Hi Carla! I am not one to raise plants by seed. Just not a patient enough person for that. But a few years ago, out of curiosity, I took a few seeds from my 'Midnight Reiter', and 'Alba' perennial geraniums and sowed them directly in the ground. Most came up. So if it was easy for me I am sure anyone could get them to grow. On a side note about Splish-Splash: I bought a plant several years ago at a nursery after falling in love with it in a mag. I have to say I was dissapointed. There wern't many streaks of blue in the flower, which was a dull white color itself. The plant is also rather leggy and gets horrible mildew. But I have heard of several people who get them to grow wonderfully, and the flowers look just like the pics in the mags. If you do buy one make sure you get it from a good company. Hope this helps you Carla! CMK

This discussion of exposure is very helpful. Since I rarely get the placement right on any plant and end up moving them more than once. Maybe this will help me figure it out better this time around. I have to agree Wendy, that depending on trees and structures, locations can differ so much. The way the neighbor's trees and all our fences are situated, it has created a wind 'alley' effect down one of my borders, from West to East. I am still experimenting with what works. I could plant a taxus at one end that might cut down on wind there, but I grow perennials in that border and my veggie garden is near there and I thought the wind is probably an asset as far as keeping down the mildew diseases. I only have a few evergreens and I'm adding more, little by little. I did have someone come and prune for me in the spring and he remarked that he was surprised that my boxwood do so well. They rarely have any winter damage. I must have just got lucky because I didn't even know about winter damage when I planted them. [g] One is in the front facing East with the house behind, another is in the back against the house facing west and one is on the north side of my southern lot line, stockade fence. So maybe this would be good locations for the leucothoe? Sorry to hear about your leaf problems in zone 8, BBoy. I guess every zone has it's challenges. Ego....that sounds right to me too. Because I've read that the morning sun hitting the evergreens is what causes the problem, when they warm up and then get cold again, right? I find I have the most difficult time deciding to plant anything in my northern exposures though. It always seems so dark there, I'm afraid to put anything there. [g] And my West exposure does get sun in the afternoon. I haven't figured out yet, how much wind the plants are exposed to in those beds. They have the house behind them. I don't think I have a bed with a Northwest exposure. I'm happy to hear you aren't getting sunburn on the Pierises. I have just bought two of them in the last year and I enjoy them. One is facing East and I am planting the other facing south in the shade of a Maple. Interesting that you should mention the hydrangea bloom, ego. I read that you were supposed to plant them facing East and that is where most of them went. I have noticed that I don't get as much bloom as I thought I should. I moved one into a more Southeast location and it is blooming better and I plan on adding another one in the spring that would get a more southern exposure too.

Growing roses in Fla. is great, and there are numerous varieties suitable for our climate and soil.. I am in St Pete, central Fla., and have been growing roses here over 40 years... I would recommend your friend go on Google and type in Fla. roses, and variations, such as 'growing roses in Fla', etc.... also go on Google to the various Rose Societies web-sites here, Sarasota-Bradenton Rose Society, Tampa Rose Society, Orlando Rose Society... every area has Societies and some have very informative web-sites, with growing tips and pics of roses that do well here...perhaps Naples has a Rose Society as well, he could contact, and talk to the helpful folks there..... I recommend he only grow grafted roses on Fortuniana, they withstand the nematodes in our soil... I get most of my roses mail-order from K & M Roses, on Fort., their plants are suited to our climate....and I grow organically, I use lots of Milorganite, Black Cow, Black Hen, Alfalfa Pellets, Cottonseed meal, mulch, Espoma, Fish Emulsion, etc. and mulch deeply... I find that if you keep a very rich soil the roses can withstand black-spot and most bugs, etc, I no longer spray... the earth-worms will tell you if you are successful ! Good Luck........... sally

Hmmm. I think I could stand to check in on the Northern Forum more often. There is a link to the Idaho Gardner forum in the "What's New on GardenWeb" area at the top of any forum you choose. It has been slow getting going. Mla2ofus, I have talked to you before. What are the good Pocatello greenhouses? And how hard are they to find from I-15? I have to go back to Idaho Falls in 2 weeks, but I've already checked out the nurseries there. I think I just barely noticed the Nursery in Garden City, too. What is it called? Needles and Pines? It's on highway 89. Secrist Gardens is a little harder to find, since it's not on the highway. It is up by North Beach, so you need to turn at The Bear Cave and drive past East Beach to get there. Lately, they've had a sign next to a dirt road a little farther south that says "Lakeside Nursery" on it. The Secrists buy plugs (I believe) and plant them in gallon containers in the summer and fall and then overwinter them before they are sold. The gallons are usually $3 each, though a few plants cost a little bit more. They don't push their plants ahead with fertilizers, but they do mix up some excellent potting soil. They only sell perennial flowers, and their display garden is one of the best that I've seen. They have a 4-year rotation schedule for the plants that they sell, so the colors they have available change from year to year. Sharon Here is a link that might be useful: Idaho Gardening Forum