Gardening here is pretty much year round, depending on the weather. If it's too hot, too cold, too rainy; if there's snow, I don't get out much in the garden; otherwise, I work through the seasons. This fall I did have to lay out the positions of the major garden beds so that they could be plowed, which meant a lot of time with stakes and flagging tape. Fall is generally the best time to shift plants and to plant new arrivals. This year it looks as though we are going to get all our roses and shrubs in by Christmas: a great achievement. With the mild autumn we've had I've been able to do most of my weeding and mulching, but haven't been able to begin pruning: that will be the major winter task, along with continuing to catalog my roses. I plan sketchily, but leave a good deal to the inspiration--or desperation--of the moment. I don't plan more than the minimum necessary for the immediate task. I probably plan more in summer than in winter. I do work out more detailed small schemes as I go along, but have never been able, or willing, to plan and execute a large and complex plan. When I've attempted it the results weren't better then with my current method, and were a lot more tiring. It may be that I still haven't sufficiently mastered my materials, i.e. the plants, to be able to use them "fluently". I start a new area planting the major plants, then correcting mistakes the following year and beginning to fill in with smaller plants. I do sometimes draw plans, not much recently, possibly because the spaces I'm gardening in are irregular in form and sloping and don't lend themselves to this method of planning. I brainstorm writing lists of plants and writing down ideas. I read and think about plants and gardening all the time, reading mainly Internet and books. Catalogs are usually more tempting than honestly informative: the Vintage catalog is a huge exception (the Schultheis catalog is also extremely seductive). If the weather gets really bad and I'm stuck in the house, or if I simply get sick of gardening, I just do other things: read, cook, write letters, or go visit an art museum. When things get really desperate I clean house. Melissa

Ah, yes. I have several varieties of cereus cacti. They grow SOOOO easy from cuttings. They will branch after they've been topped. I've never had one set fruit before. The blooms are HUGE, mostly opening at night, and fading quickly the next morning if the heat is too intense. I've got some new flower buds setting on mine, I'll try to get pics. Maybe I should go out and attempt to pollinate them ;-)

thanks everyone. Now, I'm not so afraid of being unable to force them to go dormant. Hope I can have succces with cuttings in March. Am a bit afraid of taking cutting of non-dormant plant, white sap dripn all over. I suppose I let the wound callous before I repot (but that's another question). To Chuy415, welcome to cold & dry Utah. Growing things here is really different than rest of the country. But it's still possible. I even have a dwarf Valencia orange tree I got at nursery in CA. Carried it back in car. Keep it inside for 8-9 months of year (just like plumies), then it goes outdoors for the summer. I get blossoms about Christmas time. with the Plumies in Utah--I'm sure there will be some shock. Make certain they are transported in such a way that they don't get too cold. Once here, you'll probably be able to put them outside, without threat of snow, in June. If you want to put them out earlier, watch weather, make sure you don't leave them out over-night. And it is so dry here, misting the leaves is helpful. Hope u enjoy the mountains. thanks again everyone.

Hi everyone, wasn't sure I was going to be able to do this swap. Have been sick but am much better. Add my name to the list. Haves: white and purple bleeding heart vine, hidden ginger, white butterfly ginger, pine cone ginger, unknown variegated ginger, bengal tiger canna, yellow/orange canna, black eyed susie vine, red spider lilies, red and yellow crown of thorns cuttings, red/coral shrimp plant, yellow shrimp plant, prayer plant, swiss cheese plant, green and white wandering jew, kitten ear jew, purple and gray jew, green wandering jew, swedish ivy, goldfish plant, night blooming cactus, rick rack cactus, mother of thousands, hen and chicks green, pony tail palm, texas star hibiscus, luna blush hibiscus, aloe vera, tricolor sedum, mother in law tongue, mexican petunia, red candy apple iceplant, elephant sedum, coral reef sedum, pink pursalane, double yellow/pink pursalane, spiral staircase sedum, variegated tropical hibiscus, kerria japonica rose double yellow, red/coral honeysuckle cuttings, silver squill, cast iron plant, drummonds pink phlox, christmas cheer sedum, pink abelia cuttings, curly leaf begonia, different unnamed begonias, blue hydrangea, old cactus (makes yellow flower), unnamed sedum and succelents, red hot poker lily Wants: yellow spider lily, variegated candy apple ice plant, cajun hibiscus, mosquito plant, variegated mosquito plant, mandarin plant, pink lily of the valley, walking iris, pineapple lily other that white, desert rose, yellow butterfly bush, sedums and succelents I don't have, blood lily, hoyas, variegated lipstick plant, begonias I don't have