we found a blister bug in the bedroom when i was moving "everything" around. ugh!! HOW GROSS!!!! LOL so yep i found it!!! i am woman and found my criminal!!! LOL summerhill seeds emailed me to let me know that they are going to be shipping my seeds sooN!!! LOL i just love that company!! they let me know what they are doing everystep of the way! great for a control freak!! LOL HEE HEE LOL i'm not that bad yet!! LOL ~Medo

The dowelrod idea reminded me of how we planted bare root tomato & pepper plants when I was a child. We had a truck farm with about thirty acres of pepper & tomatoes for cannery sales. We planted every last one of those by hand so we had to have a way to make it quick! So we worked in pairs. The first person carried the plants down the row and just dropped them in the correct spacing. The second person had half of an old broomstick which had one end padded with cloth or leather to make a knob-like handle. He (usually she actually) placed the flat end of the stick on the tip of the root and pushed the plant into the soft ground. Then he stepped close to the plant on each side to pack the earth around the roots. Voila! Plants efficiently planted without the aid of big machinery and No Stooping or Kneeling!! I don't know who thought this up. Maybe it was just one of those things that was handed down through the generations. Seems to me that it would be adaptable for anyone who cannot bend and is planting bare root plants. Just make sure the ground is very soft so the plant goes in without damaging the roots. Take care, Celia

I do not accept it that you have a black thumb! There is just something or other about keeping plants happy that you could learn. Ask someone who is an experienced gardener to plant the window boxes with you and I bet you will find out what the problem has been. I thought I was planting spring bulbs according to the directions, but when a friend and former Master Gardener watched what I was doing, I quickly discovered why my bulbs were rotting in the ground. Similarly, when I helped a novice but very enthusiastic gardener with her perennials, I found that she was just sprinkling them rather than watering them deeply, planting sun plants in the shade and vice versa, and trying to grow plants in the thin old dirt that had been under her grass instead of in good garden soil. So, if you want to, you can learn to garden!

Awww, y'all makin' me blush... (& I paid them hardly anything at all!) snork. The Belton swap was a blast! The swap was loads of fun, the people were friendly & outgoing, the site was on the east side of the building under trees, the Master Gardeners loaned tables & chairs- & took us on a greenhouse tour that was just mind-boggling! found homes for every one of my plants & most of the seeds in the famous seed box, & came home with a carload of wonderful stuff, some for my own gardens & some that I'll bring to the November swap in Ft Worth. Belton's just at the south edge of Temple, about a 2 hour drive from just south of DeSoto, easily do-able for most of us. (& the route goes *right past* the outlet mall in Hillsboro!) & for those who want to stay the night to prowl Salado's to-drool-for antique stores, one of the master gardeners & her husband have a bed & breakfast on wooded acreage...with gardens to make your mouth water! The accomodations are self-contained storybook cottages with their own baths & kitchenettes, just adorable, with metal roofs, big porches, all-weather fireplaces, big hydro-tubs, etc. Thanks, guys, looking forward to your spring swap!