Lucia, I have a spreadsheet which I use for laying out vegetagles (i.e. a vegetable planting plan), for keeping notes on what worked well & what did not work well, for spacings between plants, notes on seeding planting dates etc. For knowing WHEN it is time to plant I've just referred to the state planting guide published by the Cooperative Extension Service. Actually, I used to do this moreso in the past because I now have the dates committed to memory. Having a notification algorithm in my spreadsheet would seemingly be more sophistication than what I would need. (If I did feel the need to have a reminder, I'd simply take the start planting dates out of my state planning guide and add these as reminders in the calendar program on my PC.)

I also cut back some mums yesterday - also about 3 feet tall and budding! I'd say they are three weeks to a month ahead of schedule. We'll probably definitely have to cut them back again, PM2. My roses were early, I've got lilies blooming early, perennial foxgloves were a bit early - I could probably go on. At the farm I work at, I saw a stand of daisies in full bloom - granted they were in a protected spot, but isn't it way too early for them? Mine don't even have stalks/stems yet, just foliage. Just walked by my monarda today that is about five feet tall and wondered if I waited to long to cut back. Looks like there are already buds... "... the last thing I need now is Ms. DiSabato-Aust pushing me around...." Too funny, dtd! :) Dee

Rita, Usually, most of us are referring only to snap beans/shelling beans if we are talking about pole beans or bush beans. Usually we say Lima if we're talking about Limas. Lima beans are sort of picky about the weather and a lot of folks who grow beans don't grow Limas. I don't know why. Lima beans need warmer weather so I put them in a little later than snap or shell beans. Lima beans are fairly heat-tolerant (with baby Limas seeming to have the best heat tolerance) but excess heat will make their blossoms drop. So, you may or may not get a crop from your Limas in any given year. That's true with snap or shelling beans too though. Since it is so hot this year, I'd probably wait and plant Limas next spring. We've only been hitting 101-104 but my garden isn't any happier than yours is. I agree rain water is best, and it is clouding up and we have a thunderstorm watch, so I'm hoping for rain (not hail!). Anything in my garden that suffers blossom drop because of high temps sure is suffering from blossom drop the last 2 weeks, but before that I was getting lots of bush snap beans. My bush limas (and pole limas) haven't flowered yet, but were planted about a month later than the snap beans. I am hoping they'll flower during a 'cool spell' so they can set beans instead of dropping flowers. It is a frustrating year. I've seen plans for those wooden towers, trellises or tuteurs in various gardening books and magazines so I'm sure you probably can google and find some building plans online. Dawn

From the announcement on Ijam's website: "...if you don't have any seeds to trade, come anyway, there's always plenty. A great way to meet other people that share your love of plants. Free to all." BTW, the last time I went (a couple of years ago), people also brought bulbs, cuttings, and even plants. I've missed the announcements the last few years, but this year, I plan to go again. I don't have many seeds or things to bring either. But, every time I have gone, there have always been seeds left over at the end of the swap. Here is a link that might be useful: Ijam's Seed Swap Announcement