Thank you for all the comments :) The Poppy/Lupine/Iris combination actually came about by accident several years ago. But I really loved the way it looked when I saw it in the Spring ... when the dogs happened to kill both the original poppy and lupine, I planted new ones. The original lupine was pink, and the original poppy was pale ... but I actually think I like this combination better, with the darker purple and the pink poppy against the yellow irises. Ianna - I also love the way Lupines look with Peonies ... I have that combination in another area of the garden, which should start blooming and looking pretty in several days. I've never thought of adding an Iris or Poppy by the Peonies, but that's an interesting idea too. I'd love to see photos of yours :) OgRose - I'm planning to start expanding my Iris collection too, this year. Irises and Lillies ... I want more :) Once you see them blooming, its hard not to!

For your xmas lights, you are just keeping freezing temps away. Put around the pots will cause a warm rising air moving through your plants. So people build a rectangular 2 x 4 frame on the ground and put four poles up (one at each corner). Plants go inside frame. At about six inches above the plants they stretch a clear plastic sheet and clamp it to the four posts. If the plastic is several feet bigger you can clamp the extra at a lower place on the pole making the plastic like a box upside down. this holds warmth in and cold out but lets air circulate under so you don't fry your plants in the day. This is a spring/fall item and not recommended when temps go over 85. Xmas light heat is held in the box and forms a bubble around the plants. Do be aware that strong wind can be a big problem for this kind of set-up and it should be removed. Usually the spring loaded clamps make set up and take down very fast. Bill

I worked out in the garden, mostly pulling the winter weeds that have sprouted everywhere, and transplanting volunteer chamomile seedlings from the pathways to beds. There's also a lot of Laura Bush petunias sprouting in pathways, but I didn't have time to dig and move any of them. We still have producing broccoli plants in one part of the garden, and two cabbage plants that somehow survived the summer and look decent. Since I did harvest heads from the cabbage plants last spring by cutting the heads off a couple of inches above the ground, the remaining stalks are more likely to go to seed than to form heads. I left the plants themselves in the ground because sometimes they make secondary, small heads but they didn't form any small heads last summer or fall. I am sort of surprised they survived the heat. I hope to spend time today weeding the flower border that runs alongside the eastern edge of the veggie garden. It is full of poppy and larkspur plants, but there's winter grass coming up in the middle of all of them and I want to get it out of there so it won't be crowding them. It was such a warm day that bees and butterflies were out, as were tons of birds. It really felt more like an April day than a winter one. Henbit is in bloom here, so at least the butterflies had something to visit. The bees spent most of them time visiting the cracked corn I put out for the doves. I also cleaned up miscellaneous plant debris and put it on the compost pile, and refilled all the birdfeeders. We are feeding tons of birds this winter, and I love having them around. Then I harvested catnip from places where it is scattered here and there around the garden. I use it as an insectary plant to attract beneficial insects when it blooms, but it also attracts a lot of cats. In the winter, I cut it back hard and put the catnip on the sunporch for the cats to play with. It hit 74 degrees here at our house around 3:15 p.m. but then the cold front rolled in during the evening hours and the wind just howled and gusted and carried on for a long time. I suppose today's weather won't be nearly as nice as yesterday's, but it still is pretty pleasant weather for this time of the year. One great thing about the wind the last couple of days is that the red oaks which have uncharacteristically held onto their leaves forever this year are finally dropping them now. Usually it is the post oaks who keep their leaves until spring, but they lost all their leaves long before the tardy red oaks. Our ground is moist but not wet and muddy since rain hasn't fallen in at least a couple of weeks now. Overall, though, it still is very dry and with January historically being our driest month, I don't have very high hopes for a lot of moisture to fall this month. We need to mow the lawn this afternoon. We overseeded it with winter rye, and that stuff grows like mad. I do like having the sea of green grass around the house in winter. It also gives the rabbits and other wild things something to nibble on in the winter time too. Chandra, Sorry you're missing the great weather. It has been just gorgeous for the last 4 or 5 days. Dawn

This is what it's all about! Jan I think that Mona was right. The inspiration and idea you had to crank this puppy up was a God-send! Look at where we are now. How many people attended that first MTPS? This year our Spring Swap attendance should be over the 100 mark for '06 and we've had Cheryl and Nat spin off and establish two successful swaps in East TN. If you can't reach around and pat yourself on the back then let me! We all owe this to you and Jim because it may never have come to fruition without you two. Thank you so much. Look at all the joy and happiness you have brought us all. Look at all the lifelong friendships that have come about because of the MTPS. Look at all the untold tens of thousands of plants that have been shared. You helped create love and bonds between people where there hadn't been before, what greater gift is there to give? In the past six years this forum and the people on it have become part of my extended family. I can't imagine my life now without you and Jim; Mona and David; Norm and Barbara; Cheryl and the kids; Doug and Bec & their kids; Joe and Kathy; Renee and her Mom & Eric; Marty and her husband; Marianne; Claudia and the list goes on and on because I can't name them all without taking up two pages. Actually it continues to grow every year! How do you repay someone who has blessed you with a gift this special? Mrs. Hobbs you are the bomb!!!! What a visionary. What a fine Christian woman. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. All our love and admiration, Jeff & Lavonne