I'm excited for everything that I've winter sown! Some aren't new to me, but they were ones that I had difficulty germinating last year. Evening Primrose Bleeding Hearts Gaillardia Bells of Ireland 3 Dianthus varieties Delphinium Ladybells Carnations Texas Redbud Clematis Texas Bluebonnet Echinacea Balloonflower Aster varieties Sedge Wild Bergamot Jacob's Ladder Eastern Bluestar Persicaria Garlic chives Breadseed poppies @ docmom: I planted delphinium last year during the spring and they never made it past their second set of leaves. I randomly tossed a seed or two into an urn with petunias in it during the summer, and sure enough it sprouted and eventually bloomed in October. It's doing great now. I recently transplanted it because a mum had taken over. A week later and no issues with it at all. I'm beginning to wonder if their poor record is a bit over exaggerated. We'll see. Good luck with yours!

I got 3" pots of celosia, alyssum, coleus, and iris(don't know if they are Dutch or Bearded) from a landscaper friend of mine and all are growing healthy. Here are my other plants: two lilacs - one died, the other growing good and healthy S facing fence Celosia pulled when they died but wow they are beauties so I will plant them again White alyssum has a nice scent which I can't describe, the purple one has none. Will someone please tell me how to propagate them. They are planted on my north facing wall. Iris flowered last spring hoping they will flower again next year. My favorite is clematis as soon as the one I planted in the fall of 2004 showed the most beautiful blooms I had ever seen. So this year I planted more and have 44 planted in my 800 or so sq. ft. of garden with a few more coming this spring. 3 bush and 3 tree peonies - the trees all bloomed, but none of the bushes bloom at all. Rose of Sharon standard form on container growing good and bloomed all summer in direct sunlight. Tulips and daffodils all rotted last 2004 (heavy rain on clay soil) so the replacements were planted this fall so I hope to see some blooms this spring. I now have a raised garden because nothing seems to grow on our clay soil. Fraxinus Americana and Fraxinus Pennsylvanica are planted in my front lawn - mostly clay but it now has a drain system. What are my chances that they will not die as we are having lots of rain again this year? Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated especially plants good for clay soil as my north facing wall only has a 6 inch raised bed. This is celosia: This is a clematis named 'Bees Jubilee'

Walter I knew you were very knowledgeable regarding iris's and other iris vendors. I have always grown iris's, but only for myself and never really cared about knowing the names of them. I can honestly say I love just about every iris I've ever seen. Some are more outstanding than others but they are all beautiful in their own way. I had no ideal there were so many places to get iris's from at what I consider a reasonable price. Although I've grown them for years most I've bought from Cooleys or a gentleman in North Texas who grew several thousand iris and daylilies. I would go by his house during bloom season and pick out the ones I wanted that fall. When I lived in North Texas I had a friend that belonged to the Iris Society. We would buy and share with one another so we both had starts of all the iris's we ordered. Unfortunately she lost most of her iris's this summer too. I don't think other gardeners can understand and be able to relate to it. That is unless they were to walk outside, look at all their beautiful plants and then think how terrible if would be if they were just all gone. It really is heartbreaking! Recently I ran across Tall Talk on the internet. I really should subscribe to it. Something on one of the cover pages told about the best options for keeping grass out of your iris beds. I wrote the information on a sticky note and only the good lord up above knows where that note is at this time. Actually I had forgotten about Tall Talk since then. When I finish this post I'm going to see if I can google the site again and order it. Unfortunately this summer I lost most of my older iris's that came from my mothers and grandmothers gardens. I guess that is the part that hurts the most. Maybe you can tell me and others what you have to sell and how much they are. I've spent way more than I could afford for this year. I'm including my email because I'm not very good at this stuff and you will probably need it if you send me a list of what you have. Another thing, would you be so kind as to tell me why you plant your iris's in pots? I've never heard of this. Everyone I know just plants them directly in the ground here in Texas. Does it have something to do with the weather where you live? Do you trim the roots way back too? I guess I really should read more about a plant I've grown for years. Mine have always multiplied like crazy with very little care. That is another reason they are one of my favorite flowers. If you go somewhere for a couple of weeks they will still be alive when you get back. (grin) Happy Gardening, Marian AKA Lovely Iris marianwinnsboro@hotmail.com

This year I added some green hosta (not something I do often). My favorite green additions: I really liked the fat, rippled leaves of Lakeside Old Smokey with white backs: Blue Monday has beautiful heart shaped leave that look like a green version of Moon Lily (one of my favorite golds): They don't look like much yet, however I'm already looking forward to next year as both plants had a number of eyes. I also liked Sara's Sensation and am looking forward to the very wide margins as it matures. It also handles a lot of sun well: All of these may not look like much now, just wait!