Pilchuck Pollinator

We couldn’t say no to such a beautiful specimen and so took it home.  For those interested in such things, here’s the entry in my database: Seed collected in the wild during the Sino-British expedition to the Yunnan Province (Mt. Minya-Konka Region), China in 1981.  Seed acquired through ARS seed exchange (lot #365 1982) by L. and E. Newcomb who planted it in 1982.

Eddie told us we should look into joining something called ARS Pilchuck Chapter.  This was the first I had heard of it.  Gloria and I attended meetings at the Methodist Church.  Soon we convinced my parents to join.

#8  grew tall and strong for the next few years but was knocked almost to the ground by a cold snap.  Temperatures jumped from the forties down to ten degrees during one clear December night when I neglected to cover it.  We had just gotten a telescope and what happened on clear nights in December was forgotten when clear views of Jupiter and Saturn were available for the first time.

It has been a long haul recovering from that one thoughtless night, and this spring we were rewarded with signs of the first flower bud.  We have (im)patiently watched the bud swell (see picture on previous page) until it finally burst forth in glorious splendor, just in time for 10 inches of snow to fall on it.

I was able to save some pollen for Oriana at Meerkerk to use on some deserving flower there.  Hopefully some nice cross-breed will result from this effort.

R. sinogrande #8 by Greg Winters (cont.)

Our first sinogrande bloom!