Buying sympathy cards by the box now

[iris lilies]

I am now old enough that everywhere I turn, friends and colleagues are dying. Granted, technically all the people who are dying are biologically old enough to be my parents. Because they are all old gardeners they are lasting into their late 80s to mid 90s.

We lost three Iris hybridizers in the past six months. St. Louis is a stronghold of iris hybridization. There are very few younger people taking up the challenge of hybridization. Well, it’s all scorned anyway by the GEN Xers, who just want the boring natives. A pox on them.

Gardening keeps you going, but eventually we all succumb.

[Tybee]

I'm sorry to hear you have so many friends passing away. That is rough.

[Rogar]

I told my accountant that the way my friends were going I might be the last one left on the island. He said, at least you'd still be on the island. I've heard that these days you can have ChatGTP write condolences. I always struggle with those.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay----I'd like to point out that it isn't just Iris Hybridizers that are dying. Nope. Residents of that littlebitty town was up in the middle-o-nowhere are quickly dying off. But this is nothing new. Back when my GP's were my age(now), they would frequently have these morning discussions of "who died" over coffee. People they knew, or knew of. That's small-town life, for ya.