Danny, Tuberosa is one of the easiest perennial milkweeds to grow from seed. Put the seeds in a plastic baggy, add a