I am also looking for companion plants to Daffodils and will do a search for Tiarella to learn about it. This is a good thread to keep checking back, thanks for posting it. I think I will be sowing a wildflower mix with my Dafs also. They usually contain Bachelors Buttons, Phlox divarcata (sp?), Hespiris, Silene and others that seem perfect. I just thought of another good plant, Daisies of any kind. The annual ones remain green all winter in most zones and may bloom in time with the Dafs. That reminds me to grow annuals and perennials that will remain green all winter here in NC zone 7 like the 2 kinds of Forget me nots; Myosotis and Cynoglossom, Malva, Hollyhocks, annual Daisies, and the Bach Buttons also are green here all winter. I am sure there are many more. Pansies, Johnny Jump-ups, many more. Even Mustard Greens are lovely in bloom in April and would cover the dieing foliage of the Dafs.

This is an apricot and it should have a nice even umbrella shape, but there's a bite taken out of the upper right because a huge sugar maple used to lean over it before a tornado took it down a couple years ago. I think it's an ideal medium-sized shade tree because it lets through 25 - 50% scattered light depending on how you want to prune it. Fuschia and other flowering plants that hummingbirds like can be grown under it without getting scorched in the summer heat. The branches are sturdy enough to hold very heavy planters, and there's minimal clean up of leaves in the fall. It doesn't seem to be disease prone and doesn't attract ants, but this one doesn't produce fruit because it blooms much too early for this area. The hummingbirds use it as an observation post to survey the yard and surrounding area (along with the larger trees of course, but you don't want something the size of a White Oak.) They grow fast, but their growth should be restrained at 2' a year by pruning or else they'll grow too weak and spindly. This tree was about 6' wide when I bought the place in 1990 and has been this size (20' wide) for a good ten years, it's about 18 years old. Every other fruit tree the previous owners planted died of disease, drought, winter, or wind damage, (I know nothing about spraying or protecting fruit trees) but apricots seem to be tough! I'm going to plant another one to provide some afternoon shade for some Austin roses. This tree doesn't suck up all available moisture in the soil, so plants can be grown under it and the roots don't seem to be invasive. There are self-fruitful varieties available that bloom later for colder climates.

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.

Well,I just scrolled through this entire thread and I am consumed with jealousy over your gardens. My little quarter acre doesn't allow for too many beds and my aging body does not either. The front of my house needs desperately to be relandscaped but digging out the old stuff is more than I can manage. It is raining buckets today and we have had a generally rainy spring. My peonies no sooner bloom than the rain beats them down. I was thrilled to see that a Kopper King Hibiscus that I relocated last year is coming back. It looked dead as a doornail, but now a big lovely shoot is coming up. My garden was not put together with much of a plan. I just add things as I fall in love with them. This year I added a deutzia. Here are my azaleas from earlier this spring along the driveway. I dug them out of my mother's woods about 35 years ago and I had no idea what colors they were, but I kind of like the mix. Here is my tree peony: What is the name of this pink flower? I know it is rather common, but I can never remember the name. It comes up all through my raised bed each spring and it is so adorable: