The daikon I am planting this year in hopes of getting some larger ones (although nothing like Mark's) is Minowase Summer Cross. I may plant some generic daikon too, as I have a large supply of seed. I'm radish crazy and also have seeds for Daebu, a medium sized, green shouldered Korean variety and Shinrimei, a globe shaped, rose hearted variety. Another use for daikon is in soups. A chunk of it goes well in saimun, the Hawaiian noodle dish which contains numerous other garnishes. BTW June, before this becomes a daikon thread, let me mention that the young fruits of angled luffa (not exactly sure if it's the same luffa you grew) are eaten like okra. It has several common names, vining okra and Chinese okra being two. It is unrelated to okra except culinarily. Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Radishes

Sort of sounds like advice to folks with fertility problems who want to maximize chances for reproduction. Taking the temp and all, really sounds familiar! Interesting source, Jonny. I've watched a great many of my lovely fragrant hostas set NO SEEDPODS, although they bloomed beautifully. From what I can tell, only the major players of the plantaginea family bloom at night. The others bloom during the daytime, on a varying schedule. Some have so many blooms open it is difficult to tell which opened when. I have Mama in bloom now, and I'm hoping she can set at least ONE big fat pod. Doubled Up opened its first flower last night, well after dark. I checked after dinner and it was not open, but before I went to bed I took a flashlight (and my camera) to look, and there it was. I'm wondering if I could place Mama and Doubled Up together for a little pollen swapping before the next bloom opens. Meanwhile, I have lots of pods on Cerveza, Mariachi, Fragrant Gold, and some forming on multiple Royal Standard plants.... A few pods on Twenty-Four Caret Gold, Avocado, and one with tag missing. I have hopes that all the long whip scapes of Victory which set large amounts of pods during the early round of fragrant bloomings, will have some fragrant DNA mixed in there. However, I'm thinking the fragrant gene must transfer only when the podparent is fragrant? This I will know more about when I read Hosta Sex 101 more carefully. I plan to have fun with this, and make my own observations, which are definitely NOT scientific, more like folklore or witchcraft. You know, I was watching the long waving scapes in the twilight, and came up with a different reason for them being so long and bouncy. On a night when there is no breeze to create movement of fragrance in the air, the slightest touch will send them into a swaying motion. It could be a pollinator finding them, or a bird landing on the scape. But that motion could definitely create a wave of fragrance moving on the still air, and the sound waves of the scape, striking super receptive antennae of properly attuned moths (like sharks with their receptivity to smell) could lead them to the white flowers. The totally white flowers of major plantaginea family make them glow in my camera viewfinder even in pitch blackness. I don't think night pollinators rely on vision to locate sources of nectar. So to sum it up, I think the long scapes which move at the slightest touch or provocation, are grown to disseminate the fragrance. I will therefore not be pulling up the scapes into ponytails with hair clips on the fragrant hosta any more. I will instead elevate them so I may pass unimpeded, leaving the pollen undisturbed until a suitor comes calling. Another observation. I noticed bees coming to a lot of the fragrant hosta multiple times, but when they approached Fried Bananas, this during the daytime, they backed away without taking a taste. I have not decided why that is. Maybe the pollen and fragrance is gone in the day? Maybe it was already empty as a source of nourishment? Why would they back away from such a nice flower otherwise? I watch this happen on different days, and always it is Fried Bananas. One of my favorites, and I know it is also DelDonna's fav grove of hosta too. This is Doubled Up taken last night with my flash

I just discovered this Araucaria converstion and wanted to add my experience. Andrew with regards to your initial posting...I only soak my Araucaria seeds for 24 hrs...the ones that sink...usually have the greatest chance for germination...for the seeds that don't sink...I wait about 12 hrs and then soak them for another 24 hrs...most of the time you will find more sinkers. I plant all of the seeds...and have been surprised to find that some of the non-sinkers did germinate. I think that prolonged soaking will kill the seed...so to speak. I've had some Araucaria actually germinate during the soaking process...examples are the A. araucana, A. angustifolia and A. bidwillii. With regards to sowing the seeds...without exception I cover all Araucaria seeds with a small amount of soil...about 1/4 - 1/2 inch. During the cooler months I use heating mats set at about 75 F. Of all the species I grow: A. araucana, A. angustifolia, A. bidwillii, A. cunninghamii, A. columnaris, A. montana and A. hetrophyllla...I have found that almost without exception some will begin germination within 2-3 weeks....but more importantly...don't give up on the remaining seeds that have not shown any signs of germination...I currently have some that are lagging 3 months behind those that have already germinated. Pictures: #1 - a forest of A. angustifolia, #2 - A. araucana (Left) and A. angustifolia (Right), #3 - A. bidwillii getting ready to be moved up to taller pots, #4 - a display of Araucaria seeds.

Finally revisiting the topic! Yes, Castro, I'm from southern MN originally and my family is still there. I do avoid going there in the winter though! So, the hour is finally here for me to do something while we're still in prime planting season. I've thought about it some more and want to run some more ideas past you good folks. I'll replace the Rose of Sharon with a medium/small tree like a CM or maybe an Anacacho Orchid Tree. For the rest of the sunny bed, I'm leaning toward a mass planning of one type of plant. I was originally thinking MX Bush Sage, but I think they may get a little too big. I'm leaning toward Henry Duelberg Sage, Cherry Sage, Rock Rose and Jerusalem Sage. Yes, any of them can catch trash, but I think none of them will be as bad as the Yucca. I think the Duelberg sage may be the easiest to clean because of it's growth habit. The downside is that it dies back in the winter. No matter which I use, I'll space them enough to walk between them so it's hopefully easier to clean. Thoughts on these? For the shadier beds, I'm leaning toward Katie Ruellia. I haven't quite figured out what to do in the space immediately adjacent to the parking spot. What do you guys think of a mass planting vs mixing it up? The more I think about it, being that these areas aren't that huge, it seems to me keeping it simple with one thing may be most effective. I'm not a landscape designer by any means though. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!