Hi Amoc, Lilium Speciosum, one of the species "parent's" of Oriental hybrids is just about the latest blooming lily that's also winter hardy. My Stargazer have been done for a while for me now (they bloom mid-July for me), my Scheherazade are just finished, my Black Beauty are very close to finished, yet my Speciosum have not even opened yet - though they look like they will start soon. Black Beauty, like many of the late lilies is a Speciosum cross (L. speciosum var. rubrum x L. henryi). Journey's End (AKA Summer's End) blooms late and it was my understanding that it is the latest Oriental hybrid (I don't have this lily). Not surprisingly its also a Speciosum cross, ('Phillipa' x L. speciosum 'Gilrey' cross). However, The Lily Garden has some Oriental's they note bloom in mid-late August. They have a bloom time chart on their website. But use it with a "grain of salt". Horticultural zones are defined by how cold winter gets (NOT how hot summer gets). My experience is that with Maryland's hot summers my lilies bloom earlier here than in Northwest areas with the same zone. Use the chart as a *relative* bloomtime guide, and then it's pretty accurate. The very latest lily I've found is the species lily, Lilium Formosanum. (If anyone knows of any later lily please send it in!) However, because it blooms late and naturally has a small bulb, it's not generally winter hardy in the colder zones (much lower than 6-7). You could try it in zone 5 if you found a warm sunny spot for it. The problem isn't that the bulb can't handle winter freezes, but that it doesn't have time to build back up after being depleted by blooming before it goes dormant in the Fall (stopping photosynthesis). The safest bet for you is probably Speciosum, it has a number of varieties, "Rubrum" (colored like Stargazer) and "Album" which is white. "Uchida" is a superior selection of "Rubrum". In addition, this lily is more shade tlerant than most and is a real butterfly magnet! These three varieties are all readily available both from inexpensive suppliers, (Van Engelen - John Scheepers) and the moderate (Brent and Becky's, The Lily Pad). More unusual varieties like "gloriosides" can also be found if you look around the web a bit. -Helen Here is a link that might be useful: Bloom Time Chart

I'm in zone 7 the tomato plants I put out in April will live a put out good tomatoes till we get frost. But I plant 50 to 100 plants each year.If I was going to plant some later tomatoes I would start them 4-15-10 and put them in the ground in 4 to 6 weeks. They will grow faster out side in the warm air and sun shine, than they will under lights.If you can get them in the ground around May 15th to June 1st that will give you from about August 15th to Oct 15th to pick tomatoes from them. And if you are Lucky they may make it till Nov. Thats what I would try to do for my area. But I am know expert. I have only been gardening for 35 years. Good luck with your garden and let us know how it works out for you.

Wil add in it is quite possible to breed an early, mid or late season tomato from any variety by consistently choosing to save seed and replant seed only from the earliest, middle-est, or latest fruit for a few generations. %%%%% Several folks I know have tried that and it doesn't work b'c the seeds are the same as to DTM in the earliest of fruits, mids, and lates. One good example is the variety Joyce's strain of Brandywine when Chuck Wyatt saved seeds only from the early fruits and said he had an early strain of Brandywine, But no one who grew it got the same results. Again, b'c the seeds in the fruits were the same, or pretty much so, some exceptions, but not related to time of ripening. (Seed saving instructions to maintain an existing variety generally say to take some seed from each of the early, mid & late fruits, otherwise you may be accidentally breeding for different characteristics than your original plant.) With this I agree. There is genetic heterogeneity within a single variety, so it's important to preserve those traits. And here I'm talking about internode distances, subtle changes in leaf form, etc. Carolyn Carolyn

I have about a dozen newly hatched cats and they seem a little reluctant to move to a different type of mikweed, but they they do get it and start eating. I have sevearl types and nearly all are smaller than I would like right now -- beggars can't be chosers here. If they are hungry, they will eat. They are programmed to survive. And I have read that instar 5 cats may eat pumpkin or something else. We may both need to find that again!