germinate. I’ve run into both scenarios. I have the utmost respect for honest and reliable sellers. I won’t purchase again from sellers who aren’t.

I’ve had numerous folks ask me why I don’t sell. Many reasons:
1) Selling requires a lot of time and work! It takes many years to build up a business and clientele.
2) Seeds don't always come true especially if the seeds are crosses instead of hybrids. That might bring the wrath of poor ratings on a seed selling business if customers are unhappy and disappointed with the vines/blooms they grow from my seeds. Of course, if most ratings can only be added for the first 30 days after a purchase, then I might be good to go! (Most vines don’t bloom within 30 days, so you won‘t know if what you are growing is what you actually purchased.) Of course, I don't know how many repeat customers I would have if I did that.
3) MOST important reason for me, personally - selling can take the fun out of gardening if the profit becomes the priority.

I garden as a hobby! I love the barter system and meeting folks online from all over the world. I enjoy sharing information, photos, and trading seeds! Many thanks to all who have generously traded with me over the years! :-)



This message was edited Jul 30, 2010 10:05 AM

Becky, I'm sure happy I've been able to trade with you. Your blooms are out of this world, gorgeous!! Can't ask for better than that!! Thanks for sharing your seeds with me!!

Your blooms are awesome, you just leave us drooling!!!

Becky, I couldn't find that video, it may be in the middle of some thread, hopefully someone else can provide us a link to it.

I am, however, bumping up her tutorial so that it can get seen.

A.

It's mutual! I've had some great vines and some gorgeous blooms from yours as well! Thanks for so kindly sharing so much with me! You are a wonderful trader and gardener! So glad that I've met folks like you here on DG! The pleasure has been all mine!!!

Here is a Sazanami that is possibly a cross. It may be a cross because the color is lavender instead of blue! One of my absolute favorite vines!!!!

Antoinette - Good idea!

Making a cross is not that difficult.

But ... making a stable "hybrid" that comes true from seed takes a LOT more work! I shall strive to try that next year!

I like Nike's saying, "Go for it!" I think I will! :-)

That is a beautiful Saz Becky. Love the Lavender throat and rays
with the blue.
If that is the mutant x Keiryu above, post ending 6392, it just keeps getting
better and better.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2010 2:04 PM

One of the most valuable things shared here in the MG Forum community is the valuable posts full of questions, information, and photos. Truly outstanding! This forum has a wonderful sticky thread for everyone to read and reference any time. Many, many people’s posts and work have contributed to that thread! There is so much information in that thread that it literally boggles my mind to read through it!

I don’t have a Bachelor or Masters Degree in Botany or Entomology. I wished I did! When I read some of the posts, internet links, and discussions relating to topics in the sticky as well as some of the other posts on this forum, I do my best to try to fully understand the information. But I must confess that some of it goes right over my head ! And sometimes I am not quite clear about written instructions. I just happen to need a little extra information such as a photo or video. Which is why I posted the links to gardener2005’s hand-pollination and Yoneda’s website page above in a previous post. Great visual cues for me to fully understand details. A picture speaks a 1000 words, as they say, and I have to agree! :-)

I appreciate the fact that gardener2005 went the extra mile to actually take step by step photos. I suppose anyone could have done that, but only she did. I’ve since tried to do the same for others. I appreciate the effort made on behalf of those of us who need that extra bit of helpful information.

I really like Yoneda’s website and his online book, so if you have not had the chance to really look through it, I encourage you to check it out! It holds a wealth of information. There are many other sites, too! But Yoneda’s is one that I refer to over and over again. It seems to be written in layman’s terms that I can easily understand. http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/Asagao/Yoneda_DB/E/menu.html

I don’t know about other people, but I am a hands-on learner. I can read about other people’s experiences or experiments, but it often doesn’t really stick with me until I actually do it myself. I learn best by doing! And I've learned a lot since first coming onboard here several years ago!

I’ve been growing out seeds from trades for a number of years. Sometimes I get exactly what I was expecting per the traders/sellers photos and other times I get something that makes me wonder where the seeds really came from. I will admit that many times I figured the person either mixed up the seeds or mislabeled them. But in most cases, I now suspect that the seeds were F2 seeds of crosses that didn’t exhibit/carry the same dominate genes as the F1 vine.

Gardener2005 recently shared with me from her own experimenting. She stated that in her own grow-outs that the F2 seeds that are a cross of a speckled bloom and a solid color bloom will yield roughly a 10% occurance of a speckled one, so I should start a lot of seeds and pick through the vines as they bloomed. I was thinking about that ... out of 10 seeds, maybe only 1 is speckled or out of 20 seeds, 2 are speckled? Hmmmm ... the odds of F2 being true are not as great as the F1 seeds. So that means that many of the crosses I share with folks here will most likely not grow true to the F1 I grew. That explained to me why a “hybrid” is so different than a “cross“.

I don’t know how many other folks here have ever tried to create a hybrid. Gardener2005 was the only one I know of on the MG Forum who did and actually shared her info about it. I falsely assumed that once I crossed two MG blooms, I created a brand new cultivar. Geez was I ever wrong! And I was totally surprised when folks I traded with got something quite different. I KNEW I labeled the seeds correctly, as I am meticulous about collecting seeds and bagging them by vine cultivar name. I had no idea what was going on until Gardener2005 told me. Was she the only one who knew this because of her own experimenting and efforts to create a hybrid? Which is why I am sharing this information with folks here on the forum now. I didn’t know and I wondered how many others didn’t either.I hope this information is as helpful to you as it has been to me! It’s been quite an education.

