I got nothing. That's actually not true - I have growth on some plants, but the bulbs (all in the ground) are sleeping until March/April. I think, Norma, that you're referring to 'Lachenalia'. I had several, the most colourful of which was L. aloides quadricolor - of course you'd expect it to be colourful if it has four colours. I never could get them to flower so early - they always waited until deep winter, or as deep winter as SouCal got. I wonder if they'd grow up here for me?

I LOVE Benary's Giant Zinnias! This year, though not for cutting, I'm also growing a few short Magellan's around my sundial--huge blooms on short stems. I can already tell that I'm going to love these. I have yellow and white Magellan with salvia 'Victoria Blue' and my usual Giant zinnias in behind the salivas (including Black & Blue) in the cottage garden. We've had so much heat and no rain. I had planted huge swaths of zinnias and celosia to test with the deer. Although the deer haven't ventured in to eat anything, it's been all I can do to get a few plants going in this summer heat wave. I cut a lot of flowers in the spring - yarrow, Dutch irises, chives, nepeta, allium for vases. Again, the heat has kept me from cutting much except gladiolus and the coneflowers which seem to last forever inside. Cameron

aroidgardener ~ What lovely arbors and I look forward to seeing what you grow over these. I love the courtyard area and know it will look great as you continually work on it. It's exciting and I can't wait to see the during and after pictures. Jenfm ~ That was a favorite picture of mine when you posted it before. Really Florida! Laura ~ Prosperity roses are one of my favorites. Those were great covering that arbor. Lellie ~ sorry a storm took your passion flower vine covered arbor down. Hope you get something you like to replace it soon. Felix ~ Love that wisteria. I can't grow it down here, but have a St. Lilac vine that I hope will be just as beautiful, and I also have a Queen's Wreath that I'm looking forward to blooming. Lisa ~ Oh my gosh! That is just beautiful!!!! I have a baby Queen's Wreath. Got it as a 6" rooted cutting from D'Ann a couple of years ago. This year it's about 2' high. I can hardly wait to get the first blooms and hope it's sometime soon. Please take a picture when it's covered like you said it gets at it's peak. Pretty please, with sugar on top. ;-) Does anyone know how long before I'll have blooms? Great thread, great pictures. FlowerLady

I've pressed many little flower blossoms over the years. I just use a thick telephone directory or similar book. Look for blooms that are more 2-dimensional rather than 3-dimensional... a pansy rather than a chrysanthemum, for example. Obviously a rose won't press flat! And avoid ones with thick centers like some daisies. If you want the daisy petals, pull them off individually to dry them, then reassemble for your project. You can use a piece of paper for the center. Do the same with other thick or complicated blooms - disassemble them and press the individual parts. Some dried flowers retain their colors well, others fade over time. And some dry to a different color... for example, some white blooms dry to a funky tan or yellow. You'll discover which suit your needs by trial and error. Be sure to press weeds and grasses, too. And four-leaf clovers! They add shape interest and color contrast to your compositions. Just go ahead and try drying some... it doesn't take much time or space. If you use a big book like a telephone directory, just start in the back, then as you discover more flowers to press, you can put them in the book closer to the top as you go. Just leave a few pages between each pressing so the moisture doesn't move to another batch. Pretty soon you'll have lots of pressed material to work with!