Thanks Lee for forwarding the message to those of us who are no longer IBS members but still have memories of Sir Peter Smithers. I was lucky enough to visit him twice in Switzerland. The first time I knew I was going to go to Switzerland (1997) I was trying to get courage to ask him if I could visit when he posted something to the IBS list about his fantasies of all the women on the list. I can't remember exactly what he said, something along the line that he pictured them as all young, beautiful, knowledgeable and experts in horticulture, botany, etc. That stopped me in my tracks for awhile, but eventually I did ask to come explaining I didn't fit his fantasies, but could my husband and I come anyway? He responded: "Hell No! An old gent my age thinks two live persons better than a fantasy, so you will both be very welcome. " And afterwards he wrote: "We much enjoyed your materialising out of the electronic mists." I will never forget the visit. First of all the luncheon we were given was one of the best meals we had on our trip including sorbet made out of passion fruit he grew. His wife was a gracious charming hostess and we found him a fascinating person with wonderful stories. We loved walking through his garden and pondering his philosophy of creating a garden that over time grew to be less work rather than more as it became a self sustaining ecosystem. We admired his ideas of creating a garden that would blend into his surroundings rather than call attention to its difference. And most of all we appreciated his philosophy of sharing what he had and knew with other gardeners and plant enthusiasts. He remembered as a young boy all the people who were kind enough to take the time to help him. So he was always willing to answer questions or to provide seed, cuttings or plants. We visited an entire arboretum built on a hillside that seemed to have acquired most of the collection from cuttings from his plants. He had the wealth to be able to travel to foreign lands to collect exotic special plants, but even after he no longer was doing that, others continued to go out of their way to obtain special specimens for him as their way of repaying his generosity to them. He loved telling about what people had brought him. He was so apologetic on our visit that he didn't have a plant to give me, but he did give me a signed copy of his book and some Lilium (Pink Trumpet) seeds. I read a chapter every night for the rest of my journey, savoring the stories. I just wish I could have taken more of the philosophy of working less instead of more to heart. Every year those Lilium return and get taller and remind me of him and our visit. Last year I gave seed to the BX so hopefully others in our group will have a Sir Peter momento too. The Clivia Vico Gold I got in a group order has yet to bloom for me. The Lilium that I grew myself has been much more satisfactory. On that first visit he produced his accession books. He had made a record in a ledger of every plant he had ever acquired by number and he was in the process of transferring all those records to an Access data base and wondering if he'd finish before he died. There is a lot about that 1997 trip that is now fuzzy in my memory, but my visit to Sir Peter and his wife shines brightly. We visited him again in 2000. He had slowed down a lot in the years in between and was no longer able to garden very much, but still able to walk through his garden once a day. It was very steep so he knew there would be a time that would no longer be possible. This time I brought friends along who were our travel companions. They weren't all into gardening and certainly not into bulbs, but each one was so appreciative of the experience of meeting him and his wife. It was very difficult for me to pry them away in time to catch the last bus to return to our hotel. We had to run all the way down the hill from his house, a very long way, to make it. They still talk about that visit from time to time and one friend who went back to Switzerland a couple of years ago went to a showing of some of his photographs. He had some amazing nerine and peony photographs he had taken on panels in his entry way and was an early pioneer of flower photography. Early on Sir Peter had planned for his special breeding and plants to go to a good home before he was no longer able to care for them. He told us his house was for sale in 1997 when we first visited, but I am glad to read he never had to leave the wonderful garden he created until the end. Knowing he is no longer alive makes me sad, but I remain grateful for having the opportunity to meet him and for the lessons I learned from him. Mary Sue