Campanula, That post was nothing short of inspirational, i'm very moved :) I am now on the look out for jonquila. lol An unfortunate coincidence, 2 days prior to reading your post I was staring jonquilla baby moon in the face, among about 50 other spring bulbs at a store. In the end, I went with hyacinth city of haarlem because it seemed to be highly regarded as a fragrant, and unusually colored hyacinth. I regret my choice.....might be going back there to pick up baby moon for that "heart-lifting" fragrance. They are really adorable little flowers. I also found that hyacinth very rarely propagate themselves, and need to be lifted and scored after going dormant if you want it to spread......among other unfavorable mentions on hyacinths. I still adore them, and look forward to the fragrance each year at a public garden. Hopefully city of haarlem will not be fussy in my yard. As my favorite daffodil, don't have one. This is my first year messing with daffodils. I picked up a mixed set of 'ice king' and 'delnashaugh'. Hope they perform well. Hopefully I snag some baby moon before it's too late. I feel a favorite coming on if I get it.

Don't buy any companion or non-companion planting recommendations. They have whole lists of stuff that supposedly does well together and others that do badly together, and usually without one shred of evidence or reference to some sort of evidence. The usual and recommended way of organizing your veggie plants is in a crop rotation system. You plant members of the same family in the same graden blocks/plots, and rotate their position every year. This helps prevent the buildup of diseases and pests and conserves nutrients (if you organize the plots right). The only "companion plantings" that I have managed managed to verify, because universities have actually done STUDIES on them, is that marigolds (Tagetes) produce chemicals in the ground that prvents/kills nematodes, and mustards used as a cover crop can substitute for a soil fumigant for potatoes. There is also reason to believe that rue can repel some insects. These last two make sense because the volatile/flavor compounds are known bug-repellents - that's why they're THERE in the plant. There are a few other "companion plantings" that might make sense - for example garlic is somewhat pest repellent; heck, you can use garlic oil as an organic pesticide! Just use your garden logic - some plants produce compounds that repel pests. Legumes add nitrogen to the soil. Some plants are light feeders and some are heavy feeders. But for the most part "companion plantings" that can be proven effective are few and far between, and you should just stick with crop rotation and organize your garden from there.

Hello. I have to ask those that say they love Scarlet Runner Beans: how small should they be to pick and eat, and how do you prepare them?! I've been growing SRBs for about 5 years but have always treated them as an ornamental because I read too many times that they shouldn't be eaten! :( I've also grown various heirloom tomatoes over the past 5 or 6 years... the only hybrid I'd ever grow again is Sun Gold (which is FANTASTIC!), but I bought more seed 2 years ago and it didn't come true. So disappointing! :( Funny... I grew Principe Borghese this year for the first time... the plants were perfect little specimens. They were LOADED with tomatoes. And they tasted like crap to me! lol! I tasted them fresh. blech. So I dried a batch. more blech. Maybe they had that blight but just didn't show it?! The heirloom tomatoes that I *have* to grow every year now are: - Pink Brandywine. I don't know which strain I have (got in trade), but they're huge and fantastic. - Oxheart. Huge and fantastic and nothing but "meat". I struggle to find enough seeds in them to save for each year! - Green Zebra. LOVE the taste and appearance, and the plants are smaller and always so productive for me. - Cherokee Chocolate. This was introduced as a mutation from the tomato man that reintroduced CP and I much prefer the color and flavor. - Kellogg's Breakfast. Huge, great taste, and just BEAUTIFUL color. - Gold Nugget. Not the best taste, but pretty and the most productive tomato ever for me -- and always the first ready to be picked! :) I've stuck with them for more than 10 years. lol! I only have small veggie gardens, but other heirloom tomatoes I like and have grown more than once include Stupice (early!), White Wonder (AMAZING texture!), and Matt's Wild Cherry (too cute and *very* flavorful!). There are some I've tried that I won't bother with again, and so many that I've never tried! aftermidnight: I plant my tomatoes very close and have been saving seed for years without bagging. Haven't had them cross yet. I read about how they self-pollinate and the chances of them crossing are very slim.

i find that i am quite fond of peas Happy. Golden Sweet-Sourced from PineTree. I liked it! Good sized, not woody, good yield. Pretty purple flowers so pretty against yellow tinted foliage. Not sweet like sugar snap peas but nice mixed with green snow peas and stir fried. I'll grow this one again. Oregon Giant-Low yield and pods not that giant! Short vines, white flowers. Grew these alongside: Cascadia-Nice! Short, vigorous vines with white flowers. Sweet crunchy peas. Decent yield even during short days. Carouby de Maussane-Grew these for the flowers which weren't very impressive. Susceptible to PM. Seemed heat sensitive. Nice flavor, tho. Ho Lan Dow-Sourced from Gourmet Seeds international. Seems like Ho Lan Dow is usually a type of snow pea but this was a small, sweet, crunchy sugar snap pea. Short, vigorous vines. A lot like Cascadia. Got a few more new-to-me varieties to try next year but won't miss planting Super Sugar Snaps again. You're right, Happy, they are hard to beat! Is CPP a tall vine ispahan?