I never tried to photograph the shimmering... but did manage to get the Aurora. It was in Sept 05 and very, very late in the night. My wife and I were watching a movie and when it ended, we went outside for some fresh air and the night sky had what we call a moonbow-- a strange glow arching the entire sky, signifying an approaching solar storm. I knew the Aurora was going to kick up so my wife lovingly, if not totally annoyed, got in the car with me and my camera equipment. We went deep into the country-side away from lights and waited. I think we were out there for 2 or so hours-- and NOTHING happened. It was the exact moment that Carrie opened the door that she looked up and said, "Oh my God! Look!" The sky opened up as if on fire and we enjoyed an hour+ long show that was nothing short of a divine experience. It actually made us cry, it was so amazing. To describe it with words or images does no justice. But it was as if a great eye was directly above us. It swirled like a storm and then it would morph and pulse like a blinking eye. It was about half way through that the light pours down to the horizon, surrounding us like huge candles, dancing. The colors changed constantly, revealing reds, purples, greens, yellows, blues and oranges-- pretty much the entire spectrum. When the storm was finally over, the sky continued to pulsate, rhythmically for hours and hours. We stayed until the sun rose. We later found out that it was one of the largest solar storms ever recorded-- and we were so thankful to have seen it. Not that I doubted then, but having seen the Aurora, it was like witnessing the very presence of God. Sorry for all the photos... but I wanted to share them. The cold can be hard to bear if you're not use to it-- but having the chance to see something like this, requiring me to be very far North-- was worth all the shivering! Ryan

Here the green ones are the hardiest. I have watched them over the years and it's very close to -8 C in my rainy climate that knocks them back - they do grow back from the ground. I've read that the provenance of some that are grown in England are hardier and brought some seeds back when I visited there several years ago. Time will tell - my plants are several feet high now - but I'm not holding my breath and won't be surprised to see them damaged eventually too. All of the prettier ones are less hardy. The muddy purple one (Purple Tower?)is not as hardy as some coloured ones. Red Sensation is the hardiest of the lot that I'm familiar with. I love cordylines and have them all over the place here. There are some gorgeous ones available in the US, like Electric Pink, that I can't get here. To bring it back to succulents, they do go well with them! :-)

Are you all that concerned about 34 degrees? We were 7 celsius here in Toronto this morning . . . that's about 44 fahrenheit. Hmmm . . . yeah, I guess you're right - that's colder than us. I've done some of my pelargoniums/geraniums . . . in fact, I've got one with white flowers! Cool, eh? So I did that one immediately - don't want to be losing that. Here's a direct link to a photo . . . http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1389/whitegeranium0912fe1.jpg I'll try to get better pics of the white one on the weekend. We're up and down here - today we had a high of 16 celsius, tomorrow we'll have 18 - the weekend is low twenties but with rain. What I'm trying to do is pack up for the indoors a couple of pots at a time - fortunately I chose to plant perennials wherever possible this summer. Still, there's a lot needs to come in - we have a lot of kalanchoe and that definitely has to be in for the winter. (I am, btw, experimenting with 3 of them - going to see if I can over-winter them . . . I sunk them into the ground in their pots and am putting plastic pop bottles on top as it gets colder) I'm giving about 90% of them away - I have two different kinds. If anybody here in the west end of Toronto wants some kalanchoe, lemme' know (writer56@canoemail.com). I've got some wandering jew - some? Ha! That's an understatement - I bought 4 small plants and it just boomed. That's got to come in (I'm sure of that now). And I did realize in time that mexican heather won't overwinter outside in our climate, so that's gotta' come in. Geesh! Why do we slave? Because we love it! Check out my garden forum journal at Wild City Writers' Workshop, if you'd like to see all my pics: http://wildcity.proboards14.com/index.cgi?board=gardening Feel free to participate there if you like - you don't have to be a writer. Carly :-0

