Well, after a day of looking, and finding little, I managed to come across the Patent info somewhere online...I posted to some other thread...oops. I'm sure I could find it again if I looked. Anyway, they are a short one- only getting 20" high, and according to a pic on the home website, they look almost like more of a ground-spreader than an upright 20". (I'm looking at that pic of the side of the porch) the bloom is small but significant...about 1.5-2" I'd say without having it in front of me. Hold on, lemme see if I can find that link again. Here it is. Fanny's there, too, somewhere This link HERE is the home page link with lots of pretty pix. That one down there is the Patent link with Plant Specs. It sounds as though it might need a good mulching to survive in Z5 Here is a link that might be useful: Victoria Series Aster- This one's for Elizabeth

SCG - sounds like you have a choice that suits you, and all of us on GW understand having preferences and wanting to be different from the norm around us. I agree with Henry that Folksinger is a terrific rose and it blooms consistently through the summers in part shade and in my zone 4 pocket of my yard. Johnnycabot, SCG - glad you like the pictures as well as the cane hardy list! I'm always happy to share them and enable fellow cold zone rose people. Henry, that's fascinating to see all your rose crosses! You should start a thread of these on your own so more people have a chance to see these! I particularly like #436 from New Mexico and #324 Prairie Harvest X R-15. And oooh, if #325 cross between Folksinger and Illusion turns out to be a climber, I really want one! That's exactly the color I'd like to see in a good hardy climber, and with those parents the odds of good winter survival are excellent. Since these are the "keepers" are you planning to propagate and distribute them any further? Cynthia

Hair, the winters here are bad enough. New England is much worse. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I did see a large, beautiful baldcypress at Niagara Falls (Ontario), and the nearby northern red oaks & sugar maples were impressive. Regarding hemlocks & woolly adelgids, the little suckers swept thru here a decade ago, but seem to have disappeared mostly. I was hiking at the drainage of nearby Rocky Gap Park lake where there are some stands of mature hemlocks (100' plus). Some dead skeletons showed, but the majority of them seemed mostly recovered. Nothing like the complete devastation in Md's Catocton park.

A couple of notes because the rest is going to be rather long and involved: Lynda, I have the Vitex marked for you and in your baggie! And thank you for the marigolds! They will be very interesting with my others! Dessie I would be more than happy to receive your little helper's seed packets! I think it's great! Wendy Try some Chai Spice tea, it works wonders in helping clear up colds and flu. I always add a dollop of honey to help sooth the throat. It's a staple in our house and really does help. Alright, here is my take on this.. I can understand how many were hoping that the two swaps would not coincide, but, we all knew there was a fair chance of that happening. For myself, I know that I continued to update my list, even well after Patty's swap's mailing deadline. I did my updates using the same method we did for Patty's swap- using an updated date. Even had I not, I knew there was a good chance the two swaps would overlap. I joined this one knowing full well- according to the guidelines posted for it- that I may NOT receive as many as I sent in. That I would receive as many as were sent in FOR me, up to five packets of the SAME item. I recall there being some issue with this and a member who became very rude in their comments about this fact. Yes, my package from the What's Left swap is in the second batch to go out. No, I did not keep strict record of what I sent to those who were in the What's Left swap. I did keep better records of what I'm sending for this swap. I also know that a lot of people will be sending in baggies of seeds marked as extras- not dedicated for anyone, but to add in when it's seen those items are on someone's list. No, these may not be some of the rarer or more exclusively wanted items on someone's list. But if someone has some of those rarer or more specific items to share, I'm sure they would have put them into your baggie before they mailed. So, I don't see that anyone would be missing out on anything. The only way I could see having updated one's list further as complicating Patty's swap would be if someone had removed things from their list. Updating and adding items would not have conflicted. Because if there were any extras of what you were wanting, Patty would have included them. So, I guess I'm not really understanding how there is such a need to update the lists just because one is in both swaps. If I receive duplicates, wonderful! Because the things on my list are things I want! If I don't receive something on my list, then no one had it to share. If I receive so many of something that I can't plant it all, then I can bless someone else by offering it up for a trade. So, perhaps I'm being dense here, but how would one not receive something sent in specifically for them (up to FIVE packets of the same item!) that was on their wants list in this swap? Everyone has the chance to see your wants as posted and you have had the option to add to that list, as many including myself have this whole time. The only thing I could really see the two swaps happening almost simultaneously possibly affecting would be one's have's list. I'm sorry, I don't mean to upset or offend anyone. I'm just honestly trying to understand why this is such an issue. So please don't take this as meaning to offend or as pointed to anyone in particular. This is just me trying to understand why so many are upset about this. If you prefer to email me privately and help me understand it, I would be pleased with that and please do! Perhaps there are aspects and issues with this that I'm not readily seeing and should consider. I don't want to keep the thread off track by my question becoming a debate here. Perhaps there can be some adjustments of dates if this swap happens in the late summer or again next winter, but for this year it is as it is and personally, I'm really enjoying it! Nancy, I hope you don't decide to drop out, because I know that I should have at least a couple of things from your list, perhaps more. But I'll respect your choice and be your Garden Buddy either way :) Fran, you have a real job ahead of you and I don't know how those like you and Patty do it! Leave me hosting my "pair em up and let em go" or true RR type swaps! I think those of you that host this kind of swap are awesome! Angela, you have been a wonderful help to Fran and all of us in this swap! I know the time it can take to code pages like that, though updates are easier once the initial work is done, and I want to say THANK YOU for the time and work you are putting in on this swap for everyone's benefit! Kathy~ heading off to stuff more little baggies and envelopes.