Thank you everyone! Sorry, I forgot to post a picture of my cake! I'll post it here later on! I was very tired last night and forgot about it. Shirley, I do have seeds for some host plants already started or have yet to plant. I have common, swamp, tropical and poke milkweed, fennel, rue and parsley seeds too. Bev, I'm hopiing to get all sorts of butterflies in the yard this year! I usually see the swallowtails and many other types (including a hummingbird moth) but rarely the monarchs come into the yard. I did see one while out walking though last summer and it appeared to be a female laying eggs on the common (wild) milkweed plants! Keeping my fingers crossed! Now I'm off to go check my containers! Brad AKA Moonwolf

Okay, here's my list, minus whatever bunch I didn't feel like checking today Perennials: English Wallflower Lupine "Sundown" Ornamental Grass "Coolio" Snow-In-Summer Cantebury Bells Or-Grass "Pony Tails" Alyssum "Gold Dust" Pansy "Giant Blue" Basket Flower-Armenian Coneflower "White Swan" Coreopsis "Mahogany Midget" Cupid's Dart Dames Rocket Evening Primrose (Pink) Flax Blue Liatris (from SIL yard) Lupine "Band of Nobles" Lupine "Minarette Mix" Monarda Clinopodia Blanket Flower Butterfly Bush Mix Coneflower Purple Coneflower Tennessee Lady's Mantle Penstemon "Husker Red" Rudbeckia filagura sulivani Jupiter's Beard Aster- Trimix Alpine Rue Annuals: Carnation "Dwarf Fragrance" Carnation Enfant de Nice Blend Cosmos "Daydream" Dianthus Dble Pinks Larkspur "Galilee Carmine dble" Plox Bachelor Buttons "Blue Boy" Bachelor Buttons "Snowball" OrGrass-Black Durum Snapdragon-Tall Maximum Aster "Crego" Aster "Fireworks Mixed" Blue Thimble Flower Calendula "Lashima" Candy Tuft "Dwarf Fairy" Cosmos "Dble Click" Larkspur "Giant Imperial" Maltese Cross Stocks "Giant Imperial" Strawflower "Tall Choice Dble" Bachelor Buttons "Red Boy" Zinnias-PP Purple Zinnias-Royal Purple Snapdragon-Magic Carpet Sunflower-Pastiche Sunflower-Red Sun Sunflower-Velvet Queen Zinnias- Dasher mix Zinnias-State Fair Zinnias-Thumbelina Mix Bells of Ireland California Poppy "Mexicana Sunshades" California Poppy "Thai Silk" mix Candytuft mixed colors Cosmos "Campus Yellow" Dusty Miller Petunia "Fire Chief" Poppy- Purple Peony Sunflower- Claret Sunflower-Moulin Rouge Zinnias- Red Sun Amaranthus- Tricolor Cosmos "Ladybird Mix" Poppy Breadseed Lavender Zinnias-Anniversary Zinnias-Park's Picks Lilac Zinnias-PP Carmine Rose Zinnias-Violet Queen Alyssum "Oriental Nights" sowed 2 packets Alyssum "Rosie O'Day" Snapdragon- Labella Snapdragon- Madame Butterfly Snapdragon- Royal Bride Dahlia-Decorative Giants Mix Amaranth- my favorite burgundy Painted Tongue "Casino Black" Petunia- Dble Cascade Burgundy Snapdragon-Chimes Bronze Snapdragon-Ribbon Purple Statice "Mixed Bold Colors" Tasselflower Veggies: Lettuce- Mesclun Mix Lettuce- Simpson Black seeded Radish "Champion" Spinach-Bloomsdale Long Standing Pak Choi Carrot "Nantes Coreless" Radish "China Rose" Carrot "Long Imperator #58" Feverfew Winter Savory Basil- Lettuce Leaf And I have two containers from last year that are sprouting! Yippeeeeeeeeee!: Highbush Cranberry/Viburnum Trilobum Aubretia "Rock Cress" I'm pretty excited about the Cranberry. There are at least four seeds germinated, and there are several more in there waiting.

Congratulations dear for starting to garden. Your mother is right. Too much watering. I gather you must be using soilless mix which can start looking dry but isn't really. The only way to tell is to scratch the surface of the soil to see if the soil below is dry or not. First the lighting needs. 10 - 11 hours of good light at the growing stage is recommended. If you start off at 5:30 - then turn off the lights at sundown like 6:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. (Take a hint from nature: the time of sunrise and sunset) Second: Watering: water from the bottom. That is to set your planters on top of a tray (are you using those seedling trays?) and when you need to add water, simply add water to the tray and not on the top. The reason for this is to discourage mold and fungus. You have to watch out for a fungus called DAMP which can cause a seedling to wilt and die within hours. Do not overwater that the planter is soaked. Just add a little bit of water as needed. So don't water every day. Just observe it to see if the soil is moist or not. the reason for this technique is to prevent mold. And Spraying water doesn't provide adequate moisture. It will wet the surface but not beneath the surface. Giving them a good soak at night is not a good idea. Water only when the lights are on because plants expend water at night (sundown). Most especially encasing it in plastic (airtight). This encourages mold. Normally you would tent your seedlings only in the early stages but once it starts showing it's true leaves, it's time to keep them untented - unless the area you have is so dry that it's necessary to create a humidity tent. A humidity tent is loose and has holes cut into it for aeration. Aeration is necessary. I usually aerate with a mild circulating fan so that mold doesn't occur and the air movements encourages stronger stems. If you do have incidents of DAMP, immediately soak the seedlings in a product called NO DAMP which is a fungicide that kills off these things. Always sterilize your tools and trays to avoid contamination. ALSO DON'T GET DISCOURAGED if you aren't successful the first time around. I certainly experienced my knocks when I started gardening. AND, next time you start off seeds again, I would recommend a light application of sand on top of the soil - to prevent MOLD. LAST, do not use any peat pots or newspapers to create your pots- NO MATTER WHO TELLS YOU HOW GREEN THIS IS. This is a sure way to encourage molds since these things do decompose over time.

I think culantro is warm weather vegetable. That is why they have them in the dog days of summer when cilanro will not grow or will bolt. Maybe you can grow it as indoor plant, I don't know.