Thanks all!! I will be trying my best to save some seeds this year and winter sowers will be first. We have had some horrible storms so I do not know if that will prevent pollination or what, I guess I will have to wait and see. Something told me the other day to pull out the paint brush, but NO I didn't listen. Grr!! Terrene I so hope yours blooms this year, the fragrance is great!! Almost like someone sprayed some cologne, LOL!! Bev if I am not mistaken I think it might of been you that I sent a clump to. I know I sent someone a clump of this phlox, my plumbago and my shasta daisy silver princess with the canna tubers. Was that you?? LOL I tell you what life is so hectic around here that 6 months ago to me seems like 5 years ago!! lol

jeanr I don't know if they "need" to, but I know that they sure like to. This is the first year I have planted speckled swan gourds and after they over-ran the small string trellis that I started them on, I "bridged" them over to a large (30'X10') pergola that runs along the back of our garage. Once they got to the top of the pergola they exploded and have about covered the entire pergola - along with 2 chinese wisteria that were already there. For a while they did not seem to be setting much fruit on the vines that were on the pergola, but after a healthy dose of compost and a shot of balanced fertilizer there are now about 2 dozen gourds hanging down through the pergola. It looks pretty wierd - my wife now calls it the Gourd House. Since they are hanging, gravity has straightened the necks. About half of them have the swolen section near the vine end typical of speckled swan variety, but the other half doesn't. I couldn't tell you if this was the result of allowing them to hang or not. So far I have not had to support any of the gourds artificially and some of them are in the 8" to 10" diameter range and feel to be about 10 pounds or so in weight. I have separated several of them that were growing together. I don't know if it was necessary, but I thought that the places that two gourds were touching would be a spot for damage from fungus, rot or insects. That is about all I can tell you. Like I said, I don't know if it is a requirement that they climb, but it sure hasn't hurt. By the way, the string trellis that I used to start them was barely strong enough to support the vines. Now that I know what to expect with the size and weight of the gourds that will develop, next time I am going to build something more sturdy, attractive and permanent to get the vines from the garden to the top of the pergola (don't tell the wisteria I said this, but as soon as the gourds are harvested the wisteria is getting moved). Good luck and have fun! Matt

Hey Devi, Welcome to the forum! Always great to have new folk arrive! I'm not in E TN, but I hate to see queries go unanswered... I've grown annual sweet peas commercially, so my experience may or may not be helpful to you. I start them in a cold greenhouse, meaning it gets down to about 34 but doesn't freeze. As you may know, lathyrus loves cold, most soil. You just want to avoid lots of freeze-thaw cycles. Some folks soak seed before sowing, but I never have and haven't had any problems. I do, however, use inoculant, which, oddly, no one tells you to do with sweet peas. Like all other legumes, the rhizobia help the pea roots uptake nutrients. I sow into the final container if possible, as pea seedlings resent transplanting; if you're careful and bump them up before they get very big, transplanting is OK. I use ProMix BX and incorporate a charge of granular fertilizer, my favorite being Flower-Tone (97% organic and great for all herbaceous plants). Mice love to raid the pots for those big fat seeds, so if you have mice (and you may and not know it, particularly in a garage or basement) it's a good idea to put screen over the pot/flat until the peas are well up and growing. This is a hungry species. I topdress with Flower-tone when they're about 1 ft high, and again as they're setting buds. The peas should be blooming in May/June if you get them going now. They hate hot weather, so they basically fry by the end of June. England is their kind of climate, actually -- or the Pacific Northwest. In terms of varieties, I've never grown the knee-hi types ('Snoopea' et al) so can't speak to those. I select for flower color, size and scent and have found performance is generally OK over a wide variety of colors and series. Spencers are good, and Floribundas, and I've had particularly good luck with a series called the Winter Series. I buy seed commercially, and I'm not sure what's available to the homeowner. I have grown a few varieties offered by Thompson & Morgan over the years, and a pink one called 'Rosemary Vesey' (IIRC the name right) did quite well. T & M's sweet pea seeds seem to offer no germination issues, unlike most everything else they sell. Culturally, I give 'em full sun. Moving them into part shade about mid-May prolongs their life a bit. Early in life, though, they need high light or they get weak and stretchy. Bud set seems to be initiated by high light and increasing day length. Never started them in mixed containers. It may work, but I'd be inclined to start the seed in a container and carefully transplant int into the mixed pot at about 6" tall. But then, my aim is always to produce marketable containers, so everything has to work very predictably for me. Hope this helps. Marty

Joann, we would love to see pictures of your cypress trees! also, if i am correct, the upper elevations can be slightly warmer during cold snaps for two reasons- the cold wind tends to whip through the valley, while the mountainsides and hillsides are more protected. Secondly, the colder air settles down lower in the valley (slightly). temperatures where we live in bluffdale (near the jordan) are usually a degree cooler. ps, does anyone know how to subscribe to threads, or access my recently viewed/written posts? (as in other forums)