well...I opened up Wendy's box and was blown away...my family is saying that my eyes are glazed from overload..."L" Here's what's in my box: a butterfly wind sock on a stick an angel statue (I'm going to put it in the remembrance rose garden for my grandmother) gorgeous butterfly windchimes made out of gems (all sparkly and shiny) ceramic mushroom (it's so cute) hose guide stump planter with blue bird (it's adorable) goldfinch pothanger (already hanging) jiffy pot pellets 2 (I've never seen these before, they're cool) note cards with matching flower pens (you can never have enough of these) lavendar Fields fragrant sachet (in my closet) raspberry garden green tea chocolate hazelnut tea (can't wait to try these) tea coupons AND Bunch Flowering tulips and then there's the SEEDS! (I swear I started drooling) mexican cigar plant plumbago blue angel viscaris coleus rainbow mix dwarf MG moss rose double (drool) lt blue joker pansy zinna red spider dwarf teddy bear sunflowers farewell to spring godetia cosmos lilac bleeding heart cleome rose queen lady lavendar (drool) thyme russian sage (more drool) peppermint stick zinna (flooding the floor) nastrurtium Empress of India (WOW) sugar snaps viola charityland Mt. Bluet catnip Isisensata mixed (gotta look this up) schizanthus (gotta look this up too!) Himalayan poppy (drool, drool) sweet annie artemisia (love this, used ot use it in the flower shop) chicory Bird's eye (overtime drool) blk eyed susan vine california poppy clarkin Mt garland (sounds interesting) english lavendar (yummy) lemon Mint alyssium goldea tuft (I have never seen this) viola bowles black berlandiera Ivriata (another looker up) oregano scarlet sage geranium splish splash AND Ptilotus exaltus Joey ****FAINT**** I'm in seed heaven...what a wonderful box Wendy, I'll be playing for days! Thank you so much! ((HUG))

Growing Hardy orchids from seed has been improving for the past 50 or more years. In the 90s, Bill Steele of Spangle Creek Labs really started cranking them out. He has recently written a nice webpage about his process detailing enough of the process so that you could probably follow along without anything but basic lab experience. He specializes in Cypripedium but germination is possible using similar methods for most, if not all, Hardy orchids. The hardest ones are the saprophytes like Corallorhiza. http://www.spanglecreeklabs.com/lab.html

Macranthos, I've been considering the inclusion of maps with some posts, because they provide species distributions without people having to click on a link. But I was unaware of the requirements for doing that. Your map reminded me to find out what the policies were for sharing Weakley, BONAP, and USDA information. Weakley and BONAP were fine with snips, as long as credit is provided. If USDA follows that trend, then we'll just need to crop in the top map portion that shows it came from their NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) group. I'll let you know if/when they respond. And as others have said, those are very cool photos, and your posts are both informative and entertaining. Keep them coming!

I'm a regular lurker in the Name that Plant forum, (I lurk because the only time I post is looking for an identification - I almost never know the answer to the questions). NHBabs is one of the knowledgeable posters. Now the regulars have taken off on "patterns", with posts on plant, critter, moth, butterfly, and caterpillar patterns, with some very lovely photographs. Well worth a look just to marvel at the wonders of nature. Claire