Hi Kay, Just wanted to stop in and say that my hedychiums are coming up from our trade last year. I am delighted to see them as we had such a bad drought I thought that I might have lost them. I might have some other heucheras that you want. I have more 'Snow Angel', some small 'Caramel', a single division of 'Licorice'. Tiarella 'Elizabeth Oliver' (I don't know if you are interested in that or not but it does well in shade. Email me if interested, Les (Love2gardennc)

Hi, I am intersted in trading with you. I have the dark,dark purple louisiana iris plants. I also have alot of tropical plants that you do not have on your list. I am interested in trading for your torch gingers, I have tried to email you with the items I think you would be interested in, but I am not able to send you an email. Please email me I would like to send you a plant list. Just a few things not on your list. I have white and dark purple lily of the nile. Both chinese ground orchids and the other ground orchids, both purple in color. I have a double brugmansia rooted "Sam", yellow, white, or purple double datura, sweet memories duranta, giant red leaf crinum, candle stick plant, tropical bleeding heart vines,both colors, red and white and purple and red. I also have palm trees that you did not list, I can send the parlor palm and cardboard palm, and seeds for the King Palm, and Alexander Palm. Variegated rubbler tree, african dasies purple, yellow, and cream, these just bloom in zone 9 non stop. I also have the african hosta. I would really like to send a list of the plants I have thru email. I will be going down this weekend, and would be able to list what I have available, I have an acre of gardens in Texas, zone 9. Barb

Haha, I guess I was just being lazy with not writing out the varietal names! For lilies, I have unfortunately steered away from the wonderful orientals like 'Casa Blanca' since they tend to peter out in the local alkaline soil after a couple of seasons. I opted instead for the likes of Lilium regale and many of Judith Freeman's wonderful creations and offerings from The Lily Garden, including 'Silk Road'. In fact, I planted so many that I am having trouble recalling names without consulting my spreadsheet. As for roses, I did indeed plant 'Jude the Obscure'. It is my favorite Austin for fragrance. Others that I planted include 'Madame Plantier' (which produces probably my favorite of all rose fragrances), Rosa x centifolia 'Muscosa', 'Stanwell Perpetual', 'Nastarana', 'Spray Cecile Brunner', 'Marie Pavie' and 'Rose de Rescht'. I am looking forward to seeing how they settle in this year. Hmmm...I don't recall ever seeing mildew on Lonicera periclymenum. My favorite clone is 'Serotina' or 'Serotina Florida', since it has the prettiest blooms and tends to flower the longest. Some clones like 'Graham Thomas' look exciting in catalogues but then look anemic and sickly when you actually see them in person. With a plant like L. periclymenum that is naturally somewhat understated, I think it is best to choose the cultivars with the most "oomph." Ah, mock orange! I love them, but because of space constraints I will have to sacrifice them in my own garden. Instead, I will have to enjoy the perfume from the many wonderful specimens growing in other peoples' gardens throughout the city. Same with lilacs.

Andres, Zone 6 gardener in southern Indiana here. I'm fairly new to gingers, but no one else has given you a reply, so I'll see if I can at least intiate some discussion. Gingers aren't hardy here, so I do all my growing in pots. I have had good luck with globba winitii. I let it get down to 50 degrees in the winter and it goes totally dormant and is slow to 'wake up' in the spring, but grows quickly and blooms every year. Unfortunately, no fragrance, but really cool blooms. I also have several hedychiums in five-gallon pots. They stay green at 50 degrees in the winter, but you can let them go completely dormant, too. The challenge in a short growing season like yours, will be bringing them from complete dormancy and into bloom before fall. I would try keeping them cool and alive (green) all winter, which speeds up the new shoots in the spring. The old shoots don't have to grow to keep the plant 'awake' and ready to go. I would recommend a rich potting soil, a big pot, and lots of heat and water in the sunniest place you have to get them to bloom. From what I have read, they don't like to be planted out and re-dug every season like cannas will tolerate, so I'd keep them in pots. I'd also start with big plants, if possible. Mail order sources vary from dry, very small rhizomes, to huge, growing plants. Small ones may take a whole extra year to bloom. It's hard to find a 'short' hedychium for a pot. My first one was 'Vanilla Ice', the more variegated form of 'Dr. Moy'. It was supposed to get 3' tall, but it got 6' tall in a pot and still had plenty of time to bloom before frost here. Our last frost is around April 15th and our first frost is around October 15th. I want to get 'Daniel Weeks' since it's supposed to be one of the earliest to flower, and that's the key for cold-weather growers. I have flowered Tai Monarch and Anne Bishop, also. I have several other new ones, but haven't grown them big enough to bloom yet. As far as alpinias, they are a challenge since they don't bloom on the current year's shoots. You have to grow the shoots tall one season and keep them healthy, happy, and growing, to bloom the next spring. I have bloomed alpinia zerumbet variegata (once!), but really just grow it for its foliage. I'd love to be able to grow some of the other alpinias, but am tight on space and it's hard to justify something that never blooms for me. Hope some of this helps. Hoping for a HOT summer here for lots of quick growth. Best of luck with your plants! Bob