Here are maps showing the distribution of native and naturalized populations (not including planted or horticultural populations) of some Poplars in GA: White Poplar (Populus alba) in GA - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=POAL7 Carolina poplar (Populus à canadensis) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=POCA19 Gray Poplar (Populus à canescens) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=POCA14 Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=PODE3 Swamp Cottonwood (Populus heterophylla) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=POHE4 Balm-of-Gilead (Populus à jackii) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=POJA2 Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra) - http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Georgia&statefips=13&symbol=PONI

IMO the more decorative sages are not winter hardy even in zone 6, but the more basic garden sage was asa I left it to overwinter outside in a pot. Apparently it needs very sharp drainage in winter. Thyme might as well be treated as an annual in my zone; it will come back if in a pot but is so bedraggled it is difficult to get much herb from it for quite some time. (Full sun would help, though: I don't have that to offer.) AARP rosemary will sometimes overwinter in a protected spot in zone 6, too. I purchased a small plant of varigated basil this spring which supposedly is a tender perennial, and I'm wondering if that could be because it might not flower. In any case, I will take it in this fall and see. The annual herbs that "bolt" (ie are determined to produce as much seed as possible as quickly as possible) in a similar manner to lettuce, spinach, and broccoli can be held back a bit by pinching off of the flowers, but this becomes an onerous process as the plant desperately tries to produce flowers from almost every node. The important thing, if you are in a climate with a freezing winter, is to bring in your tender perennial herbs before your first frost date, before they have a chace to be harmed by the cold. Some will die anyway finding insufficient light or humidity (or the reverse) inside. It's always fun to see what makes it, though. As a matter of practicality, I try to plant the tender herbs in pots that can just be carried inside, rather than having to transplant them from in-ground. Also for that reason I try to avoid planting perennial tender herbs in pots which are too large to carry into the house. My bay plants always survive for me until I have to leave them for DH to water. :o(

Christine, if Zee's tulip poplar doesn't make it (and Suja decides to stay where she is instead of moving closer in), there is a source in Bowie as well. I got one last fall that did well after transplant but didn't make it through the winter. The person I got them from has many more seedlings/saplings, and I'm sure we could go get one if we ask. You can come dig my spirea (and some hosta) whenever you like. There is a big spirea that has your name on it now. (Sigh of relief!) I'll bring some parts of smaller ones to the swap though, in case anyone else wants some. And I'll try to remember the fork, but if I forget it you can have it when you come get the spirea..oh, wait, maybe I should hold the fork hostage, and you can use it to dig up the spirea.. =) Lynne

Giggi - try purple basil! I have seedlings everywhere, and some are about 4-5" tall now. Grrr...... They self-seed everywhere. I don't grow any veggies - not enough sun, except for the front yard, and I like my ornamentals there. I do grow herbs. I have perennial fennel (for my swallowtail caterpillars), bronze fennel, sage, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, tarragon, rosemary, lavendar, winter savory, chives, catnip, berries and cream mint, pennyroyal, lemon balm, rue (for the swallowtails), thyme, and tricolor sage. My lavendar is wonderful right now - about to burst into blooms. I planted a 2" pot last spring, and this year, it's about 3' tall and wide. My shade garden is very nice this year. The cooler weather has been a boon for it. Most shade plants, in my opinion, like cooler temps. I just planted my rodgersia and astilboides (bog), crambe cordifolia, mahonia (pink blooms), alocasia wentii, tetrapanax, disporum 'Night Heron', podophyllum plieanthum, arisaema nepenthoides, epimedium wushanense hybrid, another gold meadow rue, lillium 'flora pleno', Jerusalam sage, verbascum 'Caribbean Crush', Elderberry, gold agastache, cynara cardunculus, hitchhiker elephant ear (remusatia vivipara), and still have to plant some others I bought at the herb festival. Hydrangea 'Merritt's Pride' is about to bloom (hot pink), and 'Frau Reiko' (lacecap pink and white picotee), asiatic lilies 'Red Hot', and 'Oklahoma City', some daylily that came up this year that I planted 2 years ago (don't remember what they are, so I'll be interested to see), campanula takesimana 'Elizabeth' (strawberry crush-colored bells), lady bells (adenophora), acanthus mollis (Bear's Breeches), astilbes 'Vision in Pink', Visions, and a deep pink, I think is 'Rheinland pink'. I have tons of little hardy begonia seedlings - still need to give one to OKC1, if you still want. Blooming like crazy - Clematis 'jackmanii' - in two different locations in the back; campanula 'Beautiful Trust' (white butterfly-like blooms); achillea 'Moonshine' (yellow), nepeta 'Walker's Low', centranthus rubra, white valerian, achillea 'Oertel's Pink', itea 'Little Henry', and Hydrangea 'Nikko Blue'. Finished blooming - aquilegia 'Texas Red' and 'Nora Barlow'; old fashioned honeysuckle, iris 'Sierra Grande', dead nettle 'Hermann's Pride'. The Japanese anemone robustissima is getting bigger than ever. It is supposed to eventually get 3-4' high, and the foliage is beautiful - it blooms in late summer-autumn. Hosta 'Sum and Substance' is big, big, big, as is 'Blue Angel'. I need to finish planting so I can get the mulch on the rest of the beds. Have a few more morning glory seeds to plant. Planted some and also Blue Ricinus. I think that is all I'm going to plant in seeds this year. I have no more SPACE! I just can hardly wait until my new lilies bloom. The orientals won't be blooming much this year - the cool weather cause tip burn and got some of the buds. But, I'll still get a few. My actinidia kolomitka is not doing very well. I read not to cut back the branches, but it has only sprouted leaves from the ground up to about 2', and there is about 6' of bare stem from there on up. The calacanthus is doing a little better this year. It's still only about 18" tall, though, but has put out a few more stems. It's in its 3rd year. Susan