Hi all, I'm back on the eastern side of the mountains again--after a wonderful three weeks on the "other" side! For any swap newbies, or anyone wondering about how something works, here's a copy of the Swap FAQs. Having just gotten back home I'm not at all sure what I'll have this time, but I'll come up with something! See you all Saturday! Skybird . ~~~~~ THE BASIC SWAP FAQ'S! ~~~~~ WHAT TO BRING! Anything that has anything to do with gardening is welcome at the swap! Plants, of course, are our primary "commodity," but people also sometimes bring fresh produce, like cut herbs, rhubarb, or other fresh spring veggies to include in the trading. The Spring Swap plants are usually mostly starts and seedlings of annual bedding plants and veggies, with some perennial divisions and seedlings. The Fall Swap is usually mostly perennial divisions! In addition to garden plants, we also welcome house plants, seeds, pots, books/magazines, tools, rocks, garden art.......... Anything garden related that you don't want or need anymore! . WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SWAP! The Arriving Part! When you arrive, there will be a table with a sign in sheet and name badges. Everybody needs to sign in and make a name badge for themselves and any significant others or guests. The Eating Part! We start out with the pot luck! Your dish can be absolutely anything! Hot dishes, cold dishes, appetizers/finger foods, salads, sweets--anything you think others would enjoy! Homemade dishes, if you have time, are always good and very much appreciated! Please plan to bring a serving spoon if it will be needed for your dish, and also please make some provision for it to be covered--a lid if it's that type of dish, or plastic wrap, or whatever. And a request I've made at the last couple swaps that has worked out pretty well! I love sweets, so I definitely don't want to put too much of a damper on the dessert type things, but at a couple of the early swaps we seemed to wind up with mostly sweets, so if you're trying to decide between that or something else, lean toward the something else! The Swapping Part! During the arriving/eating parts you will have had time to check out the plants people have brought, and now it's time for the swapping! First we make sure anybody who has plants earmarked for others, gets or has already gotten them to the right people. Then we draw numbers for the first TWO rounds of picking what we want. With number in hand, we go around and have everyone briefly describe what they brought so people know for sure what's there and so everyone can decide what they want the most! Then we go around twice in "number order" and each person picks the one thing they want the most in each round. This gives everyone a pretty good chance of getting the two things they really want! After the two "civilized" rounds of picking we open it up to a free-for-all! Everyone just goes around and grabs whatever they want of what's left! (Bring your Body Armor!) NOTE: At the last several swaps, after the first two rounds of picking we’ve been deciding as a group if we want to do more “rounds” of picking before we go to the free-for-all! About the Earmarking! On the day of the swap we don't allow any "early picking," meaning, while you can look and touch all you want, nobody can take any of the plants till we start our first two rounds of picking! BUT we do allow earmarking of plants BEFORE the swap when people post what they plan to bring. When people start posting what they plan to bring they'll say whether or not they'll be willing to earmark plants for people, and if they are, you can ask for dibs on them at that point! In the last couple years I and a couple other people have decided it's more fun to not do dibs--and less complicated, so this is sort of an evolving situation at this point and we'll just play it by ear! . OUR PRIMARY SWAP RULE! And then there's that one Swap Law that everybody needs to know about! Nobody needs to have any plants to be welcome at the swap! If you're new to gardening and don't have anything yet, if you just moved to a new house and don't have anything to give away yet, or if you just don't have anything for any reason at all, that's ok! There are always way, way plenty plants to go around, and we get together as much to swap gardening talk and friendship as to swap plants--so come regardless of how much you do or don't have to bring! (And, yes, you do get to pick plants in the swap part even if you weren't able to bring any!) . HERE'S SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANTS YOU BRING! PLANT THEM – Whether it's divisions or seedlings or whole plants you'll be bringing, please try to get them into their pots AT LEAST a couple weeks before the swap so they have time to "settle in" and start to root out some. If plants are dug up and put into pots, and then taken back out of the pots to be planted in the ground just a couple days later, it's "double trauma" for them! Also, most plants don't do at all well in pots in "garden soil," so if at all possible, use some sort of a store bought potting mix. It doesn't need to be expensive! (But Hyponex brand would probably be worse than garden soil, so if that's the option, stick with the garden soil!) LABEL THEM – Please be sure the plants you bring are labeled one way or another! Here are some of the ways people have labeled their plants in the past: a regular plant tag in the pot – plastic beverage cups cut up into narrow strips – popsicle sticks – old blinds cut up into label size strips – staple or tape a piece of paper with the name onto the pot – write the name of the plant on the pot with a marker or crayon – make up adhesive labels with the plant name and basic information and stick them on the pots. I make up little strips of paper on the computer with the name and other info and include one with each plant. Be creative, but find some way to label them! Anything to ensure the person getting the plant will know what they have when they get home. When we're at the swap, we all think we'll be able to remember the things we're getting to take home, and then we wind up grabbing all kinds of things in the free-for-all, and........... Oops! What is this! WATER THEM – Please plan to thoroughly water the plants you're bringing the DAY BEFORE the swap so they'll have time to drain well enough to be easy to transport, yet be wet enough to not be wilting at the swap or while people are taking them home! TAKE THEM HOME! – It's a really good idea to bring a box/tray or two to carry your booty back home in! If the plants you're bringing are in something, don't let anybody else snag it, and you can use that to refill with the new goodies! We do ask that you please don't use someone else's boxes or trays without asking first if it's ok! MARK YOUR EARMARKED PLANTS -- If you're earmarking something for someone who's requested it, please be sure to clearly mark on the pot somehow who it's for, to be sure it gets to the right person. I use small "pots" (styrofoam cups!) for my plants, and when I’ve earmarked plants in the past I found it worked well to write the screen name of the person on a paper bag and put the plants in the bag. If there was more than one bag for someone I just wrote "1 of 2" on it to be sure nothing got missed! That made it easy for everyone to find the ones that were for them, and it's easier to carry the bags than to carry a bunch of separate pots. Small boxes work well too! There will be an area away from the general swap plants to put things that are earmarked for specific people. . COMMUNICATION ABOUT THE SWAP! ALL swap information is posted here on the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum! The ONLY email that will be sent directly to the people that are planning to attend the swap, will be one with the address and directions, approximately a week before the swap. [Guess this one is a moot point by now!]