Thank you Ellen and Esther for hosting yet another nice swap. dirtdiver, thank you so much for the kind offer. I almost grabbed the monarda you brought but since my name was not on it so I thought it might be for somebody else so I left it there. Anyway yesterday I have picked up the Monarda you brought for me from Ellen's place. Thanks Gonativegal, somehow I missed your plants. I am really sorry for that. I thought to email you but your email link was not on GW. Thank you so much for taking time and bringing it for me. I really apologize. Happygardener, Thank you so much for the lots of egg plants, celery, and for sage. Yesterday I could plant them in my raised bed. can't wait to see them grow. Motria, thank you so much for the Monarda raspberry wine Doris, nice to meet you and thank you so much for lemon balm and Monarda. Every time I see you, you look different not sure next time when I see you if I recognize. :) Linnea, thank you so much for penstemon, phlox and aster can't wait to grow them. Jasmine

stage_rat, yes it is I who has an interest in heirloom tomatoes. I WSed about 35 varieties this year with astounding germination rates. I only wish that I had been better prepared to bring more with me to share but my decision to come to the swap was literally last minute so I threw what I could in the car. If anyone happens to be in the western burbs this week and wants some though I still have plenty to share after farming out what I could to family and friends. All those that haven't found homes by Friday get brought to the year-end picnic at the kids' school with a "free to good homes" sign. I'd love to talk tomatoes anytime. I'll be scouting out the farmers markets this summer for some fun new varieties to save seed from since my saved seeds from last year did so well. Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful plants. I came home totally inspired and have been ripping my way through previously neglected beds and overhauling them dramatically. Ellen, that gorgeous bleeding heart is the star of a new little shade garden in a newly-beautified corner of the garden...speaking of stars, shooting stars you say? I was just admiring them at a nursery the other day...making notes for next year's wish list :o) -Corrie

Long day. Its finally stopped about 11PM. 12" here, and probably very close to that at National Airport. Still lots of wind and blowing and drifting, but the skies are now clear. Yesterday, up until about 4am it was a "warm storm" with temps around 32. Its been below 20F since about 8am here. The snow held and held and held on for longer than expected. This was definitely the storm of a lifetime, EVEN IF we had not had the 2 feet here last weekend, just the sheer conditions this storm produced, especially the whiteouts, and the near hurricane force winds along with 4-6 foot drifts, countless downed trees...etc. etc. etc. was a once in a lifetime event here in the Mid Atlantic. However, since we did have 2 feet on the ground already, it was just all the more historic. TZ7, Be safe! I hope you guys dont get it as bad as we did here, especially in terms of the winds. Many of our streets look like the photos you posted, and some were with downed traffic signals. Post more pics if you can! Suffice it to say, all of my palms, including the large trachy in the pot wrapped in plactic and xmas lights, are buried. The in ground palms were buried as of last saturday, and now they are under 3 feet. My smaller trachy unfortunately had spear pull, although that may be more attributed to the fact I left the xmas lights on it one day when we hit 49, and the palm cooked to well over 100F im sure. It somewhat dessicated after that, and has not looked good since. I think these storms just pushed it over the edge. Well see if I cant get it to come back. Ok Im going to bed. Ill post more photos tomorrow. Night all! Be safe.

Last night, I missed most of 60 Minutes and nearly all of Madame Secretary, due to tornado alerts for a remote part of my viewing area. The entire thing might have been an infomercial for the latest weather forecast/tracing technology. They have a fortune in new "toys" and just wanted to show them off. How many times does one need to SEE what is happening with a storm? Is not just telling people to take shelter enough? And do they actually have a TV in their "safe place" or will they just stay where it is dangerous, so they can hear and see yet more about the approaching storm? It was infuriating! I grew up in KS and spent many a spring night, under my father's big, heavy workbench in the SW corner of my basement. I take tornados very seriously. But come on - we have sirens for this in most places. One hears the sirens, one heads to the basement or other safe place. Having the weather person on TV talk about it and show it from 40 different angles for 45 minutes, does not make me "safer". Grrrr.....