I LOVE chinese asters! They are one of my favorite annuals. I have to really restrain myself from buying too many different kinds every year! I've grown Astoria, Duchess, Milady, Moonshine, Pink Tower, Seastar, and Single Rainbow, among others. They are quite easy to grow and maintain. I do have quite a bit of self-seeding in my yard, and every spring I walk around the yard looking for volunteers to move into beds. I don't collect seed myself for the most part, but I'm sure you could collect from asters if you wanted. As for sources, I've bought from Johnny's, Pinetree, T&M, Parks, and Swallowtail. Good luck - you will love these! :) Dee

No, I just "converse" via the forum. Perhaps so, but I was a bit upset when she was kind of chiding us the other day for discussing changes in the zoning map, etc. People are concerned and I think it IS an appropriate place to discuss those concerns. What and where else? I felt like she was being a bit "controlling"? I really would like to see Paul James take her on his show, though. Poor Annie. You need to get some big strong help like I'm going to do. I just can't do that heavy stuff anymore. Plus, I have a disease called alacka. I lack the talent to work with fencing, posts, hammers, nails, boards, etc. Do you know that I saw Ralph Waldo Emerson's house in Massachusetts near Concord? And his garden? I went to see a lot of the writer's homes - Thoreau, Longfellow, Louisa Mae Alcott, Dickinson, etc. It is so beautiful there in the spring. Also saw Walden's Pond. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Gardens and flowers and trees are just stunning up there. They can grow hydrangeas much better than I. The Cape is lovely - we had breakfast at a little coastal breakfast inn - blueberry scones! Saw the sun set on Race Point (furthest point you can go on the Cape). Ferried over to both islands. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Saw the famous Merrimack, House of Seven Gables, Salem, North Church, loved Boston, seafood (can't eat it here anymore), great great great. I was lucky. I got to go with my job, so all expenses paid. Otherwise, I would never have had the opportunity. Winter is like Currier & Ives. But long, very, very long. Roads are never a problem there, though. Susan

I do not know but Michigan gets 100's also as well as humidity but not as often as we get that temperature with high humidity.

Bachelor Buttons "What is a hardy annual?" A hardy annual is typically tolerant of colder temperatures and is generally capable of reseeding in most gardens. ================================================== Here's a list of hardy annuals suggestions for winter sowing! Abronia umbellata (sand-verbena) Adonis aestivalis (pheasant's eye) Ageratum Houstonianum (floss flower) Agrostemma githago (corn cockle) Alonsoa acutifolia (maskflower) Amaranthus caudatus (love-lies-bleeding) Amberboa moschata (sweet sultan) Anagallis indica (blue pimpernel) Anchusa (bugloss) Alyssum maritimum (sweet alyssum) Antirrhinum majus (snapdragons) Argemone mexicana (prickly poppy) Asperula azurea (woodruff) Brachycome iberidifolia (swan river daisy) Browallia demissa (bush violet) Bupleurum rotundifolium (ox-eye daisy) Calandrinia grandiflora (red-maids) Calendula (pot marigold) Callistephus (China aster) Campanula (annual Canterbury bells) Celosia (cockscomb) Centaurea (cornflower) Centranthus macrosiphon (valerian) Chrysanthemum paludosum (mini-marguerite) Clarkia elegans Collinsia bicolor (Chinese-houses) Collomia coccinea (mountain-trumpet) Consolida ajacis (Larkspur) Convolvulus (dwarf/bush morning glory) Coreopsis tintoria (calliopsis) Cosmos bipinnatus (tall cosmos) Cosmos sulphureus (sulphur cosmos) Crepis rubra (hawks-beard) Cuphea ignea (fiery cuphea) Cynoglossum (Chinese forget-me-not) Datura species (thorn-apple) Delphinium (larkspur) Dianthus chinensis (China pinks) Diascia barberm (twinspur) Dicranostigma franchetianum (bright-yellow poppy) Dimorphotheca aurantiaca (Cape marigold) Dracocephalum moldavica (Moldavian dragonhead) Echium creticurn (bugloss) Emilia javanica (tassel flower) Eschschlotzia californica (California poppy) Fagopyrum esculentum (buckwheat) Felicia bergeriana (kingfisher daisy) Gaillardia pulchella (blanket flower) Gilia (bird's-eye) Godetia (fairyfan, farewell-to-spring) Gypsophila (baby's breath) Helianthus (sunflowers) Helichrysum (strawflower) Helipterum (paper daisy) Hunnemannia fumariifolia (Mexican tulip poppy) Iberis (candytuft) Impatiens (balsam) Ionopsidium acaule (false diamond-flower) Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas) Lavatera (annual mallow) Leonorus (lion's paws) Limnanthes douglasii (poached-egg plant) Limonium sinuatum (statice) Linaria bipartita (toadflax) Linum (flax) Lobularia (alyssum) Lupinus (lupine) Lychnis (catchfly) Malcomia maritima (Virginian stock) Malope trifida (malope) Malva (mallow) Matthiola bicornis (night-scented stock) Mesembryanthemum (ice-plant) Myosotis dissitiflora (forget-me-not) Nemesia strumosa (Cape jewels) Nemophila (baby blue-eyes) Nicandra (shoo-fly) Nicotiana (flowering tobacco) Nigella (love-in-the-mist) Osteospermum (Star of the Veldt) Papaver (poppy) Petunia hybrida (petunias) Phacelia (scorpion weed) Phlox drummondii (drummon phlox) Portulaca grandiflora (portulaca, moss rose) Rehmannia angulata (Chinese foxgloves) Reseda odorata (mignonette) Rudbeckia bicolor (gloriosa daisy) Salpiglossis sinuata (painted tongue) Salvia splendens (scarlet sage) Sanvitalia procumbens (creeping zinnia) Saponaria vaccaria (soapwort) Scabiosa (pincushion flower) Schizanthus pinnatus (butterfly flower) Senecio elegans (ragwort) Silene Armeria (none-so-pretty) Specularia speculum (Venus' looking glass) Tagetes (marigold) Thunbergia alata (clockvine) Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower) Torenia Fournieri (wishbone flower) Trachymene caerulea (laceflower) Tropaeolum (nasturtiums) Ursinia anethoides (dill-leaf ursinia) Vaccaria (cow soapwort) Venidium fastuosum (Cape daisy) Viola tricolor (pansy) Viscaria (rose-of-heaven) Xeranthemum (everlasting flower) Zinnia elegans (common zinnias)