I have plenty of seeds for P. incarnata, commonly called 'maypop'. It's hardy to Zone five. What color is your Lychnis? Also, you list seeds for 'Angel Trumpet', as well as Brugmansia and Datura. I've heard both brugs and dats called angel trumpets, so I'm curious what this other thing is. Can you tell me more about it?

Hi, Zusya. I left this post on another thread recently. You may find some guidance in it that will help you decide what an appropriate soil is and/or what ingredients are/are not appropriate in soils: Drainage and aeration go hand in hand and share a linear relationship (as one increases, so does the other). There are two very important considerations in deciding whether a soil is appropriate or not. How well your soils drain, and how long they will last. How well they drain is simply a product of the size of the particles in the soil. The larger the particles, the larger the air spaces and the less water held between particles and the better the soil drains. Also, the more internal porosity in each particle, the more water it holds inside the particle. So coarse and porous particles like Turface and pine bark serve extra duty - they provide large macro-pores in soil by virtue of their size, and they increase water-holding ability by virtue of their tremendous internal porosity. Fine particles, like builders sand, compost, worm castings, topsoil - reduce aeration, increase water retention, and support an increasingly high "perched water table" (the soggy layer of soils that occurs at the bottom of the container) - and all three are something to avoid. Large particles, like pine bark, perlite, Turface, and other mineral products in the 1//16-1/8 inch sizes are excellent amendments that increase drainage, reduce water retention, and improve durability of soils. "How long soils will last", which is the same thing as saying "how long soils will continue to drain well" is a function of what they are made from. Soils that are predominantly peat, or peat/sand mixes shouldn't be expected to last for more than a growing season w/o some compromise in plant vitality. Soil longevity continues to increase as a higher % of long-lasting ingredients is used to make it. Pine bark breaks down at approx 1/4-1/5 the rate of peat, so a bark based soil with a fractional amount of peat and perlite will remain productive and conducive to good plant vitality for at least 4 times as long as a peat-based soil. A soil that's high in mineral content (like Turface/perlite/crushed granite/others) will increase soil longevity even further - to the point where soils will last (drain well and provide continued total porosity above 50%) for longer than it takes the plant to become so root-bound it must be repotted or potted-up to preserve vitality. If you want to read more extensively about soils, try the link below for a discussion about houseplant soils, or this one about the physics of water movement/retention in soils. Al Here is a link that might be useful: Click on me to review a discussion about houseplant soils

Be warned! I hate Passion Fruit. I know and appreciate its beautiful flower but it has a nasty habit of spreading far and wide by shooting from its roots. My neighbours, bless their cotton socks, planted one. They now have it all through the bed and lawn, even though they tried pulling it out, once they realised their mistake and I have it climbing all through a densely planted bed of large native shrubs. I have tried painting it with Round-Up, but it just sulked for a few days then started off again. Using 100% RU seems to have a bit more success.

Christine, Anybody who wants to contact you by email only has to click on your Garden Web Forum User ID. (happy fl gardener) The name is hyperlinked to your member page. However, on your member page you may have unchecked the statement on the page saying, "Allow other users to send you email via forms at our site." In addition, above that is a pull down list asking you who you want to show your email address to. It should be set to "Members." Willy