Oilpainter - Thank you for the tips. Sounds like I was on track. I feel better knowing I can tuck my babies in safely! Shelley - Your hostas look gorgeous! Now I'd love to pick your brain and find out exactly what you did. I really want to start hostas and have it work this coming winter. Sounds like you WinterSowed them? I did that for a few things. I learned about it around January, which made it a little late to start. The plants I WS'ed did very well, though. I'd love to hear what you did - medium, containers, etc. Did you post details as you did it? I could search back if so. Oilpainter did a good job covering the basics of lasagna/no-till bed preparation. Since I've finally gotten going with starting from seed, I can afford to expand to the gardens I've always wanted. I've never done the no-till thing before, but it's going well. A local appliance store will give me as much cardboard as will fit in my station wagon, leaves & grass can be had at the dump, and a local horse owner bags manure & leaves it out for the taking. Makes the whole thing pretty easy. I was already pretty into composting, so it seems natural. (My DH & kids built me a 3-bin set up for Mother's Day - they knew what I really wanted.) My question for Oilpainter about over-wintering my perennials in a different place was because the process of composting generates heat. The way it happens in no-till gardening isn't as hot as I get in my bins (which get up to 150 degrees), but I'm guessing it's still too much warmth for perennials which should be going dormant for the winter.

I usually do not transplant until I see the 2nd to 3rd set of true leaves. Then I may wait just a little longer depending on the elements. I do not bump mine up in a larger container unless I plan to keep them in containers for an extended time. I am not familiar with zone 8 weather, but if you think that cold weather will move in I would leave my seedlings in their containers till you know that you should be good to go. Some seedlings are ok with a little frost, yet some are not. Our containers tend to protect our babies, so they aren't effected. Hopefully someone in zone 8 that has more experience with your climate will key in on this and let you know how they normally deal with germination at this stage.

Paula, You have to realize the sad, sickly plants stay home as "back up plants" in case hail or some other disaster strikes, and I only bring "the best ones" to the Spring Fling" to give away. Diane, Speaking of getting better, I hope your infected finger is improving, and I hope the infected finger isn't your green thumb! Leava, Doesn't it seem peculiar that we often talk about what a stress reliever gardening is but then we forget to mention all the times it brings more stress into our lives? lol I was just trying to provide a balanced view of gardening in case anyone here is laboring under the misguided belief that it is all fun and games. : ) Let's face it, none of us has a Martha Stewart type of estate with a staff of gardeners, landscapers, etc. We all live right here in the southern plains in the Real World! Dorothy, I second that suggestion! I always buy a bag of Epsom Salts in the springtime "just in case the pepper plants need it" but, really, they never need it....but I do! Gardening, like aging, is not for sissies, you said, and that is so very, very, very true. The cow incident happened to me 3 or 4 times and then by the time someone came to help me herd cows, they'd totally disappeared without a trace. Wily cows who are good at escaping from a pasture often seem to have an uncanny ability to put themselves up again. About the 4th or 5th time I saw cows that then disappeared before anyone could get there to help herd them, we figured out they were escaping from a downed fence at Ranch A about 1/2 mile from us as the crow flies (but much farther by road), traveling through Ranch B's pastures, coming through that ranch's broken water gap gate onto our property, and then traveling through our creek until they reached the woods beside the garden. If the cows hadn't left hoofprints on the creek bank one day, the whole neighborhood probably still would be thinking I was losing my mind and seeing imaginary cows. Rancher A fixed his fence, Rancher B fixed his water gap gate and I haven't been visited by an entire herd of cows since then, although plenty of other animals, including goats, have managed to find their way to my garden. If I didn't have a fence, needless to say, I wouldn't have a garden. I now know why country women's hair turns gray. Dawn

Finally got most of my fling finds planted tonight, including replacement broccoli (aka Dawn's urban north broccoli outpost), garlic and several ornamentals. Also my pepper seedlings went in the ground tonight, too. Still have a few fling heirloom tomatoes but need to add compost and manure to the new spot for them. I have something I was unable to identify. There were three black square qt(?) sized pots, and I believe they were labeled on the table underneath but don't remember the name. I recall they were some sort of shade item, green strappy leaves, maybe with lily in the name? I am having a hard time figuring them out, but picked them out thinking "Ah! Perfect spot under the elm tree for them." Now if I only knew what they were... If that sounds familiar to anyone, it'd save me from dragging the camera out. Thanks!