Thank you, everybody, for your wonderful compliments! Maybe I should reconsider yellow:-), yellow blooms do go nicely with green foliage. Judy, the white bush is double bridal wreath spirea. It blooms before roses, which is great, but the branches become so heavy it regularly falls over the roses breaking rose canes off. It has a very lax growth habit (very romantic and pretty). Christina, I am sorry about the mildew. It could be just a bad year. For me, last year was much worse than this. Only two of my roses are badly affected so far this year. Masha

Cetainly enjoy reading about growers' favorite varieties. After growing beets for market (and of course, to eat) for many years, I've found that soil well amended with compost and/or other organic matter, tilled in and allowed to decompose, makes for the sweetest tasting beets, no matter the variety. Even the old standard Detroit Dark Red, is much sweeter grown in such soil. I've grown Chioggia annually for 30 years, or so, and consider the taste superb. Ditto, Burpee's Golden--but I've never appreciated the ridiculously high price of Burpee Golden seed, and as Carolyn and others noted, its low rate of germination. That fact is well known, and I believe the germination rate to be in the 50-55% range. Planting seeds in hot weather (August, September), for a Fall crop, cuts that germination rate nearly in half, again. Of course beets are sweetest in cool weather (as are all root crops I know of), and here in my zone 7 climate I grow them Spring and Fall. One hundred years ago (1900), if I remember reading correctly, there were about 90 different varieties of beetroot (beet) in commerce and in seed catalogs in the U.S., most sold specifically for home gardeners and small growers. Don't know where our appreciation for beets got sidetracked! I've always believed that every vegetable has its merit (and its individual health benefits), and try to enjoy ALL vegetables that I can grow. Vegetable varieties provide us with myriads of diverse nutrients, and beets belong in that varietal mix (in my mind). Probably preaching to the choir, here, but giving them a few thinnings as they grow and keeping the weeds under control, makes for healthy, fast-growing beets that taste sweeter because the soil's nutrients don't get depleted feeding weeds.

Two of my favorite quick breads ... butternut squash and lemon herb. Butternut Squash Bread 1 (2-pound) butternut squash 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 large/jumbo eggs 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1/4 teaspoon ginger 1/2 cup pecans, chopped Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place cut side down in a shallow pan; add water to depth of 1/2 inch. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender; drain. Scoop out pulp; mash. Discard shell. Measure 1 3/4 cups pulp; reserve any remaining pulp for other uses. Beat butter, gradually adding sugar; beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices; add to butter mixture alternately with squash, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased & floured (or sugared) 9x5x3 inch loafpan and bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Or bake in 4 small loaf pans for 50 minutes/mini loaf pans 40 minutes.) Cool in pan(s) on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan(s), and let cool completely on wire rack. ~adapted from Southern Living _________________________________________________________ Lemon Herb Tea Bread 3/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemon balm 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemon thyme 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind Lemon Glaze Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 15 minutes until cool. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Combine flour and next 2 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in lemon rind. Pour batter into a greased and sugared or floured 9-x5-x3-inch loafpan. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely. Drizzle Lemon Glaze over bread. LEMON GLAZE: Combine 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Note: I make this recipe using 3 mini loaf pans. Bake for 48-50 minutes. You can also substitute lemon balm for the lemon thyme.

I have: Radish, Black Spanish (easily 100 seeds) Radish, Hailstone (easily 100 seeds) Beet, Giant Yellow Eckendorf (easily 50 seeds) I'm interested in your: Siberian wallflower Onion "evergreen bunching" Mustard "Red Frills" Gaillardia "Arizona red" Cape gooseberry My Have List: Eastern Bluestar, Amsonia tabernaemontana Yellow Hardhead, Centaurea macrocephal "Lemon Fluff" Northern Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium Hardy Ageratum, Conoclinium coelestinum Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea New England Aster (purple), Symphyotrichum novae-angliae Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymnocladus dioicus Tomato, Black Krim Tomato, White Current Tomato, Green Zebra Tomatoes, other heirlooms (White Wonder, Amish Paste, Abe Lincoln, German Pink....and more) Beans bush, Roma II Beans, Gold of Bacau Corn, Stowells Evergreen Corn, Butter & Sugar hybrid Winter squash, PA Dutch Neck Pumpkin / Crookneck Squach Winter squash, NC Candy Roaster Winter squash, Aguillard's Cushaw Winter squash, Galeux D' Eysines (peach, scarred) Winter squash, Musquee de Provence (greed-red) Winter squash, Bohr Pumpkin (white) Winter squash, Chioggia (blue-green, warty) Winter squash, Jarrahdale (large blue) Pumpkin, Mini (orange) + others that I'm happy to part with some, but haven't typed up! My other list is not updated. I like larger volume trades especially.