Kate, I'd be interested in your seeds--especially the lewisia tweedyi rosea and arisaema griffithii. I don't have a lot of new items to trade yet, but maybe you can find something among the older stuff! Audrey Here is a link that might be useful: Audrey's Trade List

I have had these survive two winters. Note these are unlike our native Arisaemas which can take quite a bit of water. I don't believe it is moisture that is the problem but the getting of air. In the winter they cannot take standing water and will rot. Wet clay will also suffocate them and start the rotting process. I have high clay soil and this is what I did. I used a post hole digger to create a deep hole. I then put in a well draining soil mix. At least 50% sand with lots of humus. I added some bone meal too. I filled to within 5 inches of the top. I then put in one inch of sharp sand and then covered the bulb with sharp sand. They put out long roots that will easily go through the 1 inch of sand into the better soil below and around the bulb. I then covered with the native soil amended with humus and a bit less sand than I had put in the hole. This way water seeping into the soil will have a hard time at first, then hit the sand and go right past the bulb and into the faster draining soil below. If I had filled the hole to the top with sand it would have resulting in surface water running directly into the hole and then pooling at the level of the bulb as it tried to move into the less porous soil below. It is the relative porousity of the layers that determines where the water pools. A quarter inch layer of clay at the surface over the winter would keep the bulbs much dryer. Of course this all depends on your having a site with good drainage. If the location is a swamp your bulbs are would die anyway. Note that I gave a couple plants to several neighbors and they just planted them straight in the ground and have had perfect survival. Their locations however were naturally more sandy. I also found that too much shade reduces their ability to survive the winter. They just cannot store enough food or something. Make sure you do not plant to deeply. They are not good at penetrating lots of over laying soil. It sucks up their resources even if they do make it to the surface and sometimes they actually open their leaves and flowers underground. I had planted 6-8 inches and had this problem. I planted at 4 inches and it was no longer an issue.

Bizarre? Some of my friends thought some of my stuff was bazarre too. Some houseplants, most winter sowed, some will be direct sowed. I think this is a pretty complete list now. I've got way to many already. Abutilon vitifolium 3 Acacia cultriformis Acinos alpinus Aconitum alboviolaceum 39 Aconitum hemsleyanum 29 Adlumina fungulosa Agapanthus cv fr U of British Columbia Agastache rupestris 90 Agastache schrophularifolia Albuca humilis 94 Albuca shawii 95 syn. A. tricophylla Alcea ficifolia 99 Allium tricoccum Alyssum wulfenianum 256 Anaphalis alpicola 206 Anaphalis triplinervis 268 Anisodontea julii Aquilegia desertorum 345 Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila 'Kurilensis Rosea' 361 Aquilegia formosa Aquilegia viridiflora 382 Aralia continentalis 418 Aralia wilsonii 420 Arisaema consanguineum 440 Aristolochia fimbriata 467 Aristolochia tomentosa Athamanta turbith 580 Atropa komarovii 'Turkmenistan' Bergeranthus jamesii 607 Betula glandulifera Calycanthus floridulus ex 'Athens' 683 Campanula americana Cassia alata Clematis ochroleuca Corydalis Blackberry Wine Corydalis ex ex Dufa Temple Cosmidium burridgeanum Dasistoma macrophylla Desmanthus illinoiensis Digitalis grandiflora Dracocephalum palmatum Echinocerius reichenbachii ssp. caespitosis 1331 Eragrostis airioides Festuca valesiaca Fibigea clypeata Fragaria vesca alba 1499 Fritillaria camschatensis ex Kenai, AK Fritillaria camschatensis exCordova,AK Fritillaria lanceolata Gentiana quinquefolia Glaucidium palmatum 2013 Hesperis kotschyi 1855 Hudsonia tomentosa Impatiens glandulifera Ipomea Ipomea - Flake Ipomea 'Blue Blizzard' Ipomea 'Heino Rumi' Iris chrysographes 1938 Iris reichenbachii 2307 Iris tectorum 1986 Iris typhifolia 1998 Jeffersonia dubia 2008 Lavatera cachemiriana 2053 Leuzea conifera var. macrocephala2095 Lilium concolor var. coridion 2138 Lilium concolor var. strictum Lilium lophophorum Lilium mackliniae 2150 Lilium sargentiae Lilium sp. ex China Limonium gmellini ssp. hungaricus Manfreda virgininiana ex Adams Co. OH Melittis melissophyllum 2302 Mentzelia decapetala Mertensia simplicissima 2307 Mirabilis longiflora 2302 Nasella tenuissima Onosma alboroseum Orlaya grandiflora Peltoboykinia tellimoides 2565 Peltoboykinia watanabei Peltoboykinia watanabei 2566 Penstemon 'Chocolate Drop' Penstemon hallii Penstemon paysoniorum Penstemon smallii Penstemon strictus Penstemon virens 2688 Physochlaina orientalis 2726 Phyteuma orbiculare Phyteuma scheuchzeri 4332 Platycodon 'Komachi' 2756 Podophyllum hexandrum Poncirus trifoliata Pulsatilla ajanensis Pulsatilla albana 2894 Pulsatilla flavescens Rhodothamnus chamaecistus 4396 Ruellia ex 'Midnight' Sarracenia purpurea Scilla monophyllos 3194 Semiaquilegia ecalcarata Serratula seoanei Seseli gummiferum 3249 Soldanella alpina 4460 Swertia bimaculata 4478 Sylibum marianum Talinum paniculatum 'Aurea' Telekia speciosa (Bupthalmon) Tellima grandiflora Tsuga canadensis ex Mille Lacs Co.MN Viburnum dentatum ex St.Louis Co.MN xPardancanda norrisii xPardancanda norrisii And DRAT! my Pulsatilla flavescens sprouted in the initial 2 week warm cycle. Rick

Would that be perennial sweet pea, which I turned down when my sister offered me seedlings last year? Bummer! It looks great. Meanwhile, I was looking all over for a plant I got at one of last year's swaps, Cryptotaenia japonica f. atropurpurea. The label was kind of hard to decipher, but the little plants are up and, man, are they cute, so I googled the part of the name I could read and... voila! Dusky reddish foliage - with a silvery cast, my favorite leaf color. I have it in a shady woodland garden, probably a little drier than what it likes. On the website Perry's Plant Picks (at UVM) it says that it will get to be 24" tall. Can anyone tell me if that's accurate? It's about 1" at this point, having just resprouted. This photo is from PPP: It's apparently edible, so I'll plan to try a few leaves in a salad as soon as I think the plants have any to spare. Whoever gave me this plant, thank you again. I think I may be in love (admittedly, not for the first time!). Here is a link that might be useful: PPP: Mitsuba