Ben - no, HK is in the tropics (just) and the summers are hot and humid, while the winters are sometimes coldish, but never down to freezing - 10 degrees or so (Celsius) minimum. Donna - the sonatinis are new to me. I have another called Marrakech, which produced leaves but no flowers. Yes, it's nice to sit on the rooftop in April and enjoy the blooms, and I can't resist the temptation to pollinate more and more, even though I have no more space to plant any. So this year's pods are a bit redundant and I should give some away if anyone wants them, especially the deep red crosses which produce seed so well. I'll open another thread and offer some around.

Good Morning everyone, I am finding a lot of seeds germinating in the garden. Right now I have a lot of Columbine Woodside Variegata coming up every where, these will either bloom pink or dark purple, the leaves are variegated light green and dark green. And I also have a few Keys of Heaven also germinating. If anyone is interested in these I will pot them up for the trade in September. They are growing nicely but I want to add mulch to the area they are growing and they need to come out. Thanks, Cathy

Hi Janette, nice to here from you. Our swap is shaping up nicely. We will need a covered dish of some kind, Linda is making Sloppy Joes this year, I will be bringing a side dish and the buns. I will also bring the plates and plastic ware. We will have everthing set up probably on Friday evening, that's when I plan on taking my plants down. We are probably going to do a door prize, like last year, everyone who brought something for a doorprize when into a hat and we picked that way. I need to come up with a door prize myself yet. I sure hope this weather cools down, I want to divide more hosta to bring. New ones this year, some of my large hosta I divided in the spring and they are doing great, they have been there pot all summer. See ya soon, Cathy

The third plant on the top row in the freezer bag is Salvia chiquita. It is cold hardy , xeric once established, give it afternoon shade, am sun. I think I had some in afternoon sun and morning shade. I keep it on a flat area, because it does seed out quite a bit if you are on hill country limestone. People on clay do not have this problem. Beautiful 2' blooms that bees and butterflies fight over Blackfoot daisy is from me, I think. The Next plant in square 4" pot is Phlox pilosa, I think. Takes sgae and sun, will spread. I have it under an Oak tree on the east side and it is spreading out to the sun and further inro the shade. Great dry shade gound cover. I never water it. Salvia regla is from me also. It like shade and sun also . t is cold hardy and . Mine got to be 8 ' but I had to cut it back and now it is a very bushy 3'. It is a Big Bend sage , probably from the wetter mountain canyons. I like planting it where it gets afternoon light from the rakingsun in the fall because it will be starting to bloom really soon and it is such a treat when the setting sun hits it in the otherwise shady area. It LIGHTS UP. the blooms are timed with the hummingbird migration. Sedum palmeri is from me also. It will root easily . No hormone , no water, just stick it in the ground. It can take fast draining. It is hardy to 0 they say. Mine lived through the freeze and THE BIG D without water. It looked like hell but came right back. I think you got the first of the two Agave , The agave univittatta AKA Agave lophantha from Gardenlover1 after the swap on roselees "parking lot". This is a whole family of agave and are a very confusing trying to tell which is which because their is a high amount of variability and intergrading between species. I got a triple Datura that looked like yours from Mamachile. Hey, Dona, Rebecca was telling me you were having expensive well drilling bid . If you want to talk to me about Rainwater harveting, feel free to email me. My email is listed on my page. We are 100% dependent on rainwater. Mara