Ron and I had a wonderful time. He commented that I might actually have come home with less than I took, which is exceptional!! Thank you Charlotte for a great get together. It was wonderful seeing everyone and I am very pleased with all the plants I have acquired. Bob, thank you for answering my plant identification questions. I can't wait til spring! I also think there was a nice diversity in the plants. Ally & Lindsey - I will be digging purple iris' this weekend and promise to get them in the mail by monday. Lindsay you should be getting mail today, it's the seeds you wanted. It was wonderful meeting new swappers as well as seeing people from the last swap. Thank you to everyone who came and hopefully we will see you all in the spring! Jani & Ron San Marcos & Round Rock

OK, After several postings (which I can't delete and replace with this), Here is my final posting of wants and haves - which supercedes prior postings: Specific Wants: Yucca pallida (pale leaf yucca) Mexican Mint Marigold - Charloote to provide Damianita Agave colorata or paryii, or victoria-reginae Fall Aster Hardy sedums - Omar to provide Have: (and plan to bring) Variegated Turks Cap Senecio himilaya glauca Kalanchoe - variegated (bluish with cream margin) Cuphea igneus (David Varity) - the dwarf one Hamelia patens dwarf form (dwarf hummingbird bush) Trichytis formosiana 'Guilt Edge' - yellow variegated margin Prerskia bleo Tricolor Hypericum Pandanus veitchii variegata - Tropical aka Screw Pine Pandanus baptisti aureo variegata - Tropical Colocasia 'black magic' Xanthosoma 'Golden Delicious' - pale yellow tropical foliage Cuttings of Thailand hybrid crown of thorns, var. colors Eleagnus pungens maculata - yellow leaf centered variegation Other last minute plants I might grab. Prearranged trades are welcomed before or after the swap - see my entire plant list at www.houstongardening.info/plantlist.htm I will wear a bright red shirt, be wearing glasses and a Master Gardener name tag on at the swap. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Bob Beyer, NW Austin

Wish I lived in San Antonio...

I'll come out of hiding with my bit to add. I lived in San Antonio briefly, 20 some years ago, with my now longtime ex; if memory serves, he was stationed at Ft Sam Houston. Since he, too, was going thru some sort of officer's introductory course and we were on to Colorado next, we did not live on base. While I am sure much has changed since I lived there, I can tell you SA is HOT much of the time, so if your family lives off base, find someplace with pool privileges. Be careful, too, as the worst sunburns of my pale life I got from the broiling sun on Texas beaches where people drive, and park, their cars like some beach tailgate. Exterminators come year round as it doesn't get cold enough to kill what our NE winters will. The people are incredibly nice and friendly. As a matter of fact, when passing an oncoming car and the driver lifts a finger off the steering wheel, it is a friendly wave and not what two, just out of college, born & bred eastcoasters thought it was... Yummy yummy Tex-Mex food all over, too--living in TX and CO influenced my cooking style and meal choices permanently. Take advantage of your time visiting and soak up all the Southwestern culture you can--museums, galleries, restaurants (did i mention the food?) and even the touristy stuff, like the Alamo and the Riverwalk. When I was living the military spouse life, we always did our px and commissary shopping on the air force bases in the area instead of the army shops. Years ago, the joke was that the army spent its budget on bombs and troops and funded the bases with what was left over, but the air force did it in reverse, knowing they could get more funding for the hard-core stuff. Don't know if that is still true.