I'm looking forward to Virginia Creeper, native Columbine, Jacob's Ladder, Bleeding Hearts, Elderberry and Viburnum. I have a new woodland yard that I'll be converting into a wildlife habitat and all of these will be a great start. I especially love the early spring blooms after our long winters.

Martha

Martha,your list sounds wonderful,I'm glad I asked.I have been wanting to try bleeding hearts for a while now,I'm putting these on my list for this year..

I'm actually looking forward to trying some annuals. I'm too cheap to buy many at the garden centers - just enough to fill my containers. Since my perennial beds are still relatively young, I'm hoping to be able to have an abundant source of annuals to add some season long color to the borders.

Top of the list is pink turtlehead with columbine, Jacob's ladder and lobelia right behind it because they hit the early & late season bloom time when every bit of color counts. Hardy geranium/cranesbill for its season-long bloom and persicaria Painters Palette for the great foliage contrasts. A couple of my flowerbeds are finally taking shape and as they do, I get more and better ideas how to improve them which is more fun than before since I can grow plants from seed rather than stretching the budget to buy them. The big storm hit my checkbook with a wallop from which it's going to take a long time to recover.

Neighbor brought me seeds from the apples that fall from a tree behind our town hall. He says the apples are great tasting but nobody eats them--they just run over them. I WS apple seeds for him last year and got 100% germination so I'm looking forward to growing more of them this year. I'll eventually plant them & replace some of the trees that were destroyed by Storm Alfred.

Gardenweed,I grew the pink turtlehead my first year,Its a nice plant this will be its 3rd year this summer so I'm expecting or hoping for"the leap".I just placed an order at Seeds&More for the following
Tatarian Maple'Flame'
BeautyBush
Father Hugo Rose
Northern Catalpa
Japanese Maple'Emperor 1'
Golden Raintree
I know you lost a few tree's there so If you want any seeds for these trees and shrubs,I would be glad to share these with you as there is no way I can use them all..Your friend,Tom

I'm looking forward to winter-sowing some of the seed I collected myself this year. For example, Ipomoea 'Split Personality' which was a really pretty morning glory with splits in the flower. This was the only morning glory I grew this summer, so it was not cross-pollinated. I'm terribly curious to see if they and some others come true to seed.

Also, looking forward to buying some more fancy seeds to winter-sow. :)

I'm also looking forward to lots of stuff that was winter-sown this past year, and will bloom next Spring. Aquilegia Origami mix, Digitalis, Sweet williams, Echinacea Pow wow wild berry, etc.

Terrene,somebody sent me seeds for morning glorys this year and I started to not even grow them,but I did and it was my fav. plant of this year.they grew all over my porch railings and I was just fascinated by them.I will definetly grow them again..Pixie lou every year I buy the "New" zinnias,I love these and can't pass by them at the seed rack..I love wintersowing annuals but now I mostly just directsow or let them reseed on their own

tomva - thanks so much! I traded for red Japanese maple on the Seed Exchange this morning and had planned to grow more dogwood trees but the mice/chipmunks/squirrels ate the seeds I had drying on a paper plate in the garage. I would love to try Beauty Bush and the Emperor Japanese maple if you're sure you can spare a few seeds.

terrene - I WS E. Pow Wow Wild Berry this year and planted out HOS back in September so I expect to see blooms on them next year. I ordered the seeds from Hazzard's and got about 98% germination. I too collected a lot of seeds this year and have begun the task of cleaning chaff from them before bringing them inside for the winter. I have a boatload of columbine & sweet William seeds if anyone wants some.

Let's see, I have lots of seeds that I've never grown before that I just got. I'm looking forward to the Joe Pye Weed, Cardinal Flower, Ipomopsis rubra, Hosta mix (those last two were courtesy of a very dear friend from Canada), Mexican hat, butterfly bush, Maltese cross, rose campion, columbines, and many others. Zinnias are a definite favorite in my garden too.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad,I grew the maltese cross and rose campion before and really liked them alot.They are very nice plants.

Gardenweed,the seed count was 50 plus for each tree and shrub so I definetly can't use all those and your welcome to them.Should be here in 2wks so I will holler at you around then and get them out to you..

Brad - I grew the Maltese cross & rose campion this year same as tomva and liked both of them. I've got enough MC but picked up 'Angel Blush' rose campion seeds to WS this year. I really like the silvery foliage--it stays nice the whole season and nothing seems to chomp on it.

