Hi, I have Lemon Balm plants if you would like one. I would be able to dig it up and ship it to you near the end of April. It's still cold here yet. I could send a good sized clump if your interested. I could trade for each type of your columbine seeds. If your interested let me know. I know it's a bit of a wait to get the clump to you. Nina

Hello, how are you? Apparently, we live in the same zone, I am in 78233, Live Oak. I have some nice ornamental gourd plants to trade or if you don't have anything to trade you can have a few of them anyway. I have some other seeds, also that I would like to trade. The gourd plants make the fruit that is displayed around Thanksgiving, they are mixed. They could be the small pumpkin to whatever else that is sold in bags at HEB. If you would like to chat, I would love it. I always have garden question and problems so it nice to chat with someone that gardens, also. Bye for now, Paulette

Greyand Amy, you don't give your zone, so I've no idea what your conditions are. I grew these about five years ago from seed, and had great luck with them, no problems whatever except that I was never there at the time they gave off their scent. I grew them out on my hottt, no-mercy St Louis deck in full sun, with all my other plants, nothing special. It gets full sun from south and west from sunup to sundown. They were in Miracle Grow Moisture Control potting soil and clay pots and got watered and rained on with everything else. However, they never go into a big pot til they are big, robust and healthy plants. Small plants, or sickly ones need to be in small pots. Small new plants from Select Seeds would go into a 6" pot max, maybe even 4" for a while, certainly not into the final big show-pot. If you have them outside, I think the cactus soil and bone dryness is not what they need. On a warm, windy day here in St Louis, plants outdoors in pots need water nearly every day, even this time of year, at65F, with lots of rain. If it's warmer, they need more water. Grow your little guys up patiently in small pots, repotting when they outgrow their pots til you get them big and strong enough for a big show pot.

Hi Toni, Go for one that's Fragrant ! not smelly. :) Well, that 'hospital', is a less sunny rest, in a humid spot they'd like. It's a couple of cement blocks over the soil in pleasant, needle tree shade. You're right. It is probably time to fertilize. :] Thanks for the support, I've been dithering and fretting. I decided to wait to take cuttings, till there was a little top growth. They're sprouting now. Scents to look for -rose [several] -citrus [ lime, lemon crispum, Robert's lemon rose...] -pine [pine, Dean's Delite is one]. The rose or pine, will have cut leaves. The chocolate is big and gangly, and fuzzy. :> It would probably work, -only the strawberry one, didn't. The scent isn't that chocolaty [chocopine?]. Might plant one in the ground for the summer. [Thanks other thread!] Quite a few plants are supposed to smell like chocolate. Well-Sweep-Herb-Farm is in NJ. They have a list by botanical names. They even carry P. 'mabel grey' [finicky], heavenly scent! and effective. On the supplier thing, most of the great greenhouses, are Mom and Pop places, facing rising costs, like heat, labor, and pressures to modernize, which unfortunately have to be passed on. Some are lucky enough to have had more than one generation. When there is a transition, figuring how to change to new ways can be painful. you've probably seen this yourself, a few times. I was lucky enough to have bought from, and received advice from, some of that older generation, new one too, they're really nice. So Logee's is special to me. They started over a hundred years ago. Besides being local [~2 hrs] The greenhouse is a wonderful place to visit, I'll post a thread link below. I feel I owe them a debt of gratitude for existing because it educated me on tropicals, especially fragrant ones. I was right there in florida, surrounded by the predictable, and didn't know how to find out about any interesting plants. The library had...There It Was: 'The Essence of Paradise'.........since then it's been No More Boring Plants! They do have a whole sunken solar green house with geraniums [pelargoniums] some with cool flowers. Yeah, the pots are small, and i can't get many, but you see why I want to buy there. However, with this dreadful addiction, :) i am always interested in other places too. Their's are usually a superior cultivar, especially with scenteds. They bred them, after all. Pelly page: http://www.logees.com/products.asp?dept=75 You can cut and paste this to the address row up top. Mealies Grrr ! Saw your purple passion problem. Stick a pot of 'true rose' scented geranium [ pelargoneum graveolens] next to it. And/or a lemon crispum, or lime, you'll love me forever, lol! A few pots of different cool scents, can surround the problem. Give miss mealy fuzz, just a puff, of 10 %white vinegar and water spray [an inch or two in the bottom of the bottle]. Throw a leaf in the pot. HA ! Take that ! you mealies! Don't forget the wall, window frame, and curtains- you can use straight alcohol spray. Or your own formula, made much stronger than plants like. Hate those insecticides too. I couldn't find superthrive around here. Finally went with the Dyna-gro. The plants jumped up! Those micronutrients really make a difference. Except for Mabel, scenteds aren't fussy. Use hardly any fertilizer, thin it out, 4-6x a season [skip winter]. They are from clivia country, but sunnier. Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures from Logee's [a visit] by GWEBers