Gardenpoppy, Just shipped out my box today priority and put the same inside. I sent daffodil bulbs, white calla lily bulbs, pink tulips, orange Wyoming canna, and misc cannas that could be red yellow or orange. (I forget what color they were) My biggest want for this swap would be to have pink cannas, not salmon but pretty pink with green leaves. I would give away all of my orange ones for pink!!! And of course the usual-love to have asiatic, oriental lilies, alliums-love them too, etc... anything pink, purple or white. This has been fun, next year will be better because I will have more stuff to swap. Thanks again for hosting!!! jenny.

I just happened upon this posting, and feel compelled to add a bit of info regarding fertilizing new plantings. The current "rule" regarding California native plantings is NOT to fertilize or amend soil at planting. This is especially true if the plants are native to your local area. In theory, if it's a native, the soil should contain everything your plant needs. That said, by virtue of normal landscaping practices, we have mucked things up for our plants. Still, with natives, it's best to start without fertilizer. If your plants are from other Mediterranean climate areas of the world, then a little starter fertilizer may be helpful. It may also be necessary to amend the soil to improve drainage. They key is to match the plant's natural habitat and needs as closely as possible. Note: if you have clay soil, but your plant is native to an area with different characteristics (rocky, sandy, low phosphorus, etc.), you need to be mindful of this. Clay is wonderfully fertile, but tough on plants that prefer better drainage. If you do choose to fertilize, organic fertilizers are better for the plants, soil, and the environment.

I find it strange that so many people are trying to grow northern vegetables following a northern calendar in FL. No wonder you're having so much trouble! I'm in central FL 9B and I grow stuff all year round - but what I grow changes with the temperatures. For example, this past year in the cooler months (late fall/winter) I grew lots of leafy greens like lettuce, chard, cilantro, garden and red sorrel, bok choy, radishes, carrots, and peas. I've got a few pigeon pea "trees" (they live for ~5 years and produce pigeon peas year round. They are drought tolerant and infertile sand tolerant). I've got straight Myakka sand and I haven't been amending. To my surprise, quite a few plants were very happy in my infertile sand. The only thing I do is occasionally add some coffee grounds once in a while or some diluted urine. I'm now in the process of making and charging biochar to long term improve the fertility of my sand since any compost I added in the past disappeared almost immediately (to be honest, it disappears in my compost bin before I even really get a chance to use it). In October I started tomato plants from seeds - now that it's March they are flowering and fruiting. Everglades tomato is a FL native tomato that can perform even during our crazy hot and humid summers. There's also Floradade tomato, which was developed in south FL specifically to cope with the brutal summers and can handle up to 100F. I've got those sprouting now (mid March) so we'll see how they do. There are at least 10 other tomatoes I know of that purportedly thrive even in FL summers but they will not be the tomatoes everyone knows in the north. If you want to grow northern tomatoes, just do it in the spring; most tomatoes will drop flowers by June due to the heat. If you can keep the plant alive through the summer (usually by shading it from afternoon sun) they will start producing again in the fall when temps cool down. I've also got sweet and hot peppers, sweet potatoes, cowpeas, eggplant, callaloo (amaranth), garlic chives, lagos spinach, New Zealand spinach, Ethiopian Kale, Malabar spinach, Roselle, Cranberry Hibiscus, Chaya, and Moringa for the summer. Rule of thumb for FL gardening: Southeast Asian + Caribbean veggies do particularly well in FL summers and "northern" veggies grow well here in the winter. As for fruit trees... stop trying to grow what does well in the north and grow what does well here. I've got a monster guava that I never fertilize or water and can deal with the occasional cold snap. Mulberries also do particularly well - they are basically zero maintenance (no extra watering, fertilizer, thrive on neglect). They fruit multiple times a year (mine are flowering now). There are plenty of other options if you look.

No, not wrong at all. Rampant suits some situations better than others that's all. The evening primrose will do what you want, seeds readily and is tough as. A whole bed under the roses sounds lovely indeed. It will however outcompete other plants not so enthusiastic about life, so don't try to mix anything a bit less vigorous or fussy with them unless you want to be defending their right to sun pretty regularly....and I'd probably err on the side of caution and not plant it too near any boundaries with bushland. No need to water it that's for sure, they laugh with gay abandon at the hottest summer days, they just sit there looking lovely. You can just make sure the roses are OK and the evening primrose will look after itself. Personally I like them, but they don't get much of a run here to take over (not enough surface water)...I've got both the pink and the white one. I think the pink is prettier by a long way. Phylla nodiflora (?) is one that will romp around all over the place- at my place far worse than the evening primrose. I'm thinking of eradicating it. I planted some and then noticed a "rampant" warning on a posting, and waited to see. Have to say I agree. Better at smothering even than the primrose, and it climbs over stuff to do it. A bit irritating actually. On the other hand it does shade the earth effectively. The phylla's not as dense as say, erigeron, another worth keeping an eye on, and I suppose you can just pull it off stuff. I've got some dianthus and daylilies around the edge of the bed and the phylla does't seem to resent being made to live around those spots. You've got to keep an eye on it though. The unforgivable part as far as I'm concerned is climbing up and through the roses themselves, over the graft and areas where you're wanting new basal growth to emerge, and this of course isn't the easiest area to get in and maintain. I'm expecting the offending bed will go. Can't say I'm too sorry. I'll stick with the catmint, and other herbs and salvias I think.