I've started growing aronia, enjoyed just a few berries this year. Viking, Nero, and native aronia starts have been put into nursery rows and a few planted out. Aronia is more suited to processing with other fruit/sweetener, unless you're have a very tough/masochistic palate. I'm excited to put my eventual harvests towards mixed fruit jams, tincture/infusions, and fruit wine or (hard)cider. Try a basic wine recipe with some of those berries, in a year you'll be enjoying your own vino! I make blueberry, elderberry, highbush cranberry, they are easy and turn out great. I think the astringent qualities of aronia make it a great candidate for straight or in a blend. Adding a few pounds to a batch of cider could make up for not using 'real' cider apples(bittersharps, etc), and give the finished product some real backbone and a nice color. You must have some commercial aspirations with that planting, ClarkinKS. There is plenty of buzz about aronia these days, I'm curious about your plans. Also more about your pawpaws, are they grown in zone 5? Maybe that's another topic. I guess Viking and Nero are technically 1/2 european mountain ash hybrids, don't know about 'iroquois beauty.'

I have the large loropetalum and it blooms in winter, spring, summer and fall. I love that plant. Good shape, not invasive, nice foliage and beautiful flowers. J. C.Raulston brought it from China and recommended it for the southeast. Mock orange is done in a week and a lot of varieties aren't even fragrant. Plumbago (Cape Wort) maybe or may not be hardy in zone 7. I had one for many years coming back and this year it didn't though it was planted on the south side of the house protected but large rose bushes. Who knows? Worth trying though. Hardy Plumbago has darker blue flowers, foliage turns reddish in fall - it is either a ground cover or a small shrub. I love it. False Indigo (Baptisia australis) is an excellent shrub - the white flowering variety blooms way before the roses start blooming; stems come up like black asparagus. There is a blue and yellow blooming variety. I love to use the leaves in flower arrangements. Caryopteris - in various shades of blue; usually blooms late summer and fall. Foliage is gray but there is a new one that has chartreuse two-tone foliage; it is beautiful. This is the only pre-digital photo I found of our Pineapple Guava

My dad hasn't been able to log in and post for over a week, and he's getting pretty frustrated! He emailed gardenweb but they didn't respond yet. Anyways, he sent me this message because he wanted to thank everyone for all of the cards he received so far, which is a lot! ***THANK YOU FROM GARDENDAD_2K10*** Wow wow WOW - I am just overwhelmed with happiness with all of the cards and seeds I have been receiving! Everyone has been very generous and I am very grateful to you all for this. I have a whole pile of cards that I will be thanking people for, so stay with me. BUSTANI - Christmas tree card with a present inside. I opened the present and out came never-ending seeds. Wow wow WOW! I think they were all hand-drawn on and colored with Christmas sayings. I could see that a lot of work went into packaging these up and I am very grateful. She sent Cherry Bomb Pepper, Catnip and Catgrass (Kitty is very grateful), Sugar Snap Peas, Basil Mix, Blue Lake Bush Bean, Nature Sweet Tomato (LOVE TOMATOES!), and Habenero red & orange mix seeds. Thank you very much. You are more than generous and thoughtful. Merry Christmas! DEBBY_1 - Cat with a Santa hat on sticker was sealing the envelope. Very cute. I got a reindeer card and inside was Pepper long red cayenne and rutgers tomato seeds. Thank you very much! Peppers and tomatoes are my specialty and I can't wait to try these out. Happy Holidays! MOLLY_AND_ME - Candy sticker sealing envelope. I think the card was handmade - very professionally done. You have a great talent! I got seed paper that has Mammoth Sweet Basil embedded in it and some catnip for the kitty. How do you make seed paper? It looks great, I am interested in making some of my own sometime. Very creative person - a lot of time has obviously gone into this card and the seed presentation. Thank you and Merry Christmas! JULIE2112 - 3-D mitten card looks very cool. She sent me tons of seeds, how generous! I got onion 'white sweet spanish', pineapple tomato (wow sounds interesting!), amish paste (Have to look that one up), cauliflower 'snowball' (never grown that before but looking forward to it!), cauliflower 'self blanch', beefsteak tomato (one of my favorites), and Rutgers tomato seeds. Thank you very much - I love them all and will plant them with care. Happy holidays! DIRTDADDY - Very cool Elvis Card along with lots and lots of seeds. I got Parsley Extra Triple Curled, Fish Hot Pepper (his favorite, looks interesting!), Louisiana Red Cayenne, Thai Basil, Mavi Purple Hot Pepper, Tepin Pepper, Wenks Hot Pepper, Dr. Wyche's Tomato, and Lemon Drop Hot Chile Pepper seeds. Wow - I can't thank you enough. It must have taken forever to harvest those seeds - I am very grateful and can't wait to grow these. So many varieties that I have never tried before. Thanks so much and Merry Christmas! RUTHZ - Cool snowman card that says 'let it snow' with some great seeds inside. I got yellow eye bush bean, japone pepper, and...

I have 1 and would like 6 more. Julie, This is the song. Gitchy goomy, gitchy gaddy, sit you laddie down on your daddys knee, And aint it a nice place to be? Goggin noggin, papas rockin like a mockin bird in a windy tree, And that aint no place for me. Been there one time, been there two times, Been there three times more than I care to be, But were gonna make it through, gitchy goomy. Life is good, life is fine, life is warm, Life is kind, can you see it? Love is great, love is right, Keeps you warm late at night when you need it. Baby boy, daddys joy, lifes a toy, But you dont wanna break it. Like a sweet symphony, all you need is the key, you can play it. Gitchy goomy, gitchy gaddy, sit you laddie down while I have my say, Now dont be runnin away. Goggin noggin, papas talkin Dont go walkin off like you mean to play, Well, you can have it your way. Been there one time, been there two times, Been there three times more than I care to say, But youre gonna be o.k. gitchy goomy. Life is good, life is fine, life is warm, Life is kind, can you see it? Love is great, love is right, Keeps you warm late at night when you need it. Baby boy, daddys joy, lifes a toy, But you dont wanna break it. Like a sweet symphony, all you need is the key, you can play it. Been there one time, been there two times, Been there three times more than I care to be, Seen it one time, seen it two times, Seen it three times, lord n its plain to see. Ah, you gonna make it through gitchy goomy. You n me gonna make it through gitchy goomy. Ah, you gonna make it through gitchy goomy. Eric