I don't mind if people confuse me and Mom. We both end up with the same stuff eventually. Treepalm, can I please have the deer fern? Surely Mom or I have something you would like in exchange. Corrine, we'll take all the manure you can bring. The benefit of hosting the trade is that we can make as many trips as we need to take everything home. We usually make at least 2 trips with my truck, plus a couple of trips with a friends' car to get everything home after a trade.

Esh, glad to hear that your Virburnum are doing well. That is interesting that seedlings grown in a northerly climate such as Zone 4 are growing well in your yard zone 7 yard. I would not expect the reverse to be true! Do you have some growing in dense shade or partial shade? I've read that the amount of fruits are directly related to the amount of sun. I gave away about 30 seedlings and the rest have been growing in holding beds for 1-2 years. Full sun is a rare commodity in this yard and so are being planted into shrub borders in an open woodland situation - partial sun. Here's some of the species I got - Cornus racemosa / Gray Dogwood - these are growing GREAT, most are approx 3 feet tall already and a couple are 4! Can't wait to see the white berries. Cornus alternifolia / alternate leaf Dogwood - also growing great, the only Dogwood with alternate leaves, the growth habit and shape of leaves are very elegant on this tree Myrica pennsylvanica / Northern bayberry - can't say enough good things about these seedlings, very rugged and drought tolerant, the foliage is gorgeous, stays semi evergreen thru winter, berries on female plants Amelanchier spp. / Serviceberry, seedlings are rugged, most had very nice fall color ranging from orange-red, and my older tree make delicious berries! Sambucus canadensis / Elderberry - amazing growth in first year!! 4-5 feet tall. They are taking over the poor Serviceberries. Gotta move Amelanchier and thin these ASAP. Viburnum lentago / Nannyberry - growing great, I will train most of these to a single trunk. Makes edible purple berries. Corylus americana / American hazelnut - drought and shade tolerant. Nice range of fall colors. Edible nuts, supposedly the squirrels love them! Rosa virginiana / Virginia rose - these are not growing too well, and are being eaten by something. Will move next Spring. Makes nice pink flowers and rose hips.

If you get to Milwaukee, let me know. I have clumps being given away all the time. tj

Tracy, I used to have all kinds of trouble with pillbugs and sowbugs eating every single thing I planted. They'd start eating bean seedlings (and others too) as soon as they emerged from the ground and they'd eat their weight in garden produce all summer long, including munching on tomatoes, muskmelons, canteloupes, cucumbers and watermelons. I bought and used Slug-Go (iron phosphate in a pelleted form) after someone on GardenWeb mentioned that they used it for snails and slugs, but noticed after using it that their pillbug and sowbug problems went away, and so did their cutworms. After seeing many similar anecdotal reports, I bought the Slug-Go to use on sow bugs and pill bugs and found it worked wonders. I was so excited. In the meantime, these anecdotal reports reached the manufacturer and they worked to improve the Slug-Go to make it even more effective on sowbugs and pillbugs by adding spinosad, and the result was Slug-Go Plus. In my garden, Slug-Go and Slug-Go Plus seem equally effective, as do any of the similar organic snail and slug baits that contain iron phosphate as the active ingredient. Since I started using them I simply don't have problems with roly polies at all any more, nor do I have cutworm issues. I've never had snail or slugs most likely because my clay isn't high enough in organic matter to be attractive to them, but we've always had tons of roly polies under the mulch. Now we don't. If you can't find Slug-Go or SLug-Go Plus in local stores, they're widely available from online retailers. I buy some before the start of every season so I'll have it at planting time. Whether directly sowing seeds or transplanting, I scatter the Slug-Go Plus on the soil surface following the label directions after I've planted and watered in whatever I planted. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Sluggo Plus