Ciao all, I hope everyone had a great day out in the garden today. I know it's a back to work day for most people, but my goodness, what glorious weather to be outside. Thanks to all of you for such interesting trades and also for your knowledge and wisdom regarding perennials. I have SO much to learn about them still, thanks for your patience in answering my newbie questions. Tristan grabbed some things from the middle circle which I have no clue regarding the names of the plants or what sort of care they need, so as soon as I'm able, I'm hoping to post some pictures of them for ID. I'm so excited about all the lilacs! They're small, but I know they'll fill that space nicely and I can't wait to discover what colours they turn out to be. I put the dahlias in full sun and just barely covered the root/tuber/rhizome thingies. I hope that's what they need. Tomatoes/eggplants/peppers/tomatillos/basil all got a full day outside and tomorrow will be their first major dose of full sun. I'm hoping to get them in the ground before the weekend. Duane finished 2 additional tomato beds as a birthday present for me and got all the 8' stakes in this morning. The soaker hoses are all in place and now it's just a matter of waiting a few days for the plants to get fully hardened off. Big hugs to all of you, I wish the weather had been more pleasant but it was still a very fun event and thanks again to sydseeds for organizing the swap and for everyone's wonderful enthusiasm and generosity. Get planting everyone!! Julianna

I'm thinking on bringing an autumnish aduki bean, winter squash and kombu soup. This is good hot or cold, since our weather won't exactly be autumnish Sunday, cold may be the better choice. If possible I'll throw together a loaf of homemade butter bread. I'll be short on plants I'm bringing this time, due to !x**?Xz vertigo-motion disturbance */x^x**! stuff since mid-summer that's just recently been mending. ihope. But I will bring two or three staghorn pups. I promised someone a pup, don't remember who, I think Veronika. I'm also bringing some little saplings (?) of an unknown small tree that is delightful and a butterfly favorite. Plus some (to me) exotic vegetable seeds; a seedling pink Pride of Barbados for Ricky, and Pride of Barbados seeds. I'm looking forward to a great visit with great gardeners; and the pleasure of Ricky's gardens. and oyes...all that great sounding food. -Arabesque

You realize fruit trees are extremely hard to grow. You will need to spray them on a regular basis for any chance of edible fruit. You will have to wait at least 3 years for any fruit. The number of fungi, and pests that attack the trees and fruit is pages long. The only fruit trees I can think of with little care are Cornus Mas, and Serviceberry. Both can be grown in partial shade. Cornus Mas or The Cornelian Cherry is very tart, and cannot be eaten raw. Serviceberries can and taste like blueberries sort of. Northline is a good variety. Both can take some shade. Cherries, peaches and other stone fruits need a lot of attention and more light. I can't think of any cultivar that is OK in shaded areas? A good cherry tree is White Gold. It will grow well in your area. Self fertile too. For peach trees many exist that are good. They may grow in that less of light, not sure how well though? You could try. But you must spray these trees a lot, and pruning them properly is extremely important. You could go for a huge bush like say Elderberry. Ornamental, little care, but fruit also has to be cooked. You cannot eat them raw. To get an idea of what you need to do look at the posts in the fruit and orchard forum. You also may want to ask there too.

Thank you for the terrific and timely announcement.