On your list from Johnny's, Bryan, you had Calendula, Ann. I was a little confused at first; but, Ann meant Annual. Right?? And, then, from Germania the last item was: Hegari Red Head Purple Mist, which are actually three different seed cultivars. We grew Hegari Sorghum this past season with mixed reaction from customers. They either loved it, or they hated it. It seems there wasn't any middle ground on this one. Red Head Sorghum is always a nice addition. We've also grown Texas Black Amber Sorghum. Purple Mist is a millet which is a new addition for Germania this season. It is on our list as well. I'm also curious why you might order some seed such as ProCut from Harris, etc. I mention this because it might be helpful for new growers to understand a bit of the nature of the seed business. A few dozen seed companies in the tropics (Costa Rica, Kenya, Indonesia), where the climate is favorable and labor inexpensive, produce most of the flower seed sold both at the wholesale and retail level. Seed is sold in bulk to companies such as Harris, Johnny's, Germania, Stokes, Burpee, etc. These companies repackage the seed under their own names. Thus, for example, if you buy Sunflower, ProCut, it doesn't really matter whether you buy it from one of the mentioned companies. Knowing this, you might want to purchase your seed on price and service. Patty mentioned collecting zinnia seed. Some of these seeds are hybrid, which means they won't come true from seed. You may not find uniformity in the flowers with not as many fully double flowerheads and a high percentage of mediocre plants. This may not be important to some gardeners; however, for some strains, the hybrids simply have better flowers. An advantage of some hybrids is sterile flowers which often have a longer vase life -- they're not putting all their energy into making seeds. You can be certain most of your market customers will let you know about the vase life of bouquets purchased from you. Some open-pollinated plants such as celosia self-seed so prolifically that you can treat this particular one as if it were a perennial, cultivating the same bed for many years.

That would be really nice, Treefrog, but most of my birds seem to enjoy the backyard more. I hardly see any out front, even though I have large oak trees there. This morning, wonder of wonders, the goldfinches have arrived! I have a flock of maybe 40 to 50 of them flitting everywhere out back. I have seven feeders in my backyard, and every one of them is filled with as many goldfinches as can hang on! They are eating thistle from a thistle sock and another thistle feeder, mixed seed, black oil sunflower seed, and even plain safflower seed. Oh, and they have attacked the fruit, nut & seed cake hanging in a mesh feeder, too. These boys are HUNGRY. But I didn't see a single one in the front yard all morning! The lizards like drinking water from the rocks under this fountain, though. Hehehe. I spotted one of my black racers Sunday, so I'm watching to see if I can catch him drinking from it, too. I do plan to have some other water features out back, in addition to the pond we want (someday), so perhaps the birds will use them. No videos, Beth...you'll just have to use your imagination! ;o) Marcia

My 1000 sheets of 12 two inch round labels ran about $240 I recall. That including tooling and setup charges. Tooling is actually the making of the cutting die and setup is for setting up the dies in a punch press. The paper grades and types are numerous, so I opted for a medium weight removable adhesive. The glossy surface isn't as much as a photo glossy, more like a magazine type soft gloss. The label weight (thickness) was such that it would block out any printed words on the metal round lids of regular mouth quart and pint jars. It fits nicely in the circle of the lids. The source below has a 3/4 inch by 1 7/8 inch oval. Also, found 1/2 x 1 3/4 inch rectangle as a closeout at this link: http://www.planetlabel.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/10_17/products_id/125 and: http://www.onlinelabels.com/OL6025.htm And then the jelly jar types: http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=PP0016 Here is a link that might be useful: Oval labels

When I was married for the first time 50 years ago, my father's brothers and sisters (I think there were 5-6 still living at that time) gave me a silver tea service. They asked to me choose the one I wanted and I choose Reed & Barton's Winthrop Hand Chased. It is silver plate, not sterling. They were unhappy I got plate - hard to tell them the check needed to be WAY bigger for sterling! It's lived first on a Victorian chest and then on two different side boards for 50 years. My previous side board, though not as fine as my present one, was a better size for a set that is so large - that tray is HUGE! If I were choosing today, I'd choose antique silver-plate and a more classic, plainer style. But I love it and I love that they gave it to me, so it stays on my small sideboard. Here it is decorated for Thanksgiving a few years ago. At the moment, it needs polishing - yard man's doing a major silver polish next Sat!