Thanks, Kirk...I remember when I was new it took me a while to find "conversations." Jeanne S.

Glad to have you. As a Volunteer Master Gardener I get to volunteer at the elementary schools and it is alot of fun. Does your school have a school garden or garden club? Some of the teachers have special plants outside their doors and will ask me to help ID or tell them what is wrong. Sometimes I get to play Tree Coroner(sorry Ma'am but your tree is dead LOL) You will get lots of good ideas here and we hope to see yours!

We went with Blockbuster online because at the time it was less expensive than Netflix at the time. Now that they've raised their rates to the same as Netflix I don't mind since I can return movies to the store on the way to work and they get counted as checked in a day or two faster. Also, I get coupons for a couple of "free" store rentals each month. Still, being summer I'm not renting as many. Mostly I'm getting old comedy series, e.g. Kids in the Hall and Strangers With Candy and special interest documentaries like The God Who Wasn't There and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, cable stuff I don't get like Penn & Teller's BS and of course a lot of mainstream movies. I agree about Walk the Line. Quite good but seemed much like Ray. (We tend to get Academy Award nominees/winners for the few months after the ceremonies) And as for 28 Days Later, that was fun to watch with my epidemiologist. We laughed our butts off. Atrophying biddies. That's funny! What is it about fussy, ugly flowers that draws that crowd?

You're likely a bit warmer than I am in Ontario, but depending on how close you are to the lakes, your spring may be later than mine. We get a true prairie spring here, and our lilacs, crabs and magnolias bloom weeks earlier than my families' who are all in close proximity (20 mi or less) from Lake Michigan. Our lilacs are out the first-second week of May, if that gives you any reference. That said, all of these wintersowed beauties bloom for me by the end of June - your mileage may vary: - any and all annual poppies - shirley, breadseed, somniferum, corn, but perhaps not California - those are often a little bit later for me - bachelors' buttons - annual gypsophila - calendula - bloom early and crazy - tidy tips - nasturtiums If you would prefer to limit wintersowing to the backbone of your gardens and fill in early summer with purchased annuals, then I would suggest the following as good "bones" plants that are readily wintersowed in my experience. Shrubs/small trees: magnolias bayberry sambucus clematis (often will take warm-cold-warm or may take two winters) all dogwoods redbud shrub roses Perennials: candylily - tall, elegant foliage with neat flowers and seedpods siberian iris - always looks great whether it's in bloom or not Joe Pye Weed- 5-7' tall and a huge monarch butterfly magnet in my yard Ornamental grasses - many varieties ws great, and it's so much cheaper than buying pots Echinacea - you already mentioned this, but this is a fantastic addition to any garden and the goldfinches absolutely adore the seedheads Rudbeckia - I like goldsturm and 'Indian Summer', which all though it doesn't stick around long is something more than an annual in my garden Agastache - I haven't met one I don't like and it's wonderful for honeybees Rose campion - bright magenta flowers, gray-green fuzzy foliage, i love these