Love this thread!!! I keep nodding my head at some of the things (yogurt cups all over the place, full of seeds and tiny ripped-off corners of paper for labels, making another flower bed simply cuz' you don't have room for all the seedlings, etc). You know you have a problem when you read this post and say to yourself "I'm not as bad as some of the people here". Then you realize you are worse and were only trying to delude yourself before. LOL. Classic case of addict denial! I have to say, reading the posts here makes me feel a little less guilty about my seed snatchin' and WHERE I have ended up snatchin' from. :-) You feel so pleased when you convert your own father into a fellow seed snatcher! One day he came up to me with a happy/sneaky look on his face and pulled a seedpod (a simple marigold) out of his pocket that he snagged from a store. Next he gives me a tiny NOID sprig of a shrub that he pulled up from in front of some mall in town ;-D Then one day I give him a tin of herbal drops I no longer want and ask him to save the tin. I didn't even have to tell him what I wanted it for- he said it for me "for seeds!" I think I have found my kinfolk here in all of you. Great post! ;-) CMK

Way too funny! I found many, many things that apply to me lol! I especially like the one where you are driving down the road and almost crash into a tree because you are trying to see other peoples gardens! lolololol! That definitely describes me! I almost back ended someone while trying to turn my head 360 degrees to see someones garden! lol You know you are addicted to gardening when you sit outside at work during a break and think about what else needs to be done in the garden that day and week. And, yes my bathroom has lots of reading material of the gardening type! My hubby thinks I'm nuts!

When you carry your camera everywhere to photograph plants, trees, gardens, etc. When you go for a midnight ride in your power hair to do some pruning of plants along your way that just need the trimming and need to be rooted. When you travel five hours or more away from your home to attend a plant swap. When you would rather have fresh cow manure and composted dirt for your birthday along with that five hour trip to Crawfordville and all the other nurseries in Tallahassee that you are familiar with. When you dream about your garden and plants at night When the magazines around the house are seed catalogs with highlighted things you want. When you've been sick for a year and die inside when you see the plants and cuttings other gardening friends have shared with you crispy and dead because your non gardening housemate did not tend to them properly and you threatened to kick him out but punish him by forcing him to pull the year worth of weeds and air potato vines. The joy you feel when you see a little life in a plant and the pride when you nurse it back to good health.

I feel a list coming on (they are all in the ground): Citrus: Blood Orange - from seed to 2ft in three years, no complaints Meyer Lemon - one gallon gift has yielded lemons all three years, thriving Palms: Canary Island Date Palm - from three gallon to monster, if you have the room this is your palm Silver Date Palm - Seedling is adjusting but putting out new fronds, so far so good Bismarkia nobilis - Seedling is sulking, I hope that it is establishing its roots and puts out some growth this summer or I think that winter will kill it Chinese Fan Palm - Establishing itself, so far so good Foxtail Palm - Seedling in sun scorched to death, seedling in shade putting out new growth, three gallon in semi-sun recovering nicely from a nursery- induced spider mite infestation Pygmy Date Palm - growing as fast as these little guys do Mexican Fan Palm - Until Tropical Storm Cindy this was a big success, now it is looking really stressed, I think the roots were disturbed by the wind Queen Palms - Coming along a little more slowly than I expected, next year will tell Sabal Palm - This was a gift of a bird to the yard and is probably ten years old, it is finally developing some trunk Gingers: five species all thriving (except for the ones that the yard guy weed eats) Cassias: alata and one other whose name escapes me, too successful, want some? Cannas: at least five cultivars, Wyoming looks the best, all have leaf roller issues Alocasia: thriving in shade and sun Colocasia: sulking, too much shade, not enough water Bananas: ornata, rojo, and one that I rustled from a construction site are all thriving, they are a maintenance chore, but when kept in check nothing beats them Firespike: perfect for deep shade Tree Fern: I would not trade my Australian Tree Ferns for anything, one has more than three feet of trunk, this is the first year for the Tasmanian Tree Fern, they are all planted under trees to protect from radiational cooling Rice Paper Plant: thriving, which is both good (they resemble gunnera which we can't grow here) and bad (they pop up everywhere) Root Beer Plant: piper auretum (or something like that), it is thriving, Cindy's winds made me cut it way back, it runs like bamboo, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, to do over I would have put it in an area that I could control better, it has a great leaf shape if you are into that sort of thing Cuphias: I have five species of these "cigar" plants, beetles have really chewed them up this year and I have tried unsuccessfully to control them, it is an off year Castor Bean: I grow it, but not with much enthusiasm, they grow tall quickly and flop over just as quickly Clerendum uganese: An off year, I suspect some root rot Bottle brush: If you don't have one you should, great screening plant that attracts hummers, blooms heavily in spring and sporatically during the rest of the year (like now), from ten inch plant to small tree in six years Nigh blooming jasmine: you either love it or hate it Brugmansia: I don't know what cultivar it is, it was sold to me as a "white" one, but it is more of a "salmon/peach", I grow it in part sun rather than full sun, I think you get a better canopy of leaves this way, this is the best smelling flower that I have ever encountered, it can freeze to the ground and become a small tree in one season Lantana: I grow an orange and a white one, they come from an era when I wanted bulletproof plants, overrated as butterfly plants Justicas: I grow shrimp (red bracts), flamingo (pink) and hummingbird (orange) plants, these are somewhat too successful Morning Glory Tree: I don't know what to do with this because of it unusual form, it blooms when nothing else does, however, it is an awkward plant (to 20ft high) I know that I am forgetting a few like the monkey face and a few tender salvias, but it is a start.