I am still learning about gardening in the Mediterranean. Some things have disappointed me, some have frustrated me, and some have delighted far beyond expectation. Fuchsias and nemesias, have been a mixed bag. Some have grown and flowered beautifully, whilst others have kicked the bucket for no discernible reason. All the dahlias had powdery mildew, and none of them flowered much at all. Two of the alstromerias, died in just a few days in August. Mind you, they had been flowering without pause for two years. I can only assume, that they were exhausted. BUT, Nepeta Walkers Low has flowered since early May and is still flowering. It has spread itself out into a completely weed suppressing mat. It looks lovely next to a silvery Artemisia which shimmers non stop and Gaura Siskiyou Pink, which has also been flowering since early May. In the same bed, is a magenta pelargonium and Celosia Caracas, which is a plant that I thought a bit crass and over the top in England, but which works well in the stronger light here. The only trouble is, having only seen it as a summer patio plant before, I underestimated it's mature size. It is going to have to move. Behind these is New Dawn climbing up the apricot tree with Blush Noisette beside it. Lovely. Other big successes have been; Aster x frikartii Monch, another one that has been flowering since May. Felicia amelloides has made a rounded fat cushion, studded with it's blue daisy flowers all summer. Clematis Perle d'azur, still flowering in November, and too many more to mention. The apricots, black plums and golden gages, were so profuse we didn't know what to do with them all. Every day for weeks on end we would lug carrier bags full around to all the neighbours. They always "seemed" delighted with them. We received a lot of them back though as jars of home made jam. I think we now have enough jam to last ten years! The roses. Oh! the roses have mostly been wonderful. It was very hot here in August, and most of them did the sensible thing and stopped flowering for a while. However, Archduke Charles, Abraham Darby, Archduc Joseph, Blush Noisette, Duchess de Brabant, Sombreuil and Colombian Climber, took no notice of the intense heat, and continued to flower all through it. They are all still flowering, and have been joined by all the others. Marechal Neil, although young, has so many buds and flowers on now, that I gave up trying to count them this afternoon. The only big catastrophe has been the loss of my big, beautiful, Astelia Silver Spear. It was one of the plants that travelled across Europe with me from Cornwall. I had planted it on the end of the first flower bed I made, where it looked just right. Oh well, I have bought a packet of seeds and will try again. Daisy

No, I don't own a nursery (thank the lord!! this is not a good time for that industry :-)) but I've been a manager and the perennial buyer for a couple over the last 15 years and most recently, a sales rep for a wholesale grower......probably made sales trips to your neck of the woods as EWA was my primary territory. No doubt you have visited the nurseries I used to work at - they are a couple of the bigger ones in the Seattle area. Of your ballotas, the pseudodictamnus is probably the least hardy, sorry to say. The reports of a zone 5 hardiness are very optimistic. It might make it through a zone 6 although will likely die back to the roots. Even Annette, who shares a similar zone with me, has had trouble overwintering hers. But you never know....keep your fingers crossed! Annette, I treat pretty much any 'evergreen' perennial/subshrub the same....if the foliage is damaged or looks ratty after winter, I cut it back as soon as new growth begins to emerge in spring. I mow back my parahebes (and hebes) often :-)

Hi Gardeng8, Signet here ......if you are handing out recipes, would you mind sending your "salsa without the corn in it " recipe my way too please. Also , many many thanks for the very many plants and the card and thoughts , I appreciate it . To all: I am literally in plant heaven . Thanks to you all . I cant believe how lucky I am to be given so many wonderful plants from everyone . I have put my babies underlights for a while ( interestingly out here in the country we are still having quite cold nights ) so for the next little while , the really tiny ones are under lights and in the house . And what a selection of plants I have !!!!!!!!! Now to find the right spots for them all . Blueiris: Cant thank you enough for the lilies and all the trades ! I am totally excited about adding these to my gardens ....I do have some (probably 2 dozen or more ) Poet's Narcissus left over that I dug up and didnt get potted up so If you still want to add more to your gardens let me know cuz they can just as easily get dropped off at your place rather than placed back in the ground here and it will give me a spot to put some of the items I got yesterday ( Please say yes!!!!!!!) I would have brought them yesterday but ran out of time to pot and room to transport. I was still potting at 10:30 yesterday and due to be at the swap for 11 a.m. Many many thanks for the tomato cages !!!!!!!! cant thank you enough ! Daldak, just so you know , I explain it this way , I am not responsible for what I leave with every year , everyone else is LOL ! All the garden webbers are plant enablers HA HA HA and yes I am a plantaholic . Thanks for the many trades we made . Just a note: I made it out to Bev's plant sale just before the swap and I would just like to say that if any of you get a chance to go visit her gardens you will enjoy them . She has many interesting and unusual plants and I enjoyed myself immensely wandering around lusting after many of the plants she has and her soil too . LOL ! Signet

Karen, Thank you for helping me look! I'm looking it up right now, and... argh! It is so close! 'Elizabeth Francis Woodall' has black tips on the stamens while mine seem a brownish/orange and a EFW has a very light yellow edging to the ruffles. The rest of the coloring is dead on. Going to check out 'Broadway Pink Slippers' and... that is much pinker than mine. Thank you for the name of that daylily nursery. I'll keep looking through their dl's. What a great assortment! Alana, I love baby shops. When Gymboree opened here I was having a blast picking up little outfits for my daughter and niece. Love that girly stuff. I hope things go quickly for you in Dayhoit. Never heard of it either. Thanks be for Google, eh? It has helped me get in and out of places that were too small for most gas station maps. Hurry home and keep an eye on these thieves. Hey Vic! We have rentals here in Cleveland and Lakewood. One is our old house that we used to live in. The guys are usually late with the check and it takes a phone call or two. Once they switched to new cell phones and I did have to drive over there. Nothing like me showing up with a van full of kids to make them want to get that check there a little quicker. Want me to drive to Michigan. Shouldn't be more than a couple hours. I'll threaten them with having to babysit. That might do it. I'm sorry about what happened with Jamie's job. Ed's customers are pretty slow paying right now. I told him he better start getting some money up front. It drives me crazy when he floats the cost of materials and they take forever to pay him at the end of the job. He is finally starting to listen to me about it. Deb, I think no one wants the game to end. They all know it's over when your box gets grabbed. LOL! Does the garage sale start tomorrow? I hope you have a great turn out and the weather stays beautiful for it. Sweet Dreams! Nighty night Sassy, sweet dreams to you too.