I'm only half way through editing, but thought I'd share some of Rob Mortko's T.C. candidates for next year. They had a great convention - first time I've had beer on the tour bus! The gardens were all very different and very lovely, although I don't have many photos to share, as we toured in harsh daylight and I mostly took shots of plants I admired. A couple gardens were shady, and I've got some shots of those for another post.

Rob's was the place I was really looking forward to, both for the shopping and for the tour of the tissue culture lab. We should have gone there first, the shoppers hit early and hard. I got Happy Dayz, Ambrosia, and Beyond Glory.

He had a lot of hostas he's planning to T.C. on his deck in pots. He says he always assumes every plant could have HVX and nematodes, and keeps them in quarantine until he's sure they're OK. For you eager shoppers: He cultures for other people, including In the Country and Naylor, and there's no guarantee these will TC sucessfully. If everything goes perfectly, a TC plant might be ready to sell in a year, but usually it takes 2-3 years before they're big enough to sell.

Country Melody - a fund-raiser for the Spece family and In the Country. Mycroft is in the background. There's a Sherlock, too. It looked plain, but sometimes they do when they're small.

Pewter Goblet

Wu Hoo, Empress Wu with a margin.

Hometown Hero, an In the Country plant. We'll be in Independence this weekend. Guess where I'm going and what's coming home with me?

Mulling Marlborough. To tell the truth, streaked hostas look pretty much the same to me, but I like the leaf shape on this one. Looks like it's a small hosta.