It was great fun!! Marilyn you were missed!!
Walking through Kevin's yard is amazing!! There is still lawn so you walk on the lawn and look at all the different beds, Irises, Hostas, Penstemen, Sedum, Heuchera, incredible bushes, and of course semps!! 9 beds, plus more planted around his yard... Walking in this space with so many plant people I heard all the "ooohs and aaahs" as someone stumbled upon another new found treasure, if you've taken photos of semps, you know they don't capture the vibrancy and stunning beauty of these plants!!! Here are some photos (actually most of these are of Lynn's plants which are also very awesome!)





Kevin's yard




A mini epimedium, not hybridized by Kevin, but really cute!!



Cheers all

Thanks for the pics Greg .
You are all so lucky to be able to learn first hand from the maestro himself.
I look forward to all your field reports over the next few days .

Thanks for checking in Kevin and Greg. Some really pretty new semps there.

Great pics Greg! Thanks!

Here's some pics from Lynn's and then from Kevin's

Patty,

Am so glad you could capture some of the faces from the group! Note to self though: get a different hat!

I would be interested in seeing which were the favorite(s) of each from the clinic. I know Chros' favorites though! He was NOT shy in his opinions on that one!

Kevin

People or semps?

Love all those pictures, thanks Patty.

Great photos Patty, you're all so photogenic a modelling career beckons for at least one or two people
The hat is grand Kevin... makes you look important . Judging by the smiles all round you all had a great time.

I see Sandi Aka @picklepuff seems to be still interested in Semps. Hope her winter experience was better than mine. Of course I have still not uncovered mine so am not really sure what really survived. Will wait another week or so and then bite the bullet. I think by then we will be out of the woods for freezing weather. (she said with fingers crossed)

Great to see her and so many semp enthusiasts in all the pictures.

JungleShadows said:Just back from Robert's Crossing. TOTALLY AWESOME day and I think the class went over wonderfully. Each year the students are understanding more and more and asking better and better questions.

Also people are filling LONG wish lists for seedlings for the future. I'll let the others tell you of their favorite plants and moments.

They are all such WONDERFUL PEOPLE. i miss them already!
Kevin

Kevin, it was wonderful. Sorry I was so brain dead I couldn't respond to your questions yesterday afternoon. The whole weekend was a gift -- it still doesn't seem possible that I could have been there! So much to take home, and not just the plants. I have my project in place for this next year -- I'll be studying up the best way to make sure my crosses are "clean" once I get the right semps blooming... To answer your last question: seeing the results of your work with crossing particular semps was a real eye-opener. In theory, I knew this could work. Now I've seen how it Does Work. Thank you very much for your whole lifetime of bringing more beauty to the world of plants!

Here's another hug:

Love and prayers,
Mother Raphaela

MR,

I understand the "braindead feeling". During the lecture I could not recall one of the parents that I had used repeatedly to get those very wide leaves. of course my brain was more concerned with clam chowder, getting all the cars in the driveway and trying to herd the group around the yard. I live alone and many days I don't say a word so my voice was also really gone.

Anyway, I'm glad you're inspired for more crosses! It is such fun to cross two parents and come up with a whole collection of new types. Certain things I had predicted but others were very pleasant surprises. I know that you will have great adventures in your mind planning matings between various semps. I started it at 9 and it is still all consuming to me. When that new flower opens that you've had a hand in creating is better than presents on Christmas morning! (or at least the GOOD ones are!)

Kevin

Hurry up and write that book Kevin, there's just so much I need to find out urgently.
This hybridization is such an absorbing subject and here I am staring at my semps waiting and wishing for them to bloom.

Paddy,

Unfortunately PATIENCE is one of the virtues of great plant hybridizers! I am not in that club of patient ones, which is why I do perennials and not shrubs and trees. You will be surprised at how quickly you have a yard full of seedlings and trying to give away the culls! I still get some clunkers although some crosses are like gold. The slowest for me are the daffodils as it takes 4-5 years to see the seedlings flower but once you start having a crop of seedlings you get to see new babies each year.

You can start reading about hybridizing in general. Crane and Lawrence's "Genetics of Garden Plants" and Welch's "Breeding New plants and Flowers" are both good reads, although there are gaps in both in terms of what you really need to know. In my class on Saturday I showed how you take just a few parents and then create a whole series of cultivars that capitalize on the genetics of the parents . That seems not to be covered in either book but is really the important part! I grew up next to Polly Bishop so i had a mentor. we would talk crosses and "why would you want to do that, Kevin?" was one of the comments made by Polly. It helped me hone my ideas so that I could maximize getting good pairings of parents and fewer ugly seedlings. A healthy imagination is another GOOD thing to have; you have to almost be able to visualize what a cross between A and B will be.

Hope that's a help!

Kevin

Well I'm late to the party but had an internet free weekend. I'm home after a fabulous weekend in Oregon. What wonderful hosts, thank you Patty, Lynn and Kevin for the wonderful breakfasts and lunch. I believe this was the best clinic ever. Kevin really pulled things together when going over parent plants and then showing the seedlings. Amazing stuff! Of course the mystery guest guess was such fun and full for ideas and knowledge.

Here is Kevin sitting between some of his creations.










These are some of the students


This is our dear Lynn getting a few camera tips or maybe they were chatting about plants because the rest of us were all waiting for the big group shot.





Seedlings beds! These beds are amazing. Thank you Kevin.

Here is Patty's Place. What an amazing yard.

Bunch of us looking over the back yard out!

Love this! She has planted semps in among the rocks.


The line up for quiche breakfast! Yummy I had 2 pieces!

Oh and the fruit salad!

I'm so full. Thank you Patty.








On to the front yard! So beautiful!


Our lovely Patty. My navigator and great friend Greg.

I think I was still sleepy at Lynn's because not many photos.




This is it. Sorry but too much fun on Friday I guess. Lynn's yard is amazing so much to look at. Her semps are huge!
Thank you Lynn for the fabulous breakfast.

This is an Oregon ferry boat. I think they need to come to Washington State to see what a real ferry is!

Here's the group. This was so fun, what a treat!








Some pictures from Dancing Oaks. What a place this is. Sorry Connie if we stressed you, what a fine job you did. We will not mention the caravan trip form Dancing Oaks to Bev and Jim's.

Great pics Julia! The clinic reunions just keep getting better and better (like us, right?) lovely sunny days and no rain
Lynn's Chili Rellanos Kevin's clam chowder combined with plants and friends = perfect

Thanks for all the awesome photos Julia!
Very cool!