ginny, maniac, and cool guy, Thanks for the responses that I must say took me by surprise. I had no idea that there is a plant patent data base on line and if Eryngium 'Big Blue' is actually Eryngium zabelii 'Big Blue' why the deep dark secret? Why not include that info on the tag or web site? Now I have never heard of Erynguim zabelii but E. alpinum and E. bourgati have several named selections. I will have to do a little homework and get back to you with what I find. I think cool guy is probably right about Eryngium being one of the more difficult plants to propagate so if I really want a large planting of E. 'Big Blue' (and it is a beauty) I'm going to have to loosen my purse strings and take pride in stimulating the economy. Ginny, sorry to hear about your Magnolia 'Merrill' but just think of the potential empty landscape that must be filled!! I am a Magnolia nut myself and three years ago I bought a 6 inch high Magnolia macrophylla and a 6 inch high Magnolia tripetala and planted them not far from one another under the same cultural conditions and the Magnolia macrophylla is eight feet tall with multiple branches and the Magnolia tripetala (umbrella leaf) is still six inches tall with three leaves. Thanks again, Katy

I just finished moving my Sea Holly from from the back of the south border this fall -- shaded roots there I believe the cause of it's languishing and not thriving state. My chosen new position is full sun west border, to I hope.. give it more hot sun exposure and get the bluist. The tap root looks fragile. I mixed in a lot of gravel at the bottom. It hates wet. The flop thing is what it is. I have it standing in a narrow tomato support. Presto !.... Let's wait & see.

Wow, that's a lot of plants! I don't have a list of what I'm growing in my little gardens -- sometimes it takes me a couple of weeks in the spring to realize that that weird looking weed in the corner is something I've had for years. I just assume that more plants than not will grow in this area! One of the more unusual plants I grow is agapanthus. Not a particularly hardy variety, this was simply a florists' plant my mother gave me four years ago. But it's come up reliably every year for the past three seasons in Central Ohio. It's planted against a south-facing brick wall with excellent drainage, and apparently doesn't realize it's not in zone 8+ anymore! One of my mother's more spectacular plants is a 15 year old calamondin orange that arrived as a little "get-well" houseplant. It spends the winter on the unheated glassed in back porch in Cincinnati, and now stands over 6' tall in the pot, and is nearly 4' around. It always has flowers and fruit on it, and we've picked 200 ripe fruits at one time.

Paula, Thank you for the offer but I don't collect gobs and gobs of seeds. I just collect a few seed heads of things I think others might like to grow and a few for myself for the next year if they are annuals. I shouldn't say this here on the garden web but I toss most seeds in the trash as I am cleaning up my gardens ( take a deep breathe, stop gasping...lol). I think this year I will collect more than usual because I feel like a cheap skate when I see some of the other seed packets in swaps...lol I have added the petunias to your gift package and again, thank you for the offer. I will pass this time though. Lisa