Fran, I sowed most of my Zinnias from seeds I collected last year. I have one red one where it has no petals, just a center (and that one bloom on the red Zins looks almost like the flower from Spilanthes). I do wonder if the heat is kinda forcing blooms sooner and stunting the growth? I'm probably going to deadhead all the Zins that are blooming this week, just to see if they get taller. Fran and Nancy, The Petunias are acting normal for me this year-- as opposed to last year. And I even got a pleasant surprise and have reseeders from the ones that seemed to do nothing last year! But the ones that are blooming now were WSed this year. The white is a grandiflora, the little ones are the milleflora, and the others are a mix of grandiflora and multifloras. I got the seeds from Stokes and Fothergills...I've always had good results from Stokes' seeds and I didn't want any room for error on Petunias this year. I may transfer those millefloras to a basket (they are so cute I don't want to lose sight of them!) Nancy, The periwinkle one is Stokes' multiflora "Sky Blue". The dark purple one (you can't really see how deep a lush it is in the pic)is supposed to be dark blue. But I like the looks of them in the colors they turned out too (especially the periwinkle). Proud, Hubby was working out-of-town this Spring so I was the one doing the first mowing of the grass...so luckily, I was the one to find the verbascum first and dig it up to give it a new, more permanent home :-) It was also like a gift from God to me, because I'd lost the container of Verbascum "Banana Custard" when I had to run back and forth dealing with my parents' deaths. It was one of the plants I was really looking forward to having, then the container got flooded out while I was away. When I transplanted this little silver plant from the middle of the yard to the garden bed, I thought the plant was just Lambs Quarters. Imagine my (pleasant)surprise when it suddenly shot up and then burst with yellow blooms! Carrie and Shasta, Thank you...that makes me feel better :-) I feel better after weeding so I can finally SEE the blooms! lol Linda

Did your bamboo supplier give you a free machete with the plants? You may need one come Labor Day...(smile) I had a greatuncle that spent the summer in Cedar Falls and the winter in Punta Gorda, FL...just after WWII he planted some bamboo next to the FL house garage...when he died in 1980 he was still trying to kill that stand of bamboo! Of course, the IA winter may keep your's in check... Pete in IF

Thanks Nucci, Jim and Islandbreeze. Islandbreeze - I'm not sure what caused the lines. I did spray it with Garden Safe Insect spray in March because I had ants. I don't think thats what caused it though. I think it was a combination of cold and wet for extended periods of time during the Seattle like spring we had. It went in the ground April 8th and just kind of sat there for about three weeks. Whatever it is it hasn't slowed it down since it started growing again. The newest spear as far as I can tell is not effected. You could see it on the two fans effected before they even opened. Thanks again for the compliments. Jay

I love your purple bird feeder. I've never made one of these using the cup and saucer..and of course forgotten the instructions. Seeing your's makes me go off to search for the directions..I hope they are still here on this site somewhere. I've discovered a Habitat store in my area and they have tons of cups and saucers at pretty good prices. Thanks for the inspiration.