Too far away for me to participate this time but you guys have fun and best of luck to you!!! I hope everyone gets some great, unique plants for their garden!! Have fun!!

Wish I lived closer, I'd have been there. I echo Nannerbelle - hope you all got lovely plants for your garden, but don't tell me, I don't NEED the envy!

OK, spill the beans, what goodies did you end up with? Tell us about the get-to-gether.

OK, I'll give you a little taste. I had not been to the distribution in about 3-4 years, although I did support the arboretum through membership renewal annually. This year, I decided to go and lots of people attended...mostly your average plant nut, but a few nurserymen also. We arrived at 8:30 am, and they blew the whistle at 9:00 am. You can grab 3 plants each, then you have to step behind a line to wait for the next whistle. When it blows, you grab 3 more plants. This continues until you have 9 plants. Upon the last whistle blow, you can grab anything you want.

My DH and I were able to take home:

- Abelia x grandiflora 'Rose Creek' (a Michael Dirr selection with pink flowers)
- Abelia parviflora (one of the parents of A. 'Edward Goucher')
- Agave lopantha
- 2 Amsonia hubrichtii
- 2 Antirrhinum hispanicum (Spanish perennial snapdragon)
- Aster carolinanus (I will probably give away because I already have one and these are a little hard to place. They do look good scrambling over a shrub.)
- 2 Bletilla striata
- Callicarpa dichotoma 'Albifructus'
- Caryopteris à clandonensis 'Ferndown'
- 2 Chaenomeles japonica 'Hime' (a small thornless quince with red flowers)
- Ã Chitalpa tashkentensis 'Morning Cloud'
- Clethra alnifolia 'Hokie Pink'
- Deutzia rubens
- Eupatorium greggii
- Gardenia augusta 'Daruma' (going in a bed by the stone patio)
- Habranthus robustus 'Russell Manning' (I love rain lilies and they're deer resistant)
- 3 Hesperaloe (I will probably give away...these really need to be grown in a xeriscape garden)
- Penstemon x mexacali (Red Rocks)
- Salvia greggii 'Diane' (purple salvia)
- Salvia greggii 'Viva' (compact salvia w/ magenta blooms)
- Scutellaria suffrutescens 'Texas Rose'
- Selaginella braunii (I already grow this plant, but you cannot have too much of this great plant)
- Spiraea japonica 'Shibori'
- Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon' (great shrub to mix with perennials. Chartreuse ferny foliage)
- Veronicastrum villosulum (a rare vine with purple flowers)

I was able to get 14 or 15 plants including Salvia greggi 'Dianne' & 'Viva', two Hydrangae macrophylia ('Blue Billows' & 'Oregon's Pride'), Teucrium fruiticans, Philadelphus 'Innocence', Lonicera nitidia, Leptodermis oblonga, Leucothoe racemosa, Kerris japonica 'Honshu' and Lantana 'Ham and Eggs'. I also picked up two plants that I have been seeing at the arboretum that I really wanted - Seemania nematanthides 'Evita' and Persicaria amplexiculis 'Firetail'. There is one other plant that has a metal label that I cannot make out for sure - it looks like Asbriste vineris? Anyone know what this might be?

I was headed for that Seemania 'Evita', but someone beat me to it. That was the one with the brilliant orange flowers, wasn't it? Like I said, I hadn't been in a few years, and the old format was like a free for all, survival of the fittest type of thing. I liked the new format. Less probability of getting tripped or elbowed. LOL!

WOW!! You both have great hauls!

The cost of a single membership is now $40 & for a family it is $60. The plants obtained through the fall distribution would cost more than the price of a membership if bought at our local nurseries! Several of the local nurseries and restaurants give JCRA members from 10 - 20 percent discounts, so a membership can quickly pay for itself by one visit to a local nursery like Campbell Rd @ 20% discount. Also, members save $5 admission cost to the twice monthly Thursday night lectures at JCRA and up to the membership cost to special events.