Oh no LOL!...I didn't have to start any more Sweet Alyssum this year either! Re-seeders stayed moistly where last yrs. plants were, but also got a trail of them from where I harvest whole plants for seed and between bed and door I musta dropped seed all over! HEHEHEHE!! As for the perennial yellow alyssum (Basket of Gold) Aurinia saxatilis AKA Alyssum montanum or Alyssum saxatile...yes a few re-classifications over the years! I failed 1st time too...wintersown year before last they germinated just find but I lost them shortly after transplanting out...I wintersowed again this past winter and gave them just a little longer to get bigger and then transplanted out. They are doing lovely this year! Vera

Buyorsell, I feel your pain, I had shoulder surgery a few years ago, and it took forever to get full strength back in my hand, it is still painful. My 87 year old mother can no longer prune her 15 + roses, fortunately my niece does it for her in time. I did prune all of mine back in February, but we had a very strange spring, and all of my group three have no leaves on the bottom 2', and huge clumps of leaves and blooms at the top of the trellis, looks very messy. But if you just look up at the blooms you don't notice the ugly stems on the ground.

Betsy, SO sorry to read that you have been having problems also. So far.....fungus gnats are not on my present list of problems...Thank God for small favors. I really have had enough to deal with, so I'm very thankful that fungus gnats isn't on the list too. I would guess that everyone has different mixes that they use for their seeds. This is a potting mix recipe I came across a while back and it works well. That is if you don't do something stupid like I did and not follow it. :-( 1-2 cu. ft. bag of pine bark fines or soil conditioner. Then add (1) 2lb can of Pro Mix If the ProMix you are using already has perlite in it, you only need to add 3lb medium grade, if it doesn't have any perlite, you should add (2) 2lb. coffee cans of perlite. If the ProMix you use has Limestone added you should throw in a handful of dolomitic lime. If it doesn't have any....you should add 1/4 cup dolomitic lime (not high calcium and not peletized). Add 1/4 cup agricultural gypsum, 1/4 cup Miracle Grow 20-20-20 or any other water soluable complete fertilizer. Add 1/8 cup Epsom Salts, and 2 TBS garden sulfur. 1 1/3 cup Merit Granular (optional to control fungus gnats). I've never used the Merit insecticide, because I've never had fungus gnat problems (knock on wood). Anyway.....you need to mix these ingredients real well dry, and then mix thoroughly again when wetting. Like I said earlier.... I'm sure this is but one variation on a theme, but if followed it does seem to work quite well. Hope this helps. Linda

Posted by peanut01 7VA (My Page) on Wed, Jul 1, 09 at 21:09 Thank you for being my first trade ever on GW. Both of the red bee balms and the 2 indigofloras are doing well. One of the bee balms looks like it will bloom anyday now. Thanks again David copied from another thread