I have these left. Please see my wish list for trades I'm looking for. Seeds I have to trade: UPDATED Feb 06 Amaranthus love lies bleeding (green) catananche -cupid's dart (P) corn ' mini rainbow' and a black/yellow type Cosmos 'bright lights'(A)-orange " 'cosmic cosmos"(A) dbl dwarf-orange Datura 'black currant swirl' mixed with double purple (identical) Eupatorium 'chocolate'(P)chaffy larkspur (a) blue nigella (love in a mist) dwarf dbl blue and single blue Hollyhock chatter's white (dbl) " 'Nigra' single black " 'Peaches n Dreams'- peach double (p) Ricinus castor bean. tall green leaf, 'carminceta', and pink pod (darkish leaf) (A) Salvia sp. ex. pamirs (P) salvia 'transylvanica'(P) salvia 'victoria' blue(A) all salvia trades come with chaff. sysrinchium -blue eyed grass (p) the below are just in from a swap: These are perennials joe pye weed malva bibo feldho - must be mispelled-no info hibiscus blue flax balloon flower-blue dames rocket annuals/tropicals/bienneial love lies bleeding bright lights cosmos tall yellow marigold dill lt pink hollyhock mimose quadrivalvis- cat's claw datura stramonium 'tatula' nigella agrostemma gracilis 'mila's queen' This list would be a lot longer but I keep giving away my seed as bonuses! Here are things I am growing and they are listed in the order in which they bloomed for me: This is not actually a trade list-although I might have some of these available. Maybe it will give you an idea..... Starting with the first things to bloom and going to the last one. for my zone 5a garden. (A) = annual P = perennial B = biennial _____________________________________________________________________ BRUNIFOLIA - draba, (P) groundcover, 1-2" tall, bloooms yellow- mar16-approx 3 weeks. full sun, slow grower SCILLA SIBERICA - siberian squill, bulb, 2" tall, blooms blue- April 1 for 1-2 weeks, can be sown in lawn and mowed later. full sun IRIS RETICULATA - dwarf, (P) 3-5" purple blooms, April 12 for 3 weeks . full sun 'VON SION" heirloom daffoldil-, bulb 10" yellow April 13- for 10 days. full sun RED BUD TREE, 4 ft tall now, pink april 13 for 23 days .full sun CROCUS bulb yellow 2 " tall. a few days full sun FORGET ME NOT- 5" tall, (P)? true blue, April 13- and still blooming on July 1! Part sun ALYSSUM SAXATILE COMPACTUM - BASKET OF GOLD, yellow, 12" tall, (P)!! blooms second year from seed. April 16 for 35 days. full sun GRAPE HYACINTH - bulb, blue, 4" tall, full sun or part sun, nasty grassy foliage. April 16 for 25 days DWARF IRIS- unnamed purple and white - 10 " tall, April 20 for 30 days full sun CAMASSIA- bulb with lovely purple flowers - 18" sun- april 23 for 20 days May flowers May 5 'DROPMORE SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE"- 12 ft + on 5 yr old plant- orange/yellow, (P) vine sun still blooming- 3-4 months, don't do cuttings- layer to propagate. May 7 'SAMOBOR' GERANIUM (P) 18" in bloom. noteworthy dark variagation on leaves- dusty pink, blooms 4 weeks, sun- part shade, not exceptional may 10 IRISH MOSS, (p) groundcover 1" tall, white, sun- part shade, slow grow, 3-4 weeks may 11 'PURPLE SENSATION' ALLIUM, 2 weeks purple ball flowers 24" tall bulb (p)- can be dried, sun , seeds viable, will make new bulbs slowly May 11- WOOD POPPY 'FLORE PLENA'PAPAVER - strange bushy plant with double yellow blooms. I've seen wood poppy in shade, mine is full sun (P) self seeds a lot!, still blooming 8+ weeks May 11 - CERASTIUM, SNOW IN SUMMER (not snow on the mtn). gray fuzzy leaves, white flowers, pleasant mound, sun, dry soil ok, 8" at most- quick to spread, 5 weeks May 11- DWARF YELLOW BEARDED IRIS (P)1 week- think I'll yank it! May 12 BLACK COLUMBINE with double flower, 3 weeks, part shade. black flowers 18"tall blooms second yr from seed May 12 'GLADIATOR' ALLIUM, taller lighter purple than purple sensation, sterile seeds, will make new bulbs slowly, 2 weeks May 12 'MAY NIGHT' SALVIA (P) purple 24", will bloom first yr from seed, longest bloom for my of salvias- 4 weeks, - then cut back for 50% rebloom-still blooming- july 7 May 12 DIANTHUS- unnamed pink (P) grey /green foliage- which is the main reason I grow it. Tough, drought tol, sun, 4 weeks May 17 BLUE COLUMBINE (P)- 2-3 weeks, part shade, drought tol. self seeds, blooms second yr from seed may 17 GYPSOPHYLIA REPENS- creeping babies breath - white, 4 ", sun, drought tol. seeds viable , 4 weeks May 17 COLUMBINE CANADENSE- native, yellow- red, pennant