do you have any idea.. how all the weird things get inserted into your post??? ... or dont you see them?? .. we are all sad at the loss for the hosta world ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Yep - wait a yr. better yet 2yrs for those biennials. Mark as they come up. When I inherited my garden I waited for 2yrs before digging anything out unless I knew exactly what it was and if it didn't fit into my grand scheme of things. For the things that I just wasn't sure about I moved them around back to a new bed while I contemplated they're outcome. Things that were in overabundance or that I could immediately identify as they started to come up and didn't want I bagged or boxed the root systems, wrote up an info sheet about what it was and it's care and set it all out on my front lawn w/ a sign that said free. I did this for a few yrs. until my garden was all situated. By far this was one of the most rewarding experiences that I ever had! People would wait yearly for my annual give away. I often have a hard time striking up conversation w/ strangers (I'm def. stranger shy - not much of a small talker - people think I'm just B!@#$% and stand offish - I'm really just conversationally challenged and live in my head) but man cuold I go on talking w/ all of the folks who would stop by - telling them all about the plants and the possibilities. It was wonderful! Often people would come get stuff when I wasn't home and I would come home to the most lovely notes. 2 stand out in my mind: 1. An older couple who planted some of my coneflower in their back yard and how that night they sat outside having tea and enjoying it. 2. The lady that sold her house and was moving out of the country. She'd dumped all of her money into the move at the end of the Summer and couldn't afford her annual garden plantings. She left me a note to 'The Generous Gardner' and I still have it yrs. later in my bedside table drawer. If I ever had a store that's what I decided I'd call it. Kids would come around while I gardened and ripped stuff out to give away. Little girls would go away happy and elementary school aged boys would take clumps of coneflower for their mom's. There's nothing more beautiful then a Friendship Garden!

Hi Shezzy in sj.......We had SW mix the raspberry truffle even though it is a BM color. They had the formula right there since it is a favorite. DH had credit there where he overpaid them....paid them twice. LOL! They also gave us a free bucket & he bought a giant stirrer where you mix both gallons of raspberry truffle together before you start so if you run out on a middle of a wall, the colors will still be exact. Good tip I thought. YOur home sounds gorgeous & colorful. I have gold & red silk big checked drapes in the DR & the same fabric on the pillows in the LR on the sofa. So I needed a raspberry toned paint. These rooms are open to the foyer so when you come in the front door you see the fp in the FR first, then then to the right is the LR & to the left is DR with columns separating them from the foyer. Not much wall there. So actually there will be only about 2 full walls to paint. The other wall has 6 ft windows & alot of the wall has the drapes hanging over them. So we get alot of light & it won't be dark. Thank goodness....will keep you posted & promise to post a pic when done. Thanks for your tips also! Bonnie

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!