Hi Ollierose - I'm interested in your gaillardia seed. I'd like to trade for a fairly hefty sized packet if you have it available and if I have anything you might be interested in. I've got an abundance of rudbeckia - rustic mix. You've probably seen this photo in the WS group before: The variety of color is just spectacular. I've also got artemisia absinthe going to seed like crazy out in the herb garden right now if that's an artemisia that might interest you. Let see - would you like some gaillardia Razzle Dazzle? (That's an annual type.) And since you are a helianthus fan would you like a tall mix (from Autumn Colors and a bunch of other ones) and some knee high ones too (Big Smile)? I'm never going to be able to squeeze all of those into my garden next year. Drop me an e-mail if you are interested and we can work out details. Lynda

LKZZ..good choices although the alyssum might suffer in the heat some.If you shear it after early spring bloom, it should re-flower in the fall. The standard white makes a nice edging and the honeybees love it. I have deer also in each of my yards and one flower that they leave alone is 'million bells' calbrachoa. It also has returned reliably for 8 years now in a raised natural bed which gets regular irrigation. It comes in all sorts of colors and looks like a small flowered petunia. Geraniums of the species types (even the hothouse ones) are not bothered by deer and arctotis (iceplant) is reliable in hot dry areas with occasional deep watering. It does close its fuchsia colored flowers in late afternoon so it makes a great underplant for your marigolds and zinnias. Since the iceplant is a perennial (and pieces root in water easily to spread to other areas), suggest you bury a couple of goodsized plastic plant pots within the iceplant bed so when you plant your annuals you don't disturb the perennial roots. At least a quart or a shallow gallon pot should give most annuals enough anchorage to withstand normal winds. I've done this with goldenlime green coleus among the fuschia colored ice plant and it is a visual pop 50' from the street.

Hello Leftwood. I would like to do a trade with you. I need more Allium stellatum as I could only collect about a dozen seeds. Also would like Penstemon grandiflora. And any more natives that you think would be good to add to my wildflower collection. The zagadanus is native from Meeker co. as are almost all others. I forgot to add Lilium philadelphicum to my list above. Can you send me email please?

For future years you might want to try just collecting a little seed for propagating and leaving the rest standing for the birds and insects. It not only provides food and shelter for wildlife but the dried plant material helps protect the crown of the plant and the soil. I always think the sturdier stems like echinacea are quite pretty with little snow caps on them during the winter. While eating the birds will drop some seed that will germinate too. In the spring you can cut back or pull away the plant debris and chop up some to use as mulch. Too much mulch though and the fallen seeds won't germinate and grow. In the winter use the seed you collected or bought and wintersow them in a weed free potting mix in the proper containers (see the wintersowing forum faq or wintersown.org if unfamiliar with method). They will have much higher germination rates than scattered seed and you can protect them until they are a little bigger and sturdier. Then you can use these seedlings as a guide to help you see what in your wildflower bed is desirable and what is a weed if you aren't familiar with the seedlings. You can use them to plug any holes in the bed or plant them elsewhere if the bed is filling in nicely on its own. This method has worked pretty well for me so far.