There's the rub: no morning sun in my yard and 9 large maples planted just on the other side of my fence, exactly where I need them to NOT be. I can't remove those trees as they belong to the neighboring church. It's afternoon sun or no sun at all. On the bright side, it has been far milder for the last week and we had more rain in one day (Monday) than we had over the last 2 months. So far so good. Odd though, because mid-August is usually the most severe part of the season for us regarding drought & heat. I shouldn't be surprised--lol--the rest of the year has been Bass Ackwards, so why should it be any different now? :)

Wow. What a read! I got into Dahlia three years ago. A good friend gifted me with a single cactus - pink that I have yet to identify. It's a strong plant with lovely blooms that also make great cuts. Because of how I grow my flowers, this dahlia in particular will yield an incredibly quantity of useful tubers for the next year. Of course, I share what I can and my friends fall in love with growing dahlias because of their success in growing this particular cultivar. Sorry, my intro went on for days. Given that I reside in SE Portland, I have come to rely upon Swan Island [Canby, OR] and Old House Dahlias [SE Portland]. This years crop came entirely from Old House Dahlia. I am very pleased by the quality and performance. However, several cultivars have been slow in growing, notably Lindy, Tanjoh, and Fascination. The blooming is delayed, too. Aside from the pink, my planting of Shea's Rainbow has been the showstopper of the season. Relying on the Aer. Dahlia Society's classification index, Shea's Rainbow is BB/IC/V [meaning, Small flowered [4-6"]/Incursive Cactus/Variegated coloring. Checkers [M/FD/BI] comes in a close second. Although, I have discovered this cv. to be less stable in terms of bloom bi-coloration reverting possibly to one the parent colors?

Thanks for the suggestions! I know how easy it is to make a houseplant by suspending a sweet potato in a glass of water (and then standing out of the way while the vine shoots up!) but it didn't occur to me to try it in the garden. I'll give it a try! There's a variety of sweets in the grocery, some long and slim, some yellow, some orange, some fat and blunt; not sure which are best suited to this area a but I'll try several kinds. I assume they're not treated like potatoes are to prevent sprouting. I think I'm stuck with ordering the Jerusaken Artichokes by mail though. With the cold and snow today, it's hard to realize that it's now March and planting season will be here soon- but guess I should get that order in!

Message from Gary For cottonwood468 - Should I send to the Chicago address, or the other one? The package will most likely go out on Monday. For sea_kangaroo - I need her mailing address. (She received the wrong package. But, because of her unique wish list (ones that no one else wanted) I still have about 30 wish list varieties for her. I have no idea if my email contact info is still available on Gardenweb) For pink iris - Her package will go out Monday. (and that wraps up the tomato/bean swaps, 125+ participants, 12,500+ packs of seeds) Thanks Gary