Melissa........ I agree about wanting my journal entries on HMF to be for my eyes only and you can select to make them private. Since I am on the site more than the average user, I probably depend on HMF more than most users because I am also always testing functionality. My suggestions to use HMF and its features are just that ... suggestions. What is easy and automatic for me, may not work for you. As for the worksheet in Excel, I haven't experimented, but in Lotus, when you are setting the page up for printing, you can tell it to print all of the columns to one page and the program automatically shrinks your font so that it will fit. Sometimes, it shrinks it so small, you need a magnifying glass .. lol. I am also working with an older version of Excel, so I am hesitant to offer suggestions about Excel. I have found Excel tutorials on Google and that may be a way of finding out how to set up your spreadsheet. Smiles, Lyn

Sammy........ I am sorry you did not find more nurseries and gardens listed for your state. I think that is an indication that the site is under-utilized in your area or that gardeners in your state are not familiar with the site. HMF does not advertise and is not supported by advertisers, but is supported by site users through premium-memberships, nursery sponsorships and donations. People find out about HMF by word of mouth, mentions in articles as the references used for the article, by nurseries listing their inventories and pointing customers to HMF to find out more about the roses they carry. In my former life, I used to be a construction accountant. Every time I changed jobs, I had to learn a new accounting program. It's the same on the internet. HMF is designed to be a tool for research and an archive of information about roses that are currently in commerce or have gone out of commerce. It takes time to learn how to navigate a new site, but I do think HMF is worth it. Connie is correct, when people list their gardens, it provides more information to other site users about the roses that grow well in their area. When even small nurseries lists their inventories, it helps rose lovers find a source for roses that may not be readily available in your local neighborhood. When site users share their experiences about how a rose performs in their gardens, those COMMENTS are archived with the rose page. All of this information can be found without having to wait for a response from other site users. However, members of the rose community play an important role in answering questions on the Q & A, providing more information about a plant's performance and, yes, catching errors. As nurseries like Vintage close, having those gardens listed on HMF will create a valuable tool to help save the roses that are not easily found in commerce. Smiles, Lyn

Also, you might consider Chamblee's Roses. They are shipped in gallon pots and are more mature than roses of many own-root vendors. Chamblee's selection is not as extensive as some, but they do have nice roses. Another vendor with larger own-root plants is High Country Roses, though their selection is aimed at colder climates. Still, you might find some you like there; I have. Amity Heritage Roses used to sell the largest own-root bands around, just gorgeous plants, but I don't think they are currently active. It didn't look like it to me when I last visited their website. Probably there are others, but I'm only mentioning ones I have purchased from myself. My personal favorite vendor is Vintage, and I buy the majority of my roses there, but you do have to mature them in a gallon pot yourself. Rosefolly

Hi, folks! My opinion on a typical pack of seeds would be 20-25, and fewer for large, rare or expensive seeds. Many times tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds are more like 12-15 seeds. Counting out poppy or foxglove seeds is a pain, but a tiny pinch is about 40-50, so I do that. Some people measure out 1/8 teaspoons or 1/4 teaspoons of tiny seeds. I don't have a 1/8t spoon, and 1/4t is a large proportion of my seeds. If you're agonizing over whether or not to send in just a few of a seed, you can always ask the recipient, or you can use the gardenweb list search. Search for people who also have that seed, and read the list for people in this swap. If a couple of us have it, you don't need to worry about dividing up your small supply. You find the Search Lists function by clicking at the bottom of the page on Member Pages, and then choose Search Members' Exchange Lists. That is also a way to figure out who to send to, by searching for people looking for a seed you have. However, sometimes someone will type "No datura, please" but the computer just sees that "datura" is in the wants area. So this search can get you started, but you should still personally check. :) GARLIC: I'd love to try some different hardnecks! Cloves or even bulbils. Cloves are big--should we plan to send somewhat roomy envelopes and extra postage money to pay for getting the cloves to us? I grow two hardneck types and can offer bulbils, unfortunately I don't know the names. On seems to be a porcelain, one a rocambole. (One has a ton of tiny bulbils, one has larger bulbils, so please correct me if you think I'm wrong). You plant the bulbils at the same time as big garlic, and then dig it up the next year when it yellows the right amount. Then you replant it in fall, unless you want to eat the baby garlic. In my reading, it seems pretty definite that if you leave garlic in the ground without digging and replanting, it just splits into smaller bulbs and is less and less what you intended when you planted it. That happened to my mom. Dorisl, it's nice to see you here! I'll try to find good pink stuff to send your way. :)