This is really a great thread! I just wanted to chime in a bit. I just finished planting 140 trees on about 1 acre, and it went pretty well. I planted: 25 Common Lilac 15 Manchurian Crab 25 White Pine 32 White Spruce 10 Bur Oak 5 Paper Birch 5 Silver Maple 5 Black Cherry 5 Red Oak 5 Rugosa Rose 2 Red Maple 5 Red Pine 4 Hybrid Poplar In addition, this summer, I planted 4 larger trees... a bur oak, an Autumn Blaze Maple, a Siouxland Cottonwood, and a Red Splendor Crab It will be interesting to see how fast everything grows. The clone of Hybrid Poplar I planted can grow anywhere from 5-10 feet per year.. while the bur oak will grow at a glacial 6-18" per year over its entire life. In 1996, about 60 red pines, 10 white pines, and 10 black hills and blue spruce were planted on our land. In 2007, the tallest Red Pine is about 15 feet tall, the tallest White pine is about 12 feet tall, and the tallest spruce is 7 feet tall. Of course, these were all started from seedlings with no weed control for the first 3 years, and only mowing after that (when we moved in). We no longer mow the eastern portion of the property, where red pines are growing. There are a few clearings among the trees, and some shrubs are starting to become established. Among them are Rugosa Rose, low bush blueberry, chokecherry, and American Hazelnut. To date, not one hardwood tree has seeded. Under our deck, however, about 6 Boxelder seeds germinated, and one vigorous and desperate sapling is about 4 feet tall in its second year. I will transplant it to the edge of our property when the leaves drop... Otherwise, the land we own on a lake is already forested... and it's more of a question of management than anything. I desperately want to clear some of the underbrush (it's nearly impossible to walk through the woods here... so thick with underbrush). Between the Beaked Hazel, tree saplings, fallen logs, grass clumps, and various other shrubs, if yo'ure not tripping and trying to regain balance, you have several small branches trying to enter your head through your eye sockets. You basically have to close your eyes and bore your way through the woods with your hands in front of you, shielding your face.

Well, hopefully, the above ground pool is being taken down this spring,making more for brugs & other plants. The pond needs to be redone. I hope the fishies are still alive under all that ice! I'm a little worried about some of the brugs in the cellar. It's not cool enough for them to go dormant,but leaf production is non-existent or slow going.The few leaves that grow I take off because of aphids.Some of the branches look dried & dead. I'm guessing the growth will have to come from the base/roots,if they're alive.The ones in BOB(Bucket of brugs) in the water with the bubbler look better. Not all, but most. The ones that go in the ground will definitely be in a bucket with side holes,not bottom holes for the roots to grow through. Last fall I practically killed myself digging them out of the ground. The roots were buggars to cut through growing out of bottom holes. Karyn can say,"I told you so."LOL The brugs I put in the ground with no containers,most I couldn't even dig up. I sawed them off close to ground level and did BOB. My red sanguinea is a year old from seed!Since digging it up to bring inside,two branches died back to the main trunk.It was too leggy anyway. Now it's sitting in a ground level north side cellar window.Will move to south facing today for more sun.I fed it seaweed extract the other day. I didn't give it much fert. over the summer.Hopefully it will keep growing strong. Theresa

laagarden - I have no experience with asters but balloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus) and coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' bloom the first year from seed. I grew both this year and last and both bloomed their first season. I start the seed indoors early. The balloon flower I harvested seed from my own mature plant. The coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' is a bright yellow double flowered variety I grew from seed I bought at a discount store. It produces flowers continuously right up into early November here in Z6. BTW, this will be my first year winter sowing too. Good luck!! For information on which perennials bloom the first year from seed, you could check out Dianes Flower Seeds' website. Not only is hers a Top 30 site on Dave's Garden, her plant descriptions say if the plant will bloom the first year. I ordered baptisia australis, digitalis, balloon flower, and meadow rue from her this year among others and had nearly 100% germination just growing them in starting mix in front of my south-facing window. (Note: Only the balloon flower of these bloomed this year.) She provides detailed planting instructions plus any stratification requirements. Whenever I've had a question, she's always answered in a timely manner.

Pam, your zoo garden is such a lovely idea. how about Lamb's Ears (stachys)? And, sort-of an animal name, i have a "Rudolph" spurge in a sunny spot in my kids garden, which gets red tips that look like red noses in the winter. And for shadier spots, Bear's Breeches (Acanthus) and Tiarella "Tiger Stripe". Please post some pictures when Evan's zoo garden flowers! Your veggie bed sounds wonderful too. I have several veggies just planted in sunny spots around the garden, but without really preparing the soil well first, I am not sure they'll do that well. Maybe a veggie plot will be on my list of projects next year. This year, we want to finish our ivy removal project, we have just a couple of areas left. We also need to finish laying a patio. I'm excited about the finished products of both, but not the work involved! I'm most excited about my seed starting efforts so far -- most of these have been Wintersown. I have a lot of seedlings now and will try my best not to kill them at the planting out stage (which i did last year). I think my biggest goal for the year is to get my kids (aged 5 and 3) out into the garden more often. We planted peas, carrots and arugula a few weekends ago and they are very excited that all have sprouted!