Yes, I took lots of photos and I finally got them all labeled. I did not take nearly enough people photos, because I was taking so many plant photos. I found my first National to be an educational venture. They had some classes which were interesting, but the main thing I enjoyed was talking to people, especially hybridizers, in the lobby, in the gardens, in the motel, and at the dinners. For me the National would be so much better if they would set up question and answer sessions with four or five hybridizers and growers and have them just answer questions for about an hour or two each. Have two or three of them available everyday of the convention, and I would still have questions.
I was disappointed that there were not more plants available at the plant sale, even though they had no Sculpted Relief plants and I did not see any Sculpted Relief blooms in any of the gardens...with the exception of one small AMERICAN FREEDOM bloom. The one thing I did take away from the National was how much work the people have to put into it, and that was a real eye opener! Also I was impressed with how friendly most of the people were, I was able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone and anywhere. I struck out completely at the auction, but thought it was great that so many people were bidding and raising money for a good cause. I only got to buy three plants from the plant sale tables, by the time I had a chance to look over them there was very little left. So it just stresses how important it is to have every one contribute plants, and not depend on just one or two growers from each club. I did take a large container with 42 double fans and I was very pleased to see how fast they sold, I just regretted more people did not bring plants. I seem to have a lot of little complaints, but I also have a lot of positive things I took away from the convention...don't mean to make it seem negative because it was anything but. I had a great time, had a wonderful little bus partner that kept me entertained and went with two club members who
helped me keep on schedule and keep up with all my stuff...like my phone, and my plants, my name tag and my camera, and etc.
One thing about the National, you get inspired to do better, to do more, and to contribute more to the local club. It had never occurred to me that the people responsible for a National have to miss almost all of the peak time in their own gardens...and that alone is a huge sacrifice. So this is longer that I meant it to be, but let me say how enjoyable I found my first National, very nice it was a region 14 affair, I think that made a huge difference to be at a first National in your own region. Yes, we are already talking about trying to make the next one in North Carolina. I will add I got way more bus plants that I had expected! I was not expecting the bus rides to be so long, but most of us wanted them to be longer when we started receiving all those bus plants.
