We have thousands of these 'moss roses' or portulaca. They have been reseeding themselves for around 10 years. They go down the front of our driveway bed and then around the sidewalk out to the driveway in front of the garage. My dh likes them but he gets a little panicky when they start popping up in the farm yard here and there down to the barn and around the machine sheds. And this is in full sun and lots of gravel. No water unless it rains. All colors. I try to tell him they are better than the wild purselane that grows all around here and is a pest in the veggie garden. We had these at the farm where I lived as a child in SD. One flower we never had to plant and could always rely on.

Brandon7 writes: "I can't imagine why maintaining them in pots would be preferable to growing in-ground" In my experience I've found that pawpaws are more adversely affected by shipping bare-root than many other types of fruit trees - it appears that their root systems, consisting of many fine rootlets are more vulnerable to the various stresses inherent in this process, and transplantation shock to a greater or less degree is the rule. The focus should be to prevent, or if necessary, to decrease the severity of the shock. So buying container grown plants shipped in their container would be best; these can be planted directly in the ground with good results. But if the tree is sent bare-root, there will of necessity be root damage and transplantation shock, and this setback can reduce the vigor of the plant for years. The best remedy I've found to lessen the shock is to provide an optimal environment for the stressed and damaged roots to allow quick recovery. This goal is much better achieved in a pot, where growing conditions, including most importantly the medium and the moisture content, are more readily controlled. It really makes no sense to plant a struggling shocked pawpaw in topsoil with resultant loss of many of the damaged roots and prolongation of the shock state. The focus here is on the short term problem of allowing roots damaged by bare-rooting to recover; once this has occurred, evidenced by vigorous vegetative growth, the tree is ready for planting in the garden.

I have no idea what the name is but it is beautiful. You need to take a cutting. Or take two and send me one. :-) Bill

Hi All, I kept a plant journal for a while (have over 120) plants, but that became a burdensome chore after a while. So I didn't think to keep a quilt journal, but I have photos of all my work. I'm a self-taught quilter who started quilting as a form of self-expression (I was a textile designer who had to quit the biz when the industry collapsed 25 yrs. ago). I just needed a form of textiles to play w/ & could no longer batik for enjoyment 'cause most of the places I live are white & I rent apmts, don't own my home. Can't be getting dye stains on things which was never an issue at my parents home for me (I had an improvised batik/dye studio next to my Mom's weaving/etching studio). I haven't given away many quilts so I have them hung all over my apmt. But I hope to start selling this year & really need to keep some better records. I also received my first commision last yr, I defferred to this yr, as I was too busy & backed up w/ UFOs. I've named them all just to be able to keep track of the photos. When I did work from existing patterns like magazines share, I just keep the magazine aside, having dog-earned the corner. In more recent times I've tried to compile a list of each of the multiple lessons I've learned from each quilt (maybe for a book someday?), 'cause on each quilt I try to include a couple of new techniques, tricks, etc. But now that I'm making original art quilts, I'll have to have better photos, quilts listed by name, dimensions & maybe a couple of comments abt particular techniques, or articulating the 'uniqueness of each'. I may compile a book of photos & corresponding swatches in case I wish to use them as items to show as examples when discussing new commissions. An aside: to the poster above whose retreat buddies kept a journal but stopped 'cause someomne didn't like having to think of something to write. Yikes, what a selfish person, I would have guessed she might have just opted out of writing something herself, no? If the rest of the group enjoyed it, they should resume & just skip the person unwilling to think/write!? I happen to agree w/ Mary C (I think) abt it becoming chore/ project-like (cumbersome to me, one more thing to keep track of remembering to do).