This ex-CA girl says, "Brrrr...."

Only two inches of snow in Salem so not too bad. Still NO SNOW is better yet.

The book is boxed and ready to ship. I had a few last minute things to add because I had hail damage on some of my photos and luckily Lynn and Erwin had ones to replace my "holey" ones.

It gets shipped out tomorrow.

AND NO I DON"T WANT TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER BOOK! I probably get 5 cents/ hour in profits!

Kevin

Lots of snow here also. The plus is that the semps love it, and it is beautiful to look at. Down side is that I can't walk around the beds and admire the semps in their winter colors.

Tim, the upside is that maybe this is a hundred year event, so we won't see this again in our life time.

Bev, all I can offer is a warm hug. I am so sorry.

Okay, I met someone new yesterday. Do any of you know Robin Stockwell, former owner and founder of the Succulent Garden nursery in California. He has a new succulent book that is coming out the end of this month. He has done some very interesting work with succulents. Have you seen the giant globe he made? Check this out.
http://gardeninggonewild.com/?...
http://sgplants.com/blogs/news...

And just look where he is going to be next month.
http://www.gardenshow.com/semi...

valleylynn said:
Tim, the upside is that maybe this is a hundred year event, so we won't see this again in our life time.

Yeah... wasn't I smart to try to grow Agaves outdoors this year.
BTW, Lynn... how's your Agave doing? A couple of mine are showing wrinkles and mushy leaves. Goners perhaps. But one is not and I have high hopes for that one.

It is under snow so not sure. Lots of snow. Kevin may have only got a couple of inches, but we have lots.

I for one am glad we missed the snow. We got less than half an inch which is pretty much gone now. Speaking from about 20 miles SE of Lynn.

Most of my semps are in containers under the eaves so they didn't get covered with snow from any of the recent events.

I am in Olympia and my semps are under 4 " of snow in Clatskanie Or. At least under the snow the temp is even and there will be no wind or hail damage. Some are in the green house too.
I will be at the NWFGS working for the Lily Pad. I will have to get time off to go and hear Robin Speak. (might even buy a book!) He will for sure be better than the one they had last year who told a rather large audience that hens and chicks are in the "cactus family" and that the names are really of no importance. I walked out of that lecture after about 10 min. I was really shocked that NWFGS had such an unqualified speaker. Nice to see they are fixing that this year.
How many of "us " are going to that show?

JungleShadows said:...AND NO I DON"T WANT TO THINK ABOUT ANOTHER BOOK! I probably get 5 cents/ hour in profits!

But Kevin, you will get a priceless amount of satisfaction, sense of accomplishment and much adoration/hour from a job well done!!
What more can a hybridizer/writer want?

valleylynn said:... Okay, I met someone new yesterday. Do any of you know Robin Stockwell, former owner and founder of the Succulent Garden nursery in California....

YES, he's the guy that made the first vertical succulent frame I had ever seen displayed in a shop in Carmel CA sometime in '92. He's the one responsible for inspiring me to make these:

Bev,

Yes adoration is nice BUT IT DOESN'T PAY THE BILLS!

I hope it will be a good read for everyone. There is the possibility for updated versions in my contract, so that would be easier than doing the whole thing from scratch.

Kevin

Ahh, there are some of your beautiful sempervivum hanging frames. Thanks for posting them Bev. I did not realize that Robin Stockwell was the source of your inspiration for your wonderful framed plant art.

Updated? Does that mean larger/more pages? More photos?

And new chapters with new black behemoths ?

Hi! The book went to the publisher yesterday. I am not even THINKING of updates at this point. I did include several photos of "future" introductions that are not as yet named but show where we're going in terms of new colors and patterns.

Updated generally means corrections and a few additions but nothing major unless the publication demand is really high. I'm not expecting anything like Fifty Shades of Grey even though the semps are WAY beyond grey!

I want to say up front that this book is for GARDENERS so I have limited the material on the species to the few that are worth growing plus those that have played a role in creating our hybrids. No one wants to grow a muddy green that's difficult to grow when they can grow something much better with no problems. I know this might upset some purists. However, I got back most of the species when I came to Oregon. One day I looked at them and said WHY. Out they went. Life is too short. That is not saying that SOME are really nice. I grow several cantabricums and calcareums that I think are beautiful and will be/ have been used in crossing.

Anyway, off my soapbox! Schifffer Press did an absolutely GREAT job with my book on beardless irises and I expect no less with this volume. I was right at the max for figures and got 80 figures in the cultivar chapter. I should see a mock up of the cover shortly.

Kevin

It's on it's way.

Bev... Your frames are gorgeous. I am looking forward to hearing robin talk.
Kevin ...really looking forward to your book (and the workshop).
It's going to warm up tomorrow

Thank you for the kind words, JoAnn! Yes, please enjoy Robin's talk; I had gone to his succulent nursery in 2004 and when I got out of the car, my heart was racing and my eyes wouldn't stay still and focused and I was so overwhelmed and I begged my husband to meet me back in the store entry 6 hours later and asked if he would be alright wandering around alone without me...It was an out-of-body experience for me in 2004.

sounds perfect glad you got to have fun like that!

The thaw is on its way but it is not here yet. On the other had there has been loads of sunshine which tends to warm the south side of my rockeries, melting the snow on that side and revealing the semps within. Honestly... I wondered if they were still there.

'Lion King', 'Glowing Embers' and a NOID


'Greenii' and 'Legolas'

Semps, I see semps in Tim's garden.