Thanks to an expert Amaryllis friend who explained "The "Wild Blue Amaryllis" is NOT even in the amaryllis family . . . bloom looks like a Blue Amaryllis." -- now know how to care for these. Katie GW: katie88

ah! this breaks my heart! i moved from corvallis to tucson last september and i am remembering and missing all the great gardening in the area! 1. nurseries: try ginhart's (8 miles down peoria road, a mile or less outside of peoria proper) off of hwy 34. they are a mom 'n pop place with exceptionally reasonable plants. Garland's on hwy 20 is fantastic and a great place to visit and sip some free hot tea/coffee while drooling over their selection. a bit more expensive but they are well stocked for gardening supplies. 2. don't forget the national clonal germplasm repository! this one specializes in fruit trees. the greenhouse manager's name is jim and you can set up to visit their greenhouses with him. he's exceptionally knowledgable in native plants, and he's been in the process of developing the most fabulous woodland garden in the neighborhood! he is also a fantastic orchid grower and will fill you in on any club events if you have those inclinations, too. 3. robnett's hardware on sw 2nd street is also very well stocked with quality gardening supplies. you can visit them after you stroll the saturday market, where there are a lot of local plant sellers vending heirloom roses, PNW natives and other woodland plants. even some succulents, too. 4. walk through the OSU campus. they have an online guide to their plants. i got a lot of ideas on what to plant outside from them. i especially like the small patch to the side of Cordley hall. they have lewisias, an established passionflower and other woodlands. rhodies and azaleas should be blooming and there are a few daphne plants around campus that should be just finishing up but still smelling wonderful. 5. if you want to amend your soil, you can drive your pickup out to the OSU dairy farm and they will give you a load of aged manure for free and load it up for you, too. there are a ton of mint farms in the area and many of them will either sell very cheaply or just plain give you a load of mint hay compost for your garden. there are bark and mulch places in almost any direction you radiate out from corvallis. i would recommend amending with a load of one of their mixes if you plan to put in vegetable/flower beds. this time of year there should be coupons out in the democrat herald for soils. 6. invest in mud and rain gear. good, waterproof shoes are invaluable. good gloves! consider lightweight summer gloves and heavy duty (kidskin or other) for winter and for digging. 7. i also hit up rite-aid and bi-mart. rite aid, especially, has huge plant displays seasonally. this time of year their gardening supplies are starting to come in and you never know what to find. plus, they're right accross the street from one another. i don't know if that really helps. just some gardening habits i have from corvallis that i thought i'd share. i guess a good thing to do would be to survey what you have to work with, decide what sorts of plants/what look you like in general and explore around that. or, you could be like me and just buy what you like and find a spot for it somewhere! living in the PNW is one of the most rewarding gardening experiences possible. the variety of plants you can grow and the ease at which you can grow them will be really rewarding. -ming

Hi Dawna! So excited to see you online today. Haven't seen much of you lately, and I assume you are still busy with getting everything resettled from one home/landscape to another. Thanks for the tip on the iochroma. I guess it is one of those plants that looks better in a photo than in an actual garden. lol Dawna, I guess the Pink Texas Star was a sport or a mutation? I'm not sure of the correct terminology. The leaves were exactly the same as the Red Texas Star. I guess it could have been a cross with the white swamp mallow, but it didn't otherwise resemble the white one, and they are several hundred yards apart. If I ever have another pink one show up, I'll be sure to save seeds and share them. Glad to hear your hummers are back. Mine have been back for several weeks and we have had a lot of nights in the 30s since they returned so I have worried about them. I have filled the feeders but they are spending most of their time so far at the American Crossvine and 'Pink Lemonade' honeysuckles. I've had mostly ruby-throated ones and a couple of black chins. Dawna, have you hauled the gravel out or what???? I think I would shoot anyone who ever suggested to me that I should mulch with gravel. Please tell me it was on top of a fabric or plastic mulch and not directly on top of/mixed into the soil! Now, I like morning glories but I mulch heavily and am always careful to pull up the volunteer seedlings as soon as I see them. The vine that reseeds everywhere for me, including all kinds of places where I don't want it, is the black-eyed susan vine. Merry Heart, The only work I have done today is to run over to care for the neighbor's animals, run a couple of errands in town, stop to pick up milk at the store, and only a very small amount of housecleaning and laundry. I have been unable to step foot in the garden and you know it is killing me. I haven't actually ordered plants on line, but I have been looking at them. I already have so many flats of plants started that I can't get into the ground because of the weather that I'd better not acquire any more. :( I would love to be outside either planting or making new beds. I will have have to rototill up some bermuda grass and make a new area to plant all my winter squash, summer squash, muskmelons, cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelons and pumpkins. The tomatoes have taken over the spot where I used to grow melons. I am going to hate losing that bermuda grass (OK, not really!) but that's just how it goes. My ultimate goal is to eventually get rid of all the bermuda grass, but I don't know if DH will go for that. When DS called while on his lunch break I told him I was going to make fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner and he perked right up and then said "must be raining there too". See how well he knows me! Today at the fire academy they have been OUTSIDE all day practicing extrication of victims from crashed vehicles, so he is wet and tired. I hope they enjoy dinner tonight, because tomorrow the weather should be good, I'll be outside all day, and dinner will be something from the crockpot. Dawn

I have always wanted to grow Canterbury bells but the fact that they bloom the next year makes me think twice. I get what you mean about too many seedlings too little space. I always end up with several hundreds of them when I need tens. And I can't bring myself to snip them off so begins the struggle to give them all enough light....AT least you have space and need for what you are growing. I am thinking of moving some of mine outdoors or relatively warmer days. Even if my balcony has no sun these days, I am sure it is brighter than the windowsills. I have about 150 nemesias, 50 stocks, 100 petunias ….several petunias, mimulus and penstemon are damping off and I am trying to save them but secretly feeling relieved at their demise. :) I am lucky that the quantity of seeds is not something I ever have to worry about considering how few I need. On the winter sowing front, I am not sure if it is workable for me considering I get no sun in the area. After letting my sweet pea and poppy seeds sit around doing nothing outdoors for 15-20 days, I brought the pots inside so they could sprout (which they promptly did). I will put them out as soon as they seem big enough to fend for themselves. One of the pots has a peony in it which needs the winter chill, so sooner can go out again the better...