I went :-) Like I need any more plants!! Bought a cute little eucryphia from Ian and picked up a couple of other items. It was not as vendor heavy as I expected it to be - looks like some that were expected didn't show, as there were a number of vacant tables. I did have a long chat with Eric Bloom of NW Perennials. This is the last showing from that outstanding local perennial supplier as they are closing their doors at the end of the month. This will be a real loss as it was one of the best smallish local perennial growers, always producing high quality, unusual plants but timing, the economy and the changing gardening scene just got the best of them. They are good people and I hope they land on their feet. I stopped by Wells Medina on my way home, but I managed to resist any further spending. Place looks good with a nice selection of shrubs and new bare root trees available. A good selection of bare root fruits and berries as well. And they were offering a great selection of the new Winter Jewels hellebores from the O'Byrne's - all in full bloom.

Suzanne I would like to have one of your viburnum bushes. I started with a blank canvas of 1-3/4 acres two years ago and though we plant most anything we find I need shrubs and bushes. I have 2 of my angel trumpets set aside for others but still have two left. I am also bringing aloe vera plants as they are wonderful to have around a garden for first aid purposes and will winter over easily indoors. Mine live inside all winter. I also have a few other things, however, due to senior moments I don't remember right now what they are. Shelia

Halloween's not at all early for first killing frost. About what I expect. I remember one Halloween just a few years ago I was racing around frantically in the dark to winterize my irrigation system as tempeartures plummeted from a daytime high in the 60s to nighttime lows in the mid twenties. No time to worry about the plants, save that irrigation system! I could feel the ground freezing underfoot as I went around the garden. I have a much smaller yard now, and no irrigation system, so winterizing that took a couple of hours before can all be done in about 15 minutes now. Although I do still have to move the bonsai to their sheltered spots, it hasn't been cold enough yet to bother with that. That'll take all of another 15 minutes. First frosts in Olympia can be as early as late September, but usually not a killing frost til October. Or as late as December. I was planning on whacking down all the blasted dahlias this weekend too, but there's no reason to go out in that storm ... Here's the weather report as heard on KZOK late last night: Rain today. More rain Saturday. Sunday, even more rain. Monday, for a change of pace, pouring down rain. Tuesday, well let's just say it'll stop raining some time about mid July. Gotta love it or you'll go crazy.

Flowering perennials ANEMONE flaccida Spreading, white flowers, spotted leaves ANEMONE keiskeiana Summer dormant, white flowers, mottled foliage ANEMONE nemorosa `Bracteata` Double white flowers, with green and white bracts ANEMONE pseudoaltaica NE Asia, white or blue, spreading, well-drained, humus, shade ANEMONE ranunculoides `Flore Pleno` Double yellow flowers ANEMONE seemannii Creeping hybrid of A. nemerosa and A. ranunculoides, large cream/sulphur flowers ANEMONE stolonifera Japan, white, dissected leaves, creeping AQUILEGIA desertorum Arizona columbine, 18" x 15", red and yellow AQUILEGIA formosa Red Spur columbine, 24" x 18", bright red BEGONIA grandis `Alba` BEGONIA grandis 'Heron's Pirouette' BEGONIA grandis ssp. evansiana 'Wildwood Purity 18 x 18, hardy if mulched; the last slightly larger CARDIANDRA alternifolia Japan, small hydrangea relative, 18 x 24, late pink flowers CORYDALIS malkensis Caucasus, white, early, humus, partial shade, moist CORYDALIS ochroleuca Italy, Greece; ferny leaves, long-flowering, yellowish white CORYDALIS ornata SE Russia, sky-blue to white, partial shade, not too dry CORYDALIS paczoskii Ukraine, mauve, humus, moist, shade CORYDALIS vittae Caucasus, white, partial shade, humus EPIMEDIUM acuminatum 12 x 18, marbled foliage, purple when new, with lilac sepals and lavender petals EPIMEDIUM pubigerum 12-24 x 12-24, yellowish flowers EPIMEDIUM sutchuenense Spreading; white sepals, red petals, mottled foliage EPIMEDIUM x omeiense 'Akane' 12", purple red flowers with yellow spurs [additional epimediums from elsewhere in the garden] ERINUS alpinus `Albus` ERINUS alpinus `Carmineus` Fairy foxglove, Alps, 4 x 4, flowers May, reseeds into crevices. ERYTHRONIUM ÂWhite Beauty Dogtooth violet, clumping, white and yellow flowers, mottled foliage KEISKEIA japonica var. hondoensis White flowers, 24-36", late summer PINELLIA cordata ÂYamazaki PINELLIA pedatisecta PINELLIA tripartite China, 9 x 9 aroids POLLIA japonica Stoloniferous, 18  24 x indef., ginger-like foliage with heads of many small white flowers, then black berries PRIMULA daoensis Rhaetian Alps, 4 x 6, rosy pink, moist, humus, part shade PRIMULA kisoana ÂAlba Spreading, 4" scalloped hairy leaves, white flowers, shade PRIMULA kisoana var. shikokiana Pink flowers, loose woodsy soil THALICTRUM filamentosum var. tenerum NE Asia, 12", white, July, humus, shade THALICTRUM lucidum Shining Meadow Rue, 48-60 x 12, fragrant, yellow TRACHYSTEMON orientalis NE Turkey, 24 x 36, fuzzy foliage, blue purple panicles in spring TRAUTVETTERIA carolinensis Native to both US coasts, 15 x 24 foliage, white flowers to 5 ft., moist, shaded TRAUTVETTARIA japonica Short, white, like Thal.fil., moist, well-drained, shade TRICYRTIS formosana 24-36 x 18 TRICYRTIS perfoliata 18 x 10, yellow TRICYRTIS Seiryu 24", mat-forming TRIOSTEMON himalayanum Zhongdien Plateau, 30 x 36, light shade, greenish-yellow flowers, red fruit VIOLA ÂPartly Cloudy Variegated form of unknown species, East Coast, a Darrell Probst selection VIOLA odorata ÂAlba Plena Fragrant, fully double, spreads by runners YPSILANDRA thibetica Evergreen rosettes to 5 x 5, white spikes in late winter to 8", part shade, humus