Nothing wrong with liking him, he's just one of those that people either love or hate, not much middle ground. Barry used to be like Dick Clark, never seemed to age. Now both of them seem to have aged 40 years in about two weeks. All those ageless years caught up all at once. Missed him on AI.

First, don't nick the seeds next time. I understand it never helps and can only hurt. Are you sure you can't find any way to overwinter anything? I don't live in a climate with severe winters, but I understand there are creative ways to keep them that minimizes space and light requirements. Perhaps someone else can elaborate. Or perhaps you have zero possible space for any plant inside... If you can't keep anything at all inside, there are a couple possibilities that come to mind: 1) Passiflora foetida will grow, bloom and fruit in one year, I'm told. I don't know if this works given the length of your growing season. You may be able to find seeds for postage or trade. Otherwise, you should be able to find viable seeds on Ebay. Looking at what's for sale right now, I would go with either the seller "where*the*wild*things*grow" or the seller "passiflorista" although others may also have viable seeds. 2) Get seeds or plants/rooted cuttings of a variety of P. incarnata that will grow in zone 5b, assuming that you can plant things in the ground. I'm not sure what a good source of those would be; perhaps others know. Not all varieties of P. incarnata are that hardy, and not all sellers will be honest (or knowledgeable) about hardiness. It's best to get them from a plant already growing in zone 5 for that reason. 3) Get cuttings or rooted cuttings of something that will bloom the first year and treat it as an annual. I'm not sure what would work, or what a good source would be. There are some like this where one can simply take cuttings in the Fall and bring them inside and repeat the next year. Cuttings would take less room inside than a mature plant. There are probably a number of species/hybrids that would work with this approach.

I guess my suggestion may have been somewhat confusing. In general , I think most of the passifloras will take a very heavy pruning when you bring them in for the winter, but it might be better to leave the pruning for the spring. providing the plant doesn't decide to grow like a rampant weed all winter, in which case it could get out of control in a hurry. Some people , if the vines are on a structure , just train the vines to wind around and around the structure as they grow, just to keep them under control and you could do some modest pruning as they grow through the winter. My vitifolia pretty much stopped growing for months or at least slowed it's growth considerably after comming indoors and only as spring approached really grew by leaps and bounds. I will have to prune it most likely when I first move it back outdoors. I'd prefer if possible, and it may not be easy. to encourage new shoots on the oldest parts of the stem, so if need be all the top and newest growth can be cut back and still leave some younger stems near the bottom of the plants, which having leaves would mean, that cutting most of the plant off wouldn't leave it completely leafless and possibly cause it to go into shock. I think the vitifolias are a bit more sensitive to the heavy pruning , whereas others are not. It even used to put out some very sickly looking leaves after the new shoots would start growing again, since it was thrown out of ballance with having so few leaves to still interact with the large root system, and the roots had a hard time adjusting to the minimal leaves. After all the roots and the leaves feed each other!! Some plants have the ability to store large food reserves in the stems, trunks, and roots for the situation , where they may be broken way back or have their leaves removed by insects , and thus the roots don't have to struggle so hard as they're providing for the needs of the new growth. Mind you this is somewhat a theory based on my "formal botanical education" and may not be accurate, but just my theory!!

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!!!!