growing season, accents, judged shows

Sharon, I'm really glad you went into more detail about your growing season.
8" of annual rainfall, and half of it coming in July-August !?!  That must have
taken some getting used to (you're not a NM native, right?).  Arils surely are
tough customers.  What other plants flourish in those situations?

Harry, your 'Fear Mama' story reminded me of the very funny passage in Kingsley
Amis' _Lucky Jim_ in which a visiting Russian novelist baffles the Cambridge
audience with his praise for 'Sickies of Sickingdom'.  (And although I'm
mightily weary of the whole pronunciation topic, I wanted to add that IMO
there's a huge difference in what's expected of a paid lecturer and simple
conversational exchange.)

Re: judged versus demo shows.  Bill Smoot's point that

 >> An AIS Show gives hybridizers the opportunity to have their seedling
 >> evaluated by AIS judges. Five AIS Judges attending the show can
 >> encourage hybridizers with their voting of ECs (Exhibition Certificates).

reminded me of a question I've had for a while. To what extent are the major
AIS awards based on garden judging vs. shows?  In the daylily world, *in
theory*, the major prizes are voted on by garden judges, who must see the plant
growing in their own region (e.g., not just at a national convention).  In the
real world, new and future introductions get a "leg up" from the buzz created
at shows (this is particularly true in Florida, a hotbed of hybridizers).

I should admit to the personal bias that flower shows of all kinds leave me
completely cold. But I also believe, and this is not just a question of
personal taste, that show judging, to a much greater extent than display
gardens, tends to emphasize bloom qualities like size and new colors, forms,
and patterns -- which hybridizers are then tempted to seek at the expense of
whole-plant characteristics of sturdiness, foliage quality, vigor, and health.

It would be hard to deny that this has happened with irises; it's on the verge
of becoming an irrevocable daylily reality as well.

 Nell Lancaster, Lexington, VA   75500.2521@compuserve.com    USDA zone 6b
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