It is in July 2010 now, and I harvested some seeds from pink Gerbera Daisies which are living outdoors in the garden during warmer days and indoors in pots during winter for 3 years. They're known as annual, but when you keep them warm enough they grow like perennial and the flowers keep coming back! When they were transplanted outdoors they were popular among bumble bees and so I could get them pollinated and harvest seeds! I found that not all the seeds from one head of flowers are ripe. Let the head dry on the stalk and become fluffy like that of dandelion puff-ball (not that fluffy though) and search for a bit stouter seeds around the petals. Ripe seeds are rare (maybe around 50th or 100th of total?) but are definitely there if pollinated. And maybe this is why flower shops keep telling us that growing daisy from seeds is near impossible and we'd better get flowers or whole plant from the shop. Germination is really easy. I succeeded in germinating them in a pot filled with quality potting mix, kept moist by spraying water every day, placed by a sunny window, with room temperature around 70-74 F, within a week. Hope there are more people who succeed in growing Gerbera Daisies from seeds! - Ryu

Here are a couple of pictures taken along the way. These were sown on 2-26-12. ''> This was taken on March 31st. The photo below was taken on April 20th. "> Ready to transplant plug into a 3" pot on 4-20-12. "> The plants are very slow to grow. Finally seeing some good growth on them after the leaves have gotten a little larger. I first thought I had sowed these too late, but now watching them take off, I would once again sow around the end of Feb. The variety of Gerbera is Mega Revolution purchased from Geoseed.

I have mixed luck with coral bells in my shadier beds, but that's an idea that hadn't crossed my mind--probably because I haven't fully accepted that my "sunny" bed is still part shade! Overall, I am just so confused with the parts of my garden that aren't obviously shady all day. I'm growing shade and part-shade plants in sites that remain dappled through the summer, but I'm finding the sunnier sites much more difficult to plan for. I have been eyeing a part of the lawn that I thought was sunnier, but it seems to be sunny only till early afternoon. I thought that part-shade plants wouldn't do well there, but am rethinking my planting strategy based on the mixed results of the bed I describe above. Right now the sunniest site seems to lie on the north side of my house--something I didn't expect, though if I think about it, my 'north garden" gets what to my neighbor is southern light.

Here is the recipe that I got from Sol: For the meringue base I drew circles (about 2 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper. I turned the paper over and anchored it onto a cookie sheet with a little dot of meringue on each corner. Using a medium star pastry tip -I used #21- I quickly piped the discs onto parchment, then I piped the daisy petals. Pipe the petals close together onto the base itself, to build a "wall" for the lemon filling, later. Bake daisies for 2 hours. Start watching them closely after about an hour and a half, to make sure the meringues do not take on color - they should remain white. Sol's Meringue Daisies with Lemon Curd Lemon Curd 4 large egg yolks ½ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar 3 fluid ounces lemon juice 4tbsp (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened Pinch of salt 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the yolks and sugar until blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, but still liquid enough to pour. DonÂt allow the mixture to boil or it will curdle. When the curd has thickened, pour through a strainer. Cool, and store in airtight container in the fridge. The curd will continue to thicken in the refrigerator. Meringue 4 large egg whites, room temperature ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 1 cup superfine sugar ½ cup confectionerÂs sugar ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 200°F. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until mixture gets frothy. Gradually start adding the sugar. Beat for a couple of minutes after each addition. Once it forms soft peaks, add the confectionerÂs sugar and vanilla and beat another 2-3 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Immediately put meringue in a large pastry bag, and pipe the discs following the instructions above. Bake 2 hours in a preheated 200°F oven. Turn off the oven and leave meringues to dry out 1 hour longer. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for about 6 months