sorry posted this on the wrong forum .forgive me .

The blizzard really didn't hit us as bad as was being forecast. We only got about 6 inches or so. Beautiful sunny day today -- a rare event here.

Greg, the weather was beautiful on some days. Even today felt like a summer day that was rainy. It got to about 60F this afternoon, but with lots of humidity which made it felt nicer. The forecast looks like some ups and downs, but I see at least 3 days out of 10 getting to the 50s and only 3 days with a freeze. And all the snow is gone in my area and Im sure its gone in Brooklyn too. Some of the parking lots still have some piles of snow, but they are getting much smaller and even the 5 foot piles of snow that were on my block just 25 days ago, are not completely gone! The Bougainvillea was a great deal. They are really great plants. One thing I noticed is that they must have full sun and a bit of neglect to bloom well. Mine didnt bloom until late summer and fall because it wasnt in a huge amount of sunlight. They will grow very nicely when given shade and some water, but if kept on the dry side (but not too dry) and if given lots of sun, it should be loaded with blooms all summer! They are one of those plants that reward you with blooms if you pretend that they barely exist (which is hard to do when they are covered in blooms!) I protected my oleander the same way as my other palms. I put some x-mas lights over it, a frost cloth, and a plastic garbage bin. I think I may have even over protected it because some seed pods opened and its also trying to start to grow! I cant wait until it starts blooming again. It sounds like you are really enjoying the beautiful weather in Florida! I was looking at the forecast there and it looks amazing. I think Orlando was suppose to get close to 90F yesterday (not sure if they did or not). Im glad to here that the coconut palms are alive even if, unfortunately, they were damaged. Enjoy the great weather in Florida. Hopefully spring will greet you when you come back to NYC! -Alex

I am so glad that you loved your stuff! I had so much fun collecting for this swap the last so many months, and now that it is over, I feel sad! Oh well, I will have to get my fix looking for tomato seeds! I hate how the stores and tv bring on Christmas so early, like the after Labor Day, and then as soon as it is 11:59 pm on Christmas night, everything just ends and there are no more Christmas movies on tv, the radio stops playing Christmas music, you see Valetines Day stuff out on the 26th, and that is depressing. They rush it here so fast, why can't they atleast hold on to the Christmas celebration atleast until New Year's. Anyway, my tree is staying up for a while! From Donna I got! Red Gold Winter Squash, very interesting! Queensdland Blue, Awesome! Sarah Black Tomato ( this tomato is like a "sexy looking one!) Morado Tomato(another black I have been waiting to try! Mayflower Bean (mmmm, sounds yummy) serpente di sicilia edible gourd ( I love Italian seeds!) Pionsett Cuke (almost like pointsettia) snowball cauli, we think alike Black Beauty eggplant, great for my eggplant parm! Evergreen Tomato, another I did not have enough to save for myself Burpees Jubilee Tomato, a nice orange one! Marina di Chioggia pumpkin (anything from Chioggia Italy is always great!) Snowbird Pea (yummy!) Listada Di Gandia (another great Italian seed) Blackberry Lily ( hmm, have to check this one out) Browns Jubilee ( now I have 2 jubilees to compare together) 2 neat ornaments on my tree! a big hearsheys bar that hubby attacked!and now he thinks my seed people are "cool" because of Donnas chocolate bar! an awesome bag of earthworm tea mix and some fertilizing pellets!!! Thanks soo much Donna ! Great mixed bag! Ok, from Nancy I got: Blue Jade Baby Corn (cant wait to try this!) Christmas Lima ( Soooo glad she got me this because I orginally bought some for myself too, then since I had 2 partners I gave my seeds to a partner, so now I have them againfrom Nancy! yeah!) Queen\and Blue Squash cool! Traviata Endive (needed some endive Fava Bean ( want to plant these since they are so hard to find fresh) Orange Master Pomagranite (a very rare and interesting one I want to plant! Cannelli Beans (my favorite dry bean, love my pasta fagiolla!) Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil, awesome! Pesto Basil ( which I make a ton of) lINTZ cHOCOLATE baR YUM! A bag of Seed Savers Exchange runner Cannellinni beans to cook, mmmmmmm! Like I said, my favorite bean, do you think I could save a few to plant? Would that work? Christmas Grapes Tomato, another I gave all mine away and had none left! Black Plum Paste! I cannot wait to make black tomato sauce! Rossa di Chioggia Radichio, probably my faovite! If you get a chance, take a look at how beautiful this one is on Pinetree garden seeds site! Thanks soo much Nancy! AWESOME seeds! Ok, I know I probably forgot a few to mention of each of you too, so many seeds! It was so cool to have 2 partners!!!!! BTW, did I give you guys the Snowflake pea? I also gave you guys the same amount of stuff, while trying to give you each your own wish list stuff too, I really hope you liked everything! This was so fun! I wish it was Christmas time all the time! Do you guys mind doing something like this for Christmas in July? I think that would be neat! Merry Christmas to everyone! And do not mind my sloppy spelling in this post! Christy