Wow, Tom, that's a generous amount of seeds in a pack! Just shoot me an email when you're ready to mail them. I can send you postage & a mailing label if it would make life easier.

The power flickered here today due to strong winds. I got my you-know-what in gear right quick, shoveled the ashes out of the woodstove and got a fire going right away. I carried a few armloads of wood inside just so they could dry a little overnight and be ready to burn if I need them.

Gardenweed - Doesn't it stink that you have to spend so much time cleaning up branches instead of cleaning seeds! Cleaning seeds is more fun. My Echinacea PWWB and 'Bravado' both made flower buds this year, but it was so late in the season there wasn't enough time for the flowers to open. When it became obvious they wouldn't open, I cut the buds off so that the plants could put their energy into root growth. Can't wait for next year though!

I laughed when I read your message, Terrene, as I spent about 6 hours in a hard chair at the table cleaning seed today (and packing literally hundreds of packets of seeds) and at one point I was sooo stiff and sooo sick of sitting I thought "I wish I was in Eileen's neighborhood, I'd go help her pick up branches and MOVE alittle!!!!!!!!"

Of course, I could have gone out in my own yard and gotten a million clean up projects doen, but I just had to get through with the seed packing. I am late for a round robin swap and the Winter Sowing Swap is around the corner! Anyone who is in that swap who wants to try the Persicaria Painters Palette Gardenweed mentioned for woodlands, let me know. I've got a good amount and can send it in with your name on it.

Nancy

I thought about how many hours I spent during the power outage keeping a fire going in my woodstove instead of playing with seeds but I kept remembering all my neighbors who were cold while I was doing it. There's a new family in the neighborhood that just moved here from Wisconsin. They have two little girls. I can't imagine sending two little girls to bed every night in beds that are 40 degrees. Another neighbor and his wife and her sister are in their 90's, still actively gardening, keeping up their house & property, planting a vegetable garden every year. He owns & drives big rigs. Even after ten days without power, his wife still had a sense of humor. Under the circumstances, it's a little tough to complain about "what can't be cured that must be endured."

Yesterday's wind blew a lot of leaves off my flowerbeds and walkways, the power was back on, I should have been sitting in front of my laptop working but while the washer swished load #5 of laundry around inside it, I was outside checking my plants for seeds. Cleaned some chaff out of the turtlehead seeds indoors too.

Nancy,
You need to get yourself a softer chair.LOL. I'm spoiled. My fiance (wedding in two weeks!) works for Herman Miller, which is a great office furniture company, and got me a wonderful desk chair. I have it at the dining room table and I"m so comfortable I never want to go anywhere else.

FYI, I sent out my seeds for the wintersow swap and threw in three packs of coleus seed for you. Hope you enjoy them.

Martha

Glad to hear that Maltese Cross and Rose Campion both WS so well! The Rose Campion seeds I got are two hybrids: Alba and Bloody Mary. The Maltese Cross flowers look stunning! Now I just need to work on sketching out my garden plan for next year lol.

Gardenweed, what all colors of columbine do you have?

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad - I hijacked all my daughter's columbine stems/seedpods back in May because she cut them off and was going to (gasp!) throw them out. Makes me wonder if we're related by blood! I brought them all home but have no idea what they look like because she has so many different ones--tall ones mostly, some double, blue definitely. If you're willing to be surprised, I've got like a bajillion seeds to send you.

My rose campion foliage is still absolutely gorgeous, silver and velvety even after the terrible storm damage. I may check out 'Alba' next year. Is 'Bloody Mary' a red variety? That would be a stunning comination--silver stems/foliage with tomato red flowers. Wow.

In between other chores I played with seeds today. Those dry enough to be brought indoors are now stored in plastic salad dressing cups with lids. The number of paper bowls with seeds in them on shelves inside the garage is dwindling. If I don't manage it before then, I'll haul a bale of growers mix inside the house Thanksgiving week.

My 'Leap of Faith' seeds this year are going to be Lobelia cardinalis 'Fan Scarlet.' Jury is still out on whether or not it's fully hardy in my zone.

lol We could be blood relatives! I'll take some of the columbine seeds :). I don't mind! Just let me know when you're ready to send me them. Take your time!

Bloody Mary isn't red at all. It's looks more like a magenta or fuschia color and sometimes even the magenta/fuschia with white edges. Still the flowers do look stunning against the foilage.

Brad AKA Moonwolf