We have 6 acres of native woods with plenty of Madrone. They reseed themselves abundantly but are relatively short lived. Trunks are often hollowed and weak. When I find it necessary to cut one down to prevent it falling on a structure or across a road it usually will regrow from the roots. Some get diseased when mature and gradually decline over several years time. They are good firewood, which makes the cleanup worthwhile. If you want to dig and transplant a seedling it is best done when only about 6 inches high. Al

I was able to visit the Monardella plant today, and harvested a few seeds. The seedheads seem to have a tendency to break off the plant, and the flowers were dry or nearly dry. However, only some of the seeds were dark in color. I don't know if any of these seeds are viable, but I am suspicous that the light colored ones are not. I split them up into 3 groups in case anyone wants to try some as well. I have had little luck finding out when and how to plant them, whether they need to be stratified, and whether they require light to germinate. I'll keep a third and of those try stratifying half and planting half directly. Given the fact that the seeds are ripening a little before our rainy season, I would suspect that they germinate in the Fall/Winter and grow over the rainy months. Apparently plants can overwinter in areas with considerable cold. I don't know how this might apply to seedlings--or whether they don't germinate until it warms. So I'll send the other two sets of seeds for postage to a couple of people who are interested in trying them. I can include some other seeds: Asarina erubescens, Eccremocarpus scaber 'Cherry Red'and Petunia exserta. If anyone wants any, fruits of Arbutus unedo keep dropping into my yard. The humminbirds are gorging themselves on Arbutus nectar. I also just harvested some Cuphea seeds, and I can enclose seeds of Cuphea 'Triple Crown' (as far as anyone can tell this is just a selection of Cuphea cyanea) and Cuphea ignea white. Both are hummingbird favorites as well, and I can send a few of each of those. If someone doesn't want the Monardella seeds, but wants one or more of the others please let me know.

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words, HU-659273525. But I'm glad your tree is doing well for you. They are one of my favorite BLEs although mine in zone 7a has been almost killed to the ground before and surely will be again someday, it came roaring back to life. I haven't seen any drunk birds yet, and in fact they seem to avoid mine. [Haha I now spot a mistake on that thread. The huge cyclamen blooming in September in Rye had to be something like C. graecum, not C. coum. Although now I seem to recall having a sidebar convo with someone on GOTE and finding out those cyclamen were some brobdingnagian hybrids that had just been introduced to the UK market, bred to make plants that looked a bit like C. persicum hybrids but were hardy enough for milder parts of NW Europe. Totally forget the name now, and I googled at the time to find they hadn't been brought to this side of the pond yet, as is so often the case. I'm still waiting for Clematis X 'Advent Bells', whose hybrid vigor might give it a better chance fighting my winters]