Ciao all, I hope everyone had a great day out in the garden today. I know it's a back to work day for most people, but my goodness, what glorious weather to be outside. Thanks to all of you for such interesting trades and also for your knowledge and wisdom regarding perennials. I have SO much to learn about them still, thanks for your patience in answering my newbie questions. Tristan grabbed some things from the middle circle which I have no clue regarding the names of the plants or what sort of care they need, so as soon as I'm able, I'm hoping to post some pictures of them for ID. I'm so excited about all the lilacs! They're small, but I know they'll fill that space nicely and I can't wait to discover what colours they turn out to be. I put the dahlias in full sun and just barely covered the root/tuber/rhizome thingies. I hope that's what they need. Tomatoes/eggplants/peppers/tomatillos/basil all got a full day outside and tomorrow will be their first major dose of full sun. I'm hoping to get them in the ground before the weekend. Duane finished 2 additional tomato beds as a birthday present for me and got all the 8' stakes in this morning. The soaker hoses are all in place and now it's just a matter of waiting a few days for the plants to get fully hardened off. Big hugs to all of you, I wish the weather had been more pleasant but it was still a very fun event and thanks again to sydseeds for organizing the swap and for everyone's wonderful enthusiasm and generosity. Get planting everyone!! Julianna

I had the same problem when I lived in Melb. Planted grocery-bought pieces in good friable potting mix in a black pot in spring/early summer, placed on concrete up against a brick wall in a sunny spot, so the pot got radiated heat as well as lots of direct sunlight. To no avail, though. Can't remember if they failed to germinate entirely or just started germinating and then died. (Mind you, I managed to get some boabs started from seed, but despite my best efforts the seedlings never made it thru the winter.) However, I remember my mother saying recently (when the price of fresh ginger hit the $20/kg mark) that one of the Vietnamese green-grocer staff in Melb told her that he grew ginger himself, so it must be possible. Lack of sustained heat is a problem when growing tropicals in Melb, and I remember some 18 degree days when I was there in Jan this year ...

I moved this year also. We inherited a Japanese garden with maple and mondo. However, it has snowdrop bulbs planted in it that is driving my husband crazy. Are they definitely not suitable? We have an azalea, small amount of white ivy, bush ferns, sacred bamboo, rocks and pebbles, smaller maples, the odd violet and seaside daisy, advice about which to remove would be appreciated. A fairly recent Home Beautiful pictured a Japanese garden and it included a sasanqua and we planted that nearby. Thanks for the info about Iris Japonica as I moved a piece from my old house. I have seen in the magazine Juniper, I know nothing about this plant except it is grey and low growing.

Oh, I do miss Woolworth's! There is nothing like it now. I got out a magnifying glass and read the journal entries. Ineresting juxtaposition between the idyll illustrated in the article and the unhappy domestic scene described in the handwritten pages. She must have given permission for the journal to be photographed, but I wonder if she gave much thought to the pages that ended up being published? I love the beautiful papers and journals, but for me, pretty much useless - minor arthritis makes it difficult for me to write much. I am very thankful for my computer with its friendly yet unphotogenic keyboard (and spell and grammar check ;) I'll share half a muffin with someone.