So now I am wondering if I will get the same odds with the Blue Speckles seeds I am collecting? Might be a fun experiment to try as a grow-out! I also had a lot of partially sterile vines on my current grow-out and guess which vines I used pollen from to fertilize all these vines? LOL! Yes sir! I used Blue Speckles and Sidare who both produced pollen consistently. So my seeds this year may definitely NOT come true to the parent vine/blooms! Just warning y’all! :-)

Maybe they will exhibit solid blue blooms? Small blooms? Speckled blooms? Blizzard blooms? Rayed blooms? The wide range of possibilities are most interesting to me! And if I do the grow-outs and work to stabilize these genes, does anyone care? I have to wonder, if YOU put in the time, effort, and work to create your own hybrid, would you want your name listed as the hybridizer for it in places like PlantFiles? So that folks know who to contact for information or questions? Or even to get a little recognition for your work? Something to ponder ...

Here are some of the different blooms taken of my Blue Speckles vine. An interesting variety. Which sure has me wondering what the F2 vines will produce! :-)

This message was edited Jul 31, 2010 5:55 PM

Becky, I just looked at all your pictures and they are great! I never knew there was so many different types and colors of morning glories-here in McMinnville, TN (The Nursery Capital of The World) they grow everywhere wild.
I have a special 1 growing or should I say covering my mailbox that I am waiting to bloom so I can post pictures. I am so glad Cibarius hooked me up with Dave's Garden 'cause I just love it!!

Jackie - Thank you for the bloom compliments! :-)

Boopsie - Welcome to the world of morning glories! I look forward to seeing a photo of your bloom! :-)

Becky, I just found this thread and your work and efforts are very clear in your dedication to growing those beautiful moring glorys.
I love your containers and your other flower pictures as well. That coral vine does look like it has a heart shape, by the way.

Does this bloom look familiar to you?

Becky,

I think part of our love / fascination with JMG is due to the fact that one can never be 100% sure what the flowers will look like when you plant the seed. It is like telling your parents as a kid, that you want this, this and that for your birthday, and on the day you start opening your present, full of excitement, but not knowing exactly what will be inside. I like the feeling of anticipation I have every morning, not being sure what will be waiting for me on the vines... I suspect it is the child in me that just can't get enough of growing MGs, especially crosses and OP seeds. LOL!
SO, thank you for every seed you send / sent me as they are much appreciated, and treated as a capsule of magic.

Elsa

For 2011 I want this one as capsule of magic in my garden!
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2010/07/31/beckygardener/51315f.jpg

Thanks, Elsa and Dany! That Blue Speckled is an unusual blooming vine for sure! I, too, like it! I just wish it had much larger blooms! The blooms are only 3 - 3 1/2" diameter.

This is what I am afraid is going to happen from the F2 seeds. This bloom showed up on the vine today! I may do a grow-out now ... of say 10-15 seeds to see what I get. I would be very interested to know if many or few seeds produce blooms like the F1 has. How very disappointing it would be for anyone getting the F2 seeds to have blooms that don't exhibit the speckles. It is the speckles that make it such a neat looking vine!

Elsa - You are right about no 100% guarantee of knowing what we will get from a seed. Unfortunately, I have limited space to grow MGs every year. I have personal preferences and that's what I want to see grow and bloom. There has been many times I have grown a seed thinking it would have some amazing traits such as the F1 vine had, only to be disappointed to get a solid color bloom instead. I like getting similar vines/blooms as someone's beautiful bloom post that made me want it in the first place! I don't know how many others here feel the same way, but it's a personal preference for me. MGs are all beautiful in their own way!

I wished that gardener2005 was still a member here so I could get more information about her grow-outs to get the desired traits in any new cultivar/hybrid. She has her family and other interests and told me that she doesn't really have the time for forums anymore. I truly understand. There are days when I think I spend entirely too much time on my computer. So now it is my decision whether I want to try my hand at creating a stable new cultivar/hybrid.

This community here on the MG Forum (and actually DG as a whole) is like an extended community of family and friends. I can honestly say that most of the people I've met here (and on other forums, too) have been very helpful, kind, and generous. And like many friendships ... people come and go in my life, but some folks stay a part of it far longer than I ever expected. I've made some close friends here and hope to continue sharing our love for life and for MGs ... I enjoy a little humor thrown in, maybe sharing some personal insight about ourselves, and even corresponding off the forums. Who'd have ever thought when the first computer was built that it would become a social network for people to share their lives and common interests! Y'all ROCK!!! Thanks for giving me such a wonderful ride! I hope to share many more with you in the future!

This message was edited Aug 1, 2010 11:12 AM

Debra - Your bloom photo: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8010013 is lovely! It appears to be a cross! Did it come from me and does it have a name label?

I was trying to find the bottom of it this am, Becky, but it got too hot and I had to come in. I will keep looking, I have a tag for each seed planted, but the mulch is covering them up. Pretty sure it is supposed to be a Mauve Splash. Will let you know what I found.

Blue Speckles is one of my favorites this season too Dany
Becky, I love the bloom you think folks would be disappointed to find each morning. I think its wonderful in every way. :-)
I thought I had sent this post already, wonder where it went?