One more year has passed and we’re still here and doing what we like best, gardening. We want to acknowledge that you, our customers, have made that possible. "Thank you" never seems enough to convey our gratitude and appreciation for your orders and friendship, but we do very sincerely thank you.

As you can see, there is at least one major change this year. This is the third time Paul made a go at reformatting the catalog into an 8.5 X 11 inch size. With a few less intrusions on his time this year (such as moving and remodeling) it did happen. It wasn’t an easy process with a major software flaw contributing to the complexity of the process but he did prevail -- as evidenced by the catalog you have in your hand.

This past spring Paul attended a very successful AIS convention hosted by the Oklahoma Iris Society. Somehow they managed to keep the severe Oklahoma spring weather at bay until just after the convention ended. The pending bad weather was a reminder of one reason why Mid-America Garden is now in Oregon. It was a pleasure to see the beauty of each garden and visit with many friends.

Thomas’s travels included a trip to Australia for another leisurely bloom season at Barry & Lesley Blyth’s, Tempo Two Nursery. He returned with pictures of some of their beautiful irises -- and a list of the crosses he made on them. Over the next 3 years, there will be seedlings blooming from these crosses, plus crosses made there in previous years. Come by during bloom season to check them out.

All the K-9 girls -- Fancy, Nickel, Cher & Diva -- are doing well. Fancy, now going on 14 years, is starting to slow her pace a bit but hopefully still has some good miles left on her paws.

The hybrid process still intrigues us. We know we make too many crosses but who’s to say what is excess? We smile and enjoy the momentary spotlight when some of our introductions win awards. Here are the ones that came our way this year.

For Paul - Knowlton Medal for BB, Go For Bold. Award of Merit for TBs, Cranberry Sauce, Carl & Sissy, and runner up Bold Encounter. Also for SDBs Fires of Fiji, Bourgeois, Dancing Bunnies, & Ballistic as well as MDB, Chemistry and Spec-X, Dolce. Honorable Mentions received were TBs, Sharper Image, Light and Shadow, & Batter-up with runners up City of Gold, Conjuring Cat & Padded Shoulders. HMs were also awarded to BB, Fleece As White and SDBs, Dime, Devoted, Circus Clown, Surrounded and Experiment a runner up. Be My Baby won best BB at the International Iris Competition in Florence Italy. Don’t Touch won 1st place and Chuckwagon 3rd place at the International TB competition in Moscow, Russia.

For Thomas - Caparne-Welch Medal for MDB, Wise and runner up for Cook-Douglas with SDB, Neutron. Top Award of Merit was TB, ‘Paul Black’ and SDB Ultimate also received an AM with Navy Ruffles a runner up. Honorable Mention for TBs Prague, Belgian Princess, Saturn, Sun Power, Full Figured, Power Point, Guatemala, Strike A Pose, Tropical Passion, Balancing Act, Diversion and SDB Popsicle. Brussels placed 5th in Florence Italy. ‘Paul Black’ moved up to #30 on the AIS top 100 TB symposium. We have to say it was a very good year.

As always, may your gardening bring happy days filled with loving friends & beautiful flowers.

Paul Black & Thomas Johnson