blooms, part shade, drought tol, also blooms second yr from seed, too tall - 26"- DIANTHUS 'TINY RUBIES'(P) pink pom-pom blooms 2 -3 inches tallBlooms May 19- for 2 weeks Full sun DIANTHUS 'FLASHING LIGHT" (P)(walmart) hot pink 2 inches plant and 4 inches blooms, blooms may 19- for 2 weeks. prostrate plant with darker leaves- a splendid dainthus for tumbling over rocks... DAISY (P)- shasta maybe, blooms may 19 for 7 weeks altho tapers off after 4 weeks. Very self sowing and spreads quickly.will compete against crab grass! VARIAGATED BEARDED IRIS. (P) Hold var. color all season. Full sun. I have several types and they all bloom the same color- light purple and same time, may 19 for 2 weeks. The aroma of grape jelly is TO die for!! I have an unnamed one plus, : iris pallida 'Aureo-Variegata'and Iris 'Variegata (Zebra- striped sweet iris) Bearded iris for me have had trouble with bacterial root rot with our soggy springs, I haven't had this problem with this iris however, don't put it in a wet spot. CLEMATIS "Guillain Blades' (P) vine white 3 inch blooms may 19 for 3 weeks the has cool hairy seed swirls. mine is part sun would be taller if I taught it to climb- label says 12' COLUMBINE (P)- pink may 19 for 4 weeks, 16 inches, part sun- blooms in 2 yrs from seed NEPETA(catmint) 'walker's low' (P) light purple may 19th and still going 7 weeks later. full sun, drought tol, collects bees that act drunk on it. shorter at 20 inches but give it room- 4 ft across! I cut mine back last year and was sorry- it took so long to rebloom- I'm going to leave it this year. propagates by seed but quicker by division. GERANIUM'Brookside and Johnson's blue- (P) I can't see any difference in these two.Neither are truelly blue. sun, floppy so I have them propped by neighboring plants so this way they are 2 ft tall. may 20- and still going so 7 weeks+ SIBERIAN IRIS 'Caesar's brother' (P) purple)only 2 weeks of bloom starting may 25, but the foliage makes it one of my favorite 'grasses'. Less fuss than bearded iris. Grows 24 + inches tall.visitor's favorite. Divides well and fills in quickly. DAYLILY'stella de oro' gold/orange(P) longest bloomer of daylilies 20" may 27 and still going on a few plants- 6+weeks can be seed grown but quicker by division .part sun to full sun. Thinking about trying in full shade- anyone tried it? SALVIA'Blue Queen' (p) self seeds. sun 20" height and 3-4 ft across after a couple yrs. purple/blue color. blooms may27 for 4 weeks. TALL BEARDED IRIS 'superstition' called black but actually extremely dk purple. lost 60 to bacterial root rot. Too much 'fragrance' for vase. 2 ft blooms may 27 for only 5 days sun Silene U Druetts ( P) may 27- still going mid July. White Dr. Suess flowers on groundcover. Mine from seed bloomed after two yrs with all gray/green foliage,came from mom's and her's have variagated foliage. 3" tall. sun SALVIA 'East Friesland' (P) redish/purple may 27 for 4 weeks. new and so short 14" sun LINARIA (A) 'dwarf fairy mix' many colors, bloomed first, now full size mix in bloom ,sun, wintersow, may 28- july 6 weeks if you plant both types. 1 ft to 18" LEMON LILY DAYLILY. These were 3 ft tall blooms with 18 " foliage but new to my garden so bloomed .shorter. Lemon yellow, sun/part sun. Flowers appear to hover above foliage. May 28- 3 weeks If you look at my member page you can link to my webshots for some pics of these gardens:) Toodles Karen

Hi Lori... Thanks for that info on Virginia Creeper. It sounds like it grows slower in the shade, but I really try hard not to choose plant material that is going to become a future problem for me or my neighbors, whether it is native or not. I think I am going to still find someone else who can use it. If I had a different property with more room and a wooded area that I could let it loose in, I would love to try it. It sounds very pretty. Thanks for the arrowwood tip. I know the NEWFS does usually have that one. maifleur....yes, you are lucky to have such a nice neighbor. I also have been given permission from two of my neighbors to trim their trees that overhang my yard. I am pretty sure I don't need their permission to trim what overhangs my yard though. It is nice to check and let them know what you are trying to do though. I hate to prune a tree in a way that distorts it's shape and I try not to do that. We do have a huge limb that was hanging over and it was so long and heavy, that it would dip to about 2-3 feet off the ground in a storm. We deicided to cut it back before it came down unplanned and took out half my shrubs with it. We tried trimming it back as little as possible but now we are unhappy with the stump that it left that has very little regrowth on it, so we are planning on cutting it back further to another joint where a good size branch is heading in another direction. Some of the other overhanging branches can also be trimmed, but the problem is, that the neighbors planted their trees, right up against the lot line. One is about 6 feet away from our fence and the other is less than a foot away, so half of the canopy of the tree is over our yard. I am sure trimming back the trees will help but some of my dry shade is going to stay dry shade no matter what I do. [g] I do have some good news though. In the beginning of the summer a neighbor two yards over cut down a tree. I thought it might open up more light for us. I just got around to checking it out. I was out in the yard all afternoon yesterday and I saw direct sun hitting the back of my border along a good 4 fence sections, from 2pm to 4:30pm! I was so encouraged by that. That is going to help my shrubs a lot!

Amending your soil is always a good idea, if you don't have ideal conditions to start. I think it gives plants a head start when they are first struggling to get established -- and of course, watering every week is a must for the first year! An excellent background shrub might be the red or pink flowering cestrum. I have to watch out for scale in the dry summer months but outside of that, they flower virtually year round in zone 9, and are vigorous multi-branching, 4-8' shrubs. You can prune them to thicken them up a bit, otherwise the branches lean outwards. Another excellent choice might be abutilons, if they are hardy where you are. I've seen conflicting information on the difference varieties so I don't know if they'll work or not. The two most beautiful variegated ones are 'Thompsonii' - very vigorous, and 'Savitzii', which is less so. Aphids can trouble them though. I like variegated plants because they really brighten up a shady spot. For dry shade, there is nothing better than Aucuba 'Gold Dust' -- cheap, easy to find, and gets a substantial 6-10' in height over time. Fabulous to add the leaves to a bouquet, too. Watch out for snails when young, they love to munch on this plant. I have good luck with India hawthorn (Rhaphiolepsis indica) 'Ballerina' in partial shade, it is a smaller, daintier version of the I. hawthorn that flowers profusely, and never seems bothered by insects or drought. I understand epimedrums are very good in shade and dry shade situations, too. I'm in a warmer zone than you so have other varieties instead. Note that hummers and butterflies absolutely adore the cestrums and abutilons so I never use systemics.

There are different types of shade. If your shady corner is open to the sky it gets more light, even with the roof overhang, than if a tree also shades the area. Between the spring and fall equinoxes, an open, northeast-facing area will get some morning sun. This is important because even shade plants do better with some light. If this area is densely shaded, your best choice would be ferns. Summersweet (Clethra alternifolia) prefers sun to part shade but will grow in full shade, or morning sun with afternoon shade. Summersweet can also be a large shrub so plant it about 3 ft away from walkways, walls and such. This shrub prefers moist to wet soil. It is useful for stabilizing stream banks and widens by suckers. Its late awakening can be exacerbated by location. A shady spot can remain cool longer tricking the plant into thinking it's still early. It's at the northern edge of its range, but the yew (Taxus x media, var. Densiformis) is an evergreen that does well in shade. Its mature height is around 3 ft, but its width is 5 ft. The plant is poisonous, so don't put it where small children or pets can get to it. I'm suggesting this plant for the following reasons: it takes shade; it is long-lived and slow growing but can be cut back if needed; it's not particular about soil type or pH, though it won't take wet soil: it has bright red berries in the fall. Here is a site that may help with plant selection as the state includes hardiness zones 3 to 5. University of Minnesota