Hello, hello! Thanks so much for all the positive feedback everyone! I REALLY appreciate it. Eden, re fuchsias blooming well; IÂve found that if I push them and give them as much sun as they can take they bloom better. They will tell you when it is too much with burned flowers and leaves, although expect some burning when you first expose them to additional sun. Some of the varieties can take more than others. Some of the more popular hanger types like ÂSwingtime and ÂDark Eyes will only take half day and need protection from the mid day sun but some of my uprights like ÂLenaÂ, and ÂBeacon can take quite a bit more than that. Then of course they need additional watering and food to deal with the additional growth. ~~ The trailing plant in the first container is a Coprosmia kirkii and is an interesting, variegated, trailing shrub from New Zealand. It is only hardy to zone 8 so IÂll have to see what I can do to winter it over in the basement. Cindy, some of those plants on the trellis were already there. I had a smaller trellis there last year so the ÂCarefree Delight rose and the ÂProteus clematis have been there two years. Drema those ÂManhattan lilies opened today! V you crack me up. Eileen, yes, indeed, there are two prints of dahlia paintings in the shade area but no, I didnÂt paint them although every year I intend to do something for that area. I havenÂt yet made the time to do it. It seems IÂm too busy propagating plants in the winter. LOL I found these cute little easels at Home Goods as well as the prints that are on sealed hardboard. They were pretty cheap so I donÂt mind them only lasting a season. OK IÂm about ready to hit the sack. Thanks again all for taking the time to look at my pics. Deanne

The pear tree has been dropping green pears for the past month; it's just begun to drop pale golden [almost ripe] pears. The dropped pears are bruised and/or half-eaten by big bees, but fine for burying in the garden; compost on site. Those big bees are a bit scarey, being about 4 inches long each with a wicked-looking stinger, but they ignore us in favor of eating fresh-pear-on-a-branch. DH picked about ten 5-gallon buckets of nearly ripe pears just from the bottom-most branches -- our next year's supply without even getting on the ladder. At his age, I prefer that he not go ladder climbing so I'm grateful for the tree's bounty. We're trying to talk neighbors and friends into coming over and getting as many (or more) as they want. While the squirrels seem to consider pear blossoms their springtime entree, they ignore the fruits. Yesterday put up 6 jars of diced pears (for a pear dessert DH favors) and will put up another 2 dozen over the next couple weeks; then plain slices, a pie-filling, pear honey and pear jam. I'm considering a different recipe for the jam, one that uses dried cranberries as well as the pears. I wish the apple tree had grown as happily as that pear tree. The Purple Dome asters are a mass of blooms in spite of being sadly overcrowded; like it or not, I'm going to have to do a major thinning next spring. I hope it's my imagination, but there doesn't seem to be as many goldenrods or wild fall asters along the roadsides this year. Even the chicory is/has been scarce. Our trees shouldn't color until mid-late October, but as always, a few are turning yellow early. More acorns are dropping, these are larger than a man's thumb and you *don't* want to be hit by one! The vehicles are being parked streetside until the trees cease and desist. Some years ago I parked my brand-new car under those oaks, overnight the car's top, hood and trunklid acquired a dense constellation of dents 1/2" deep and acorn shaped. I muttered imprecations about new cars not being as well made as old cars -the old Mazda never even dimpled under the heaviest acorn drop; but we now practice pre-emptive prevention, starting with the first drop of the pin-oak's tiny fruit until the last of the giants has fallen; that's about 10 weeks we don't use the driveway (sigh, but the summer shade is worth the inconvenience). I'm looking over the pantry shelves, and must admit to this year being notable for the fewest jars of anything put up -- only the year I had a broken wrist followed by a badly sprained wrist [other one] during summer/fall saw October in with fewer jars. I'm glad that having so little preserved doesn't mean that we have to do without this winter! Well, we will do without some things -when the pizza or Creole sauce is gone, it's gone- but that doesn't mean hunger, just different menus.

Woo Hoo! and I hope you had a nice Mother's Day, too! Lisa is absolutely right about winter sowing but we won't get into that right now. What did you start your seeds in? Peat pots, peat pellets?? If you started them in the peat pellets that you soak and they swell up into cute little balls of soil, that would be great for your morning glories since they don't really like to be transplanted. If you started them in soil that you placed in tiny pots, just be careful when you transplant them, not to disturb the roots much. Also morning glories are best grown in lean soil, so unamended, non fertilized soil is best. It's a lil late for snapdragons as they like it cool. Once the weather warms up, they don't like it too much and will get kinda raggedy. But persist, water them well, and they are likely to give you pretty blooms in fall. Salvias love the heat. I don't know which ones you planted and there are tons of them. There are some that are perennial, and some that are annual. A lot of the annuals will reseed for you next year. Many bloom in the fall, and many bloom in summer until fall. But they usually grow quite well from seed. I have lots of seedlings I grew this year that are close to going in the ground. As Dawn mentioned there are seeds you can sow directly in the ground now, too, like Cosmos, Zinnias, Mexican Sunflowers, Purple or White Hyacinth Bean (vine), Cardinal Climber (vine), and Cypress Vine (red, white, or pink), marigolds, and many other annuals. And most of all, have fun! Susan

Sultry, I thought the Oxypetalum would be hard from seed, and I've thought that for years, but they are easy. I used mycorrhizal fungi in the potting soil and everything grew like crazy. I'm freaking out because there's about another month before we can put out tender plants and these Oxypetalum under the lights already have flower buds and are ready to bloom. I here the Monarchs don't lay eggs on them but I just wanted a beautiful turquiose milkweed vine in a pot. I have lots of goodies for the Monarchs too. Oxypetalum coerulea with flower buds.m Calotropis procera Bottom left, Tithonia, bottom right Dregea sinensis. Foreground Gomphocarpus, background Asclepias curassavica. Sultry, lucky you. I've heard of heart shaped leaves, but this Hoya kerri takes the cake! Nice find!