rj_hythloday, The pragmatist in me says: If you're going to be gone, who will tend and harvest? Sounds almost like a year not to bother. I tried last year with the unexpected death of my parents, and although I had already WSed many items, it was quite a challenge to keep things up last summer. the optimist in me (hoping that your partner would indeed water and pay more attention to the garden in your absence) says: I can see how you would want to push things up a step and direct sow so that there would be no transplanting. You can use the tops of milk jugs as cloches, but that really wouldn't be Winter Sowing. It would be Direct Sowing. I still keep looking at your abreviated list thinking "oh my god...if i sowed that and had to be away for three months, everything would be dead and brown when i got back." (lol) Linda

Hi Mary! I want to grow them for the butterflies too! I've read that you can use ethanol cider (?) to soak them, on a heat mat. The website is easywildflowers.com, go into butterfly host plants, then into passion flower. I have no idea what ethanol cider is; checked online-very vague discriptions. anybody know; it's probably going to be something very simple like pure apple juice! I too have read that they can take up to a year to germinate! I'm going to plant mine as soon as I get more soil. Oh, did I mention WS yellow echinacea on my mile long post? Yeah, it's out there!! Best of luck with the bareroots, let us know how it goes!

I don't think there's a better feeling than when you create something with your own hands and it turns out better than you imagined. It feels good to sit back and take it all in. I upgraded my setup yesterday. I added cross beams on the top and an additional shelf. I'm up to 3 lights now, and I doubt that will be enough. I have some peppers(under the towel) germinating on the bottom. Seedlings are under the lights, while cucumbers, tomatoes, and cantaloupes are on the top. Congrats on the successful DIY project. Hopefully your season will turn out just as good. Tim

A cool front has passed through southern WI and is headed to the east coast. Relief is on the way. Behind the front, day temps are 70s to low 80 with drier air: Dew point 60 F. No wind to speak of so can not tarry outside because of misquitos - have to keep moving or get eaten. We've had our share of rain the past 3 days. The problem was the rain clouds were strung over 200 miles and were aligned with the direction of travel. The rain front was not exceptionaly wide. The result was 200 miles of rain clouds passed over the same spot. Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee, WI got flooded. Nicolet High School in Glendale, WI got flooded: 6 to 8 ft or water in the basement and 1.5 ft of water running down the halls on hte first floor. The gym floor went under. They had just gotten in new sports gear for the fall term and it was stored in the basement. Official's preliminary estimate is $1 million to clean and repair. They think that if crews start now and work 7 days a week, the school may be in shape in time to open for the fall term. And of course by now, you have heard about the Cadillac Escalade swallowed by a sink hole. The vehicle pulled up to a stop light, the street caved in dropping the vehicle into a 15 ft deep hole and to add insult, the stop light also fell and leaned on the car. Its going ot be interesting to see how the insurance companies react to this one. I can hear it now: This was flood damage and your policy does not cover flood. The real sob story goes to a the owners of 5 to 7 homes on the north side of Milwaukee. Their basements caved in; the city condemed the properties as uninhabitible and has ordered immediate demolition. One woman lamented: "I bought this house not long ago for $120,000 and have 20 more years of mortage left. I'm loosing my house this week, but the mortage lives on." She'll get nothing from her home owner's insurance because it is flood damage, and most homes in that area do not carry flood damage because they were not in a flood plain and up to now, it was not needed. A number of cars parked in underground garages were flooded. If the water level got up to the relay box under the hood or the fuse panel under the dash, these will be totaled by the insurance firms. Yes sireee, the is the second time in 15 years that we got a 100 years rain.