Before I joined my garden club ordered bulbs in bulk for sharing. I hope we can do it again and also share seeds. We visit local ecological vegetable farms, public gardens and parks with special features, our own gardens and local private gardens of some fame. We organize a country walk in spring to a beauty spot where one of us has made a fire for a barbecue in advance. Last year we had a talk by a remarkable woman farmer who grows several old varieties of grains like spelt and visited her farm in summer to buy flour and taste and buy her bread. We arrange plant fairs on a small scale twice a year and sell our surplus plants and produce. This fall we will have a pelargonium competition. Each contestant starts with a cutting of the same size and the same variety (Wilhelm Langguth) supplied by a member who is a collector. Next week we will visit a local nursery after hours where we get reduced prices when we come as group. The owner gives a short talk about novelties and any plants of distinction. This post was edited by mariannese on Fri, May 16, 14 at 6:09

I grew Statice several years ago. I planted two packets of mixed colors. I got: white, off white, pink, apricot, lavender, blues and dark purples. I still have the ones I dried. I believe I have seeds tucked away somewhere in my seed boxes. Tomorrow I will dig around and see if I can find them. Wonder if they would still grow? I like to grow them for their beauty of course, but mostly to remember my dear Grannie. She died 13 years ago at the young age of 102. Her birthday is Feb. 7th and mine is the 9th. I was named for her, too. Mother says I am very much the gardening girl that she was and laughs whenever she sees me picking up broken plants from a nursery/garden floor or pinching plants and "stealing" seeds. I tell her they WANT me to take them home and love them to life. How can I tell them no? She chuckles and says, "You're just like Momma." Grannie was an honorary member of the San Pasqual Zoo in San Diego since it opening and frequented the place, going once a month, for more than twenty years. They sent her a free "ZooNews" magazine and bulletin updates on the animal births and events happening at the zoo. She always wore a big, wide-brimmed straw hat and dressed in blue jeans, a plaid flannel shirt and wore sturdy walking shoes. She carried a LARGE leather handbag on all outings. She used her cane as a pointer, to poke things with and investigate rocks she saw that she liked. Her ancestry was clear to see in her amazing resemblance to the Queen Mother. What a mug - firey red hair (still visible even at her last years), sharp, piercing blue eyes, intelligent, stern and quite serious. Her favorite thing about going to San Pasqual was pinching plants. She particular liked succulents and cacti, but not unknown to take "samples" of anything that struck her fancy, cute little Grannie. No one everquestioned her or said a word to her about it, if they indeed even saw her. She was little, ancient and heavily armed with a cane. I want some Statice seeds to grow for Grannie. ~ Annie

Kathi, yes, they're nicotiana. Last year I planted nicotiana Aztec, just one plantÂan impulse buy at the farmer's market. It reseeded this year. I don't know if Aztec is a hybrid, but this year's plants are the same white, at least. I was going to add a few more pictures, but I just put them in the Gallery, where I guess these should have gone in the first place. Sorry about that! But happy to meet everyone. Susan

I think of a specimen garden as one where featured plants, such as a large sago palm or very old, rare tree would be the centerpiece of a garden area. Like plants or like species would be grouped together with labels identifying them, their, Latin names, common name(s), origins, and historical significance. It would be a somewhat staid and dignified place where you might visit to educate yourself. When I think of a cottage garden my mind swims with a joyous riot of colors, textures and scents. The tomatoes are mixed among the daisies and frog fruit. The paths are edged with lavender and verbena grows underfoot. I imagine a low stone wall there will be scented geraneums tumbling over the top of it. Plants essential to a cottage garden include roses, hollyhocks, daisies, lilies, tall phlox, iris, salvias and all the most common, old fashioned flowering plants. A cottage garden will be thronged during daylight hours with bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The cottage garden contains comfortable seating areas where one can rest and contemplate and appreciate the pure sweetness of it. Cheryl