Good thread. Roses are the queens of my garden, of course, but queens need courts and the courts ideally are brilliant. I do most sincerely believe that a garden of just roses is sterile and dull, no matter how wonderful the roses may be. I also have fairly frequent infatuations. I can't remember ever having actually fallen out of love with a longed-for plant, but some just don't work out for me, and I either forget them or I set them aside with a sigh and ongoing regret. Acidophile plants don't grow here. I can forego azaleas, though the deciduous fragrant kinds that are close to the species are beautiful. Camellias are harder to let go: I currently have a small one in a pot, and others may join it. I honestly regret blueberries. Rhododendrons are an example of a vast and beautiful class of plants that I can perfectly well live without--though, if I lived in a country where rhododendrons were what prospered, I would grow rhododendrons. I still have a bee in my bonnet about ginger lilies, and if I can get roots (tubers, whatever they're called) without spending a fortune, I'll try them again in pots. I have unsatisfied longings for varieties of box and of daphne: plants can be had, but they cost too much. I lust for lilacs, and intend to get them one day, but it will take time and the lilacs will be a life project. I love aromatic plants, which are reasonably priced, available, grow well for me, and are easy to propagate. I've loved lavender for years, and fortunately it loves my garden; and I've just discovered sages in all their magnificent variety. Rosemary, phlomis, artemisia, perovskia. Thyme is fussy and dies out, unfortunately because I greatly adore thyme. Each successive wave of desire settles down, and if the desired plants work for my conditions I add them to my growing harem, knowing them and loving them in all their beauty and variety. Costs are a limiting factor: I can't go into the collection of peonies in a big way, not because they're not wonderful but because they're simply expensive for my pocketbook. The other limit is time: I don't have enough of it to keep track of all my loved plants, recording names and keeping them labeled; hundreds of roses are work enough for my collector's instincts. Other passions, satisfied and not: clematis, naturally; osmanthus; irises, which are a prime flower here; evergreen shrubs in general; magnolias, which are a killer longing, as they're hard to site here, but not so hard I can renounce them with a light heart, and they're among the most meltingly beautiful of flowers. So far I've been strangely immune to daylily lust. I could very easily fall over the precipice and fall madly in love with tender cyclamen. I appreciate hellebores more every year, but they're hard to site in my garden--I may have more room for them in a few years. Anything that smells wonderful is a candidate. I wish I could find a nursery that offered a decent collection of honeysuckle. Barberries are exciting. Oh, and I forgot: Sansevierias, of which I have a modest collection: the polar opposite to roses, in terms of what they have to offer in plant beauty. I love them, and I want more, who knows why. Also I'm fond of succulents for their grand sculptural qualities, and I particularly love agaves. Melissa P.S. I know those beetles. They love fritillarias too, I'm afraid.

Last summer that bed consisted of one Osteospermum 'Symphony' Yellow, one Heuchera 'Bressingham', one cherry plum shrub and one mock orange shrub. The rest has all been done this year. Now I have to concentrate on placement a bit more. I have quite few things that are too tall for the front and need to be moved back. I based most of it on heights that I found in catalogues and books, but Oenothera Evening Primrose is said to be 9" - 12" in the catalogue. Why is mine 18" - 24" high and still growing? LOL But it is coming and I do feel like I accomplished a bit this year, so far. My sweet peas are two varieties. The first I planted was 'Fragrantissima' and it is the one that is flowering. But, I wasn't happy with how many germinated (about 10 out of 25 or so) so I put in some 'Spencer' and they now need to catch up. But they should be pretty when everything catches up. BTW, I'm not finding 'Fragrantissima' to be all that fragrant, compared to 'Spencer' or the 'Royal' series. The blooms of 'Fragrantissima' seem bigger, though, and there are some unusual color patterns developing. A bit of an experiment so we shall see what develops out of it. Just looking at my picture and I noticed a few "droopy" leaves. I'll have to go investigate what is going on there. I didn't notice them when I took the picture. Always something - LOL Shauna

If I left anything out let me know asap so I can reserve it for you tomorrow. My final trade lists: April: giving you cobalt tradescantia and tangerine iris in exchange for pink verbena and black tomato ( gonna try for that black iris too;)) Steve: giving raspberry start and hellebore seedlings in exchange for gold pepper and tomato Glenda/ Flowersglory: perovskia? Jenn: gold marjoram and large shefflera for elephant ears Ruby: raspberry start, mex bamboo, tangerine iris, angelina sedum, nigella for bluebonnets and future mirror ball:) Rebecca: hardy mum, primrose, hellebore seedlings, mexican bamboo, marjoram, asparagus, crape myrtle for kale and chicory seed and lime basil Judith: Freckles tovara, caryopteris and passionvine cuttings, and tradescantia seedlings for citrina and persian shield cutting Glenda K: two tone iris and mock orange for root beer iris Rhonda: mock orange and mex bamboo for (hopefully) Niobe clematis cutting Angela: hellebore and asparagus seedlings for cilantro, eggplant and tomatos Wanda/ Columbiastock: possibly yarrow for clara curtis mum and cleryodendron Tiffany: asparagus, jerusalem artichokes and kousa dogwood for maybe strawberry pot? JT: Autumn joy sedum for hopefully water pickerel

This sounds like lots of fun and I want to join. but it makes more sense to me to make groups of eleven and send everyone back 10 packs of seeds the same as they sent out. this way every person gets 10 new packs instead of 9 new ones. 11 in each group works better. 11 people send in 10 packs for total of 110 packs. then you send back 10 packs to each of 11 people because you have 110 packs. the 10 and 9 does not work correctly. the 11 and 10 works correctly. the way it is now 10 people send in 10 seeds for 100 packs and you send back 9 packs to 10 people for 90 packs. 10 packs go dead on arrival and are wasted. the math does not work with groups of 10. the math works correctly with 11 in each group where everyone sends in 10 packs. with your method we should only send in 9 packs. I am an applied mathematician. I have this correct. I hope to see this rule changed for 2014. to eleven in each group.