I hope they are still carrying Bravo in the spring. If I'd seen some of the other photos, I might have gotten it! It's a bit like Arach. Emily and Boule de Niege... I'd like to have the three of them growing next to each other for comparison... I'm guessing they each show their red color at different times.

They will be noticeably different. A fun thing to watch through the growing seasons.

I was reminiscing about old friends and thought of Eddie, did a search and boy was I happy to know his memory lives on. My parents were good friends with Ed, and I knew him my whole life 40+years) until his death a few years ago. He was one of the coolest people I ever knew. We knew him from the Packard club. When I was a kid, my mom would help pot up his hens and chicks for him to sell. We had them all over our gardens, though they are gone now. I think the deer got them. I like to think that whenever I see one that it might just be related to one of his.

Yes, he always drove Cadillac hearses--he loved them. He hadn't had a real job since he was a teenager, so he would just make money where he could. He sold his plants and Packard parts. He had a great business in the matchbook covers. He did paint branches and add glitter--such a simple idea and a very popular one at Christmas. He rented out the picnic area at his house to the nudists. He had an oil well on his property. He collected stamps--and we would save all our stamps and give them to him every year. His house was an old Victorian, and he claimed that it was haunted--saw the ghost of a lady a number of times. He was always "Busy, busy, busy."

I have saved all the letters I could find from him to my parents. They are so entertaining and so "Eddie." He would write on every available space of the paper and sideways up the margins. And then we had to save the stamp and give it back to him.

I have so many fond memories of Eddie. He really was a great guy. I was lucky to have known him. I still miss him.

Hi Judi. to ATP.
I am so glad you found this thread. It is wonderful to hear of your memories of Ed Skrocki. The more I hear about him from those that knew him, the more I wish I could have met him in person. Such and interesting person.
Is there anything in the letters to your parents that you could share with us?

Sounds like a fun guy. So happy you found us.

Maybe this is one way ATP can help you with your Semp book, Kevin? If you can continue to share your memories, Judi, and give Kevin permission to see your memorabilia, it could be a start: I suppose it could be a whole book on its own, but if you are thinking you don't have enough material on semps, combined with your own memories, Kevin, this could be a whole section on the people who have worked in the past to get us the semps we enjoy today. MR

Hello Judi, and yes like the others said, welcome and glad you found this thread!

I'll have to check the letters. I really don't know if there is much in his letters about the plant side of his life, as we knew him from the Packard side. I was searching more on his name, and found his online obituary:
http://www.tributes.com/show/8...

There is a comment from his friend Tjeerd van Oene - Hengelo (O) The Netherlands. Eddie talked about him all the time. Anyway, in his comment, he said he saved over 500 letters from a 20 year span of correspondence. I am sure this is a treasure trove of wonderful information about Eddie.

I will check my letters this weekend.

By the way, I am an avid gardener, and I am so glad that Eddie indirectly guided me here! It is a great site, and I think I will learn a lot from it.

I never met Ed. Tried but just coundn't get there. I feel I have known him. I know I would like him and hope he liked me. I have many friends that sound simular to Ed. He would fit right in with us.
Stush

Judi, thank you so much for that link. It was wonderful reading all the post.