I will second Rita about the value of joining both the AHS and the robin.

After joining the AHS, I have had a chance to meet a few DL growers in MY area for a change.

I have only been a member of the Daylily Robin for two weeks, and have already made several new DL friends, as well as getting what is almost "information overload" on several fascinating subjects from Breeders, Growers, and us other common DL addicts.

If you are a backyard gardener or hybridizer, it is a wonderful insight into what the "Big Guys" go through, in terms of breeding, growing, marketing, etc. In just this short time, I have had many new aspects of the DL world brought to my attention, and am just loving it.

Well worth the time!

Julie

HI Rita and Julie. I'm thinking about joining -- as soon as I find employment. I've been out of work since 8/27 and am having a tough time finding a job.

I'm looking forward to the Robin. Sounds really intersting.

I have to say, that I've enjoyed the Robin since I joined a few weeks back. I tend to be more of a reader than poster right now, but I will jump in when I feel that I can add to the subject at hand. :)
As Julie said, you can sure learn a lot from the big guys who frequent the Robin.
Maureen, I wish you luck in finding a job. I can imagine how stressful it would be in your situation. I'll say a prayer for you and hope you find work soon.
Jan

I joined the Robin a couple of weeks ago and have never posted, but every day I enjoy reading what others write. It is a great way to feed my adiction when I can't be outside gardening. I recommend it to everyone.

Ann

The robin can have its slow patches were not much happenes and not many posts come thru. But the opposite also happens were there are lots of posts with lively discussiuons. Times like now, many different discussions going on. Makes it very interesting.

One drawback to the email Robin is that you don't always see all the responses to a question as most people respond to a post privately or responses are scattered in with other discussion items from a poster. I think this happens because your only allowed to post once per day on the forum therefore you lose - in my opinion - the ability to follow a discussion from many points of view.

Julia

I try to remind people when I ask a question to please respond directly to the robin so that everyone can get in on the discussion. It is true that posts are limited to one per day per person. But I don't understand why most people on the robin would be concerned with using up that one post per day because most people on the robin post very rarely, many don't post at all, just lurk.

However, fortunately there are a big bunch of us that do post all the time. Sometimes we get into a really good topic and that keeps the e-mails flying.

I have to say that the e-mail robin is the thing I enjoy the most about AHS membership, absolutely for sure.

More people than usual seem to be joining the robin lately too. This week we had 6 new people and last week was a record with 10 new people joining. You always know how many people joined each week and who they are because the listowner (Tim) sends a weekly message welcoming new members. That is were he lists them and publishes the short introduction that people are asked to write when asking to join the robin.

I don't think the one post per day is a problem. You can say what you need to in it....and if you leave something out, you can correct it in the next...or have a friend send in the correction.

If you are used to other types of discussion, it may take you a bit to appreciate the 'flavor' of the robin. I have come to appreciate the regular contributors...who each have their own style.

I don't have a problem with people replying privately...sometimes there are reasons for it...not everyone wants to say things publicly. It's a learning process. I sometimes reply privately to someone who has written something that particularly touched me...just to say thanks or that I enjoyed it. I don't think the robin needs to be cluttered up with a bunch of folks just saying that.

It is what it is....which, in my opinion, is a pretty good thing.

Rita, I think you might be responsible for the big increases or at least have a large part in it. It's great that you encourage people. We are only as good as our members...and nothing encourages people, I think, like positive vibes or enthusiasm from members outreaching....so, if no one has said anything...I say, "Good job"!

I too enjoy the Robin and fine that it is invaluable as a source of information and friendships. It is amazing the help that is poured out for any newbie with questions.

I try to post periodically but carefully now.

I also agree that it takes a little time to get to know the "flavor" of the social "culture" there. There are definitely some unwritten rules...which I have accidentally broken and have at least one person who will not respond to even my private replies to their questions.

I "think" the rule I broke was to mention the name of someone who replied in private, even though I was thanking them in sharing their response. It seems there are occasional personality wars which promote people responding in private and wishing to remain annonymous on the public forum about such responses. Possibly I also mixed up names of who made a previous post too but I can't be entirely sure if either of these is the rule I broke because they won't even respond to my apology and request for clarification on how I ticked them off.

So...for you newly joined Robin members...remember there are outspoken, sensitive, and opinionated personalities on many sides of issues on the Robin. If you get jabbed by someone after a post try not to take it personally, it happens periodically and there are others who will come to the aid of new posters who stumble on one of those unwrittens. You'll be encouraged to post again and it is, afterall, like a big family of daylily enthusiasts.

Rita, this robin sounds like so much fun. I can definitely use some fun in my life right now. I'm sun deprived and bored, out of work and just getting over being sick for almost 3 wks. Our zone climate is really starting to annoy me more and more every year (Florida is calling me:-) I definitely need more sun and warmer winters.

Anway, I was reading this and wondering exactly how this Robin works. Do you get an email and then add your own comments and then forward it to someone? I'm a little confused about this.

Berrytea4me, thank you so much for the heads up. I will remember to be careful what I say, sometimes I innocently will say something (as you did) and it becomes an issue. What a shame that that person won't even acknowledge you -- oh well. If it was me, I'm very forgiving and would certainly have given you a response and another chance:-)

If I get any money for Christmas I'm getting myself a subscription to the AHS.

The robin is an e-mail list. Which means, once you subscribe your e-mail is added to the list. You then get all messages sent to the list. When you want to post, you write your own message and send it to the list. Everyone gets all the messages.

The best way to see how it all works is to lurk for afew days after you join. You will begin to get all the messages then and can see how it all works (and how to reply to someone elses comments) before jumping in.

There are other e-mail lists out there, this one is just the largest to do with daylilies and requires AHS membership.

If your interested in lists, Yahoo groups has a bunch of lists, one of the most popular there being The Spider and UFO robin, no AHS membership required. Yahoo groups also has some AHS affiliated lists like the small robins. There are some that are reginal and some that are for a topic such as Edged Daylilies and another is Historical Daylilies. I belong to the Midatlantic Daylily robin, its great.

There is also a Daylily image group at Goodle groups.

Thanks for the explanation Rita. I think I was at one time on a list like that for Plumerias, but the daylily one sounds like it would be more interesting and fun to me.