technically, they are biennials, but they do come back sometimes, much like hollyhocks can. most of the ones i've bought or done from seed have been biennial, but there were some on mom & dad's prop from the 150 yr old homestead that was there before that were perennials. i dug up some and moved them down here last yr and had some lovely bloom this spring. they did reseed as well up there, and i don't think they were really long lived, but they would come back in the same spot for more than 2 yrs. there was some color and pattern varietion, though not as much as modern varieties. i only had 1 color bloom this yr. they are the really old fashioned, kinda rangey, smaller flowered & looser headed, floppy old ones. but sooo sweetly scented! and, of course, sentimental for me. especially given that she's going to sell the place after she gets remarried this fall. :`( they were some of the first flowers i ever noticed as a child and collected for bouquets & such. tammy

The year started with Favas and peas. Windsor favas did much better than last year. The edible pea pods I had got mixed, but we loved the Oregon trail shelling peas. They are supposed to be a climber but seemed bush in our garden. I guess a short pole? We are planting lots more of them (already have!). Next were the runner beans. This year I planted some of the white one, sweet white runners and runner canelinis. They produced enough green snaps to make it again into the pickle jar, and we got two pots of chili out of the seeds. The sweet white runners were inter-planted with chayotes and they are giving us a fall crop! They are full of white flowers so we expect more as the weather cools down a little. The brown runners (red scarlet runners) seem dead, but I know they are dormant and the root it still OK. P. vulgaris were not sufficiently represented this year, will do more next spring. The black valentines did great (bush) and produced a nice crop of green snaps in a hurry. The Lousiana purple pods gave us quite a few beans, they tasted OK but not great, still looking for a good variety of purple. Tried Cherokee wax bush beans and they were OK, not as good as Gold of Bacau, so far still my favorite gold snap. The Fortex failed miserably and did not even give us any beans. Second year in a row, so we are done with Fortex. I tried a few Emerite, got enough for some seed, not many beans. I planted a few late Gold of Bacau, not sure if they will make it before frost. They should, since we rarely get frost before late December. Next year I need to plant a lot more common beans. Tennesee cutshorts sound very appealing, I also want to try my unnamed Catalan beans and the monjetes del ganxet. Oh, how could I forget?! The soissont verts gave us a nice crop and we are still in love with them. Plant even more of them next year. I tried a few soybeans and they did not do well. I suppose I crowded them. We also tried yard long beans, got a few and realized we are not so wild about the flavor, whatever they do to them at Chinese restaurants makes them taste great, can't reproduce it at home though. We also got some pink eye purple hulls, they are moping, limping along and so far have produced one flower and two beans. Next year we will not do cow peas at all and instead try our luck with limas (Gigandes and black jungle butter beans) Full cycle and we are back to favas and peas. Sowed more Windsor, Sansimonia (Italian) and some favas I brought from Spain. Don't ask me the variety name, I will call them Catalan favas. I planted more Oregon trail shelling peas, and got myself a pisoli rampicante from Grow Italian that is a snow pea with the flavor of a sugar snap. Can't wait! I also planted a few chickpeas (forget the variety but it is the one sold by Grow italian) Some have sprouted already. I am only growing a few, just to check out the plant cycle and see what it does and how we like them.

Cheri - I've been unpacking boxes too. We've finally moved back into our house after a kitchen fire in August. It took much longer than we expected to do the remodeling. Somewhere I have some seeds packed away but not sure where. They were heat and smoke damaged but I saved them anyway. They were also exposed to cold for awhile because I stuck them in the shed and forgot about them. It will be interesting to see if they germinate. Oakleif - I am bad to drop stuff down in my kitchen drawers also and trying so hard this time not to start a "junk drawer" as I put things away but have a feeling it won't last long. In the home forums, someone was showing off pictures of their new "clutter room" with with cabinets and drawers. That's what I need. lol It would have to be a fairly large room.

Terrance, I've heard that Lavendar is very hard to propagate from seed. Have you tried it successfully before? I'd love to, but don't want to waste my time if it's that temperamental. Gosh, it was VERY windy yesterday and today. I would be afraid to just throw seeds on the ground right now. I think that is one of the reasons behind WS'ing. The seeds are not susceptible to being scattered by the wind, doused by the rains, or eaten by the birds. Lisa, are you saying we should start now with some of our seeds in containers, or just direct sowing in the ground? I tried sowing Larkspur one year by just planting the seeds in the fall, but nothing came up the next spring. I have no clue why not. Anything that is cold hardy could be sown now I would expect. Sages, winter savory, thyme, lemon balm, mints, agastaches, rue, fennel, and so on. I have some astilbe, cimicifuga, hardy cool weather plants like that I could probably sow now as well. What do you guys think? Susan