Sorry, I haven't checked back in a while. Thanks for all of the nice comments. Nillarita, I have heavy clay soil as well. Most of my plants are planted in burms, raised stone beds or ammended beds. I don't know exactly where you're at, but I've had good luck with Japanese Maples for about the last 7-8 years. Both, the tree you mentioned is Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' (Golden Full Moon Maple). Thanks, Dan

Hi Hogwinslow, Welcome to Garden Web, and The Seed Exchange, You might want to check out this thread on the Conversation side of the exchange here. addressing newbie and newer member issues It addresses how to set up an email link on your Member Page and the importance of having it handy there, as opposed to posting it in a thread where spammers can pick it up. It addresses putting a location on your Member Page, how to look for and respond to the many offers posted here of seeds for postage, and how to handle sending out your bubble envelope (BE) as well as the importance of having a wish list at least posted to your Member Trade Page. You might also want to read this SASE-SASBE is NOT a self addressed envelope-bubble or otherwise It explains what the terms SASE, SASDE, and BEAP mean and how to handle them. Anyway I started researching seed saving and ended up here. Have you been to and checked out The Seed Saving Forum here at GW? You might want to see how best to try and save seed to the white burpless cucumber that your neighbor has grown for so many years. They would be great for offering in trade here later once they are harvested and dried properly. Happy Gardening. Sue...resident busy body

If you are re-potting on a regular basis using fresh soil, then you stand a much better chance of being able to grow more organically. If the plant is only in a medium for a short time, the medium may not break down and collapse enough to harm the roots. However, my experience has shown me that it takes less than one year for a bagged potting soil or a cocopeat product to break down within a pot. All of my bulbs that were planted in regular organic soils had some root loss after only one year. I found these products to be too fine in particle size, and not conducive to proper aeration. I don't remove my bulbs from their pots after flowering. I don't force a dormancy, preferring to let them rest naturally. Mine must stay in the same medium for a minimum of two years, making an inorganic approach more appropriate. Personally, I would avoid nut shells as part of a medium... I don't know what their PH is, and I don't know what they might do to a medium as they break down. They may create a more acidic or a more alkaline environment, but without knowing specifically, I wouldn't use them. Of the ingredients I use in my medium, only the pine bark will decompose, and it does so at such a slow rate that the PH doesn't change enough to be harmful. The perlite and granite chips, of course, remain inert. I appreciate that you find my postings useful... and I also appreciate that there are other ways to grow bulbs. I just want everyone to have a good experience growing, and sharing the options available is a way to make people think about their individual environments and make choices that will work for them. I think many gardeners do things without knowing the actual "how" and "why" of what they're doing. I, myself, have always grown plants in containers without knowing much about how they grew, or why I used the mediums and other products I used. I thought it all too technical, too scientific, and I was amazed at how simple it all really is! If you provide a plant with what its roots require, in a container environment, the plant will flourish... and all a plant really needs is something to anchor it, and something to draw its requirements of moisture, nutrients and oxygen from. It's a tad bit more complicated than that, but not by much! The goal is plant health and vitality! PS - I checked my spam folder, and the regular one... if you sent email, I don't think it made it.

Oh thanks you guys for all the responses! My roses - OH I MISS THEM! I used to have boquets all over my house - the spring and fall flush were amazing! I have been cutting back the few I have all week - they grow HUGE so fast - got a huge thorn jammed in my thumb yesterday and had to dig it out. It still hurts!! Ok - the tomatoes - so I should give up on the heirloom idea and grow Celebrity and Roma's - right?? I have never really, really canned anything - but I saw it done when I was a kid and I was thinking we could handle it - lol - but freezing sounds so much easier! I'd love some more info on that too. In the past - I had flower beds that I created "lasagna garden" style - as far doing tomatoes - it's too late for me to do that so hmm... How many plants do you guys think I need to get a decent amount of fruit? I just want to stop or at least reduce buying canned tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and all that jazz to cook with ... it would be great if I could pull out my own jar or frozen bag of stuff - lol! Even if I have to give it up for this year and just have four or five plants - some tomatoes are better than none!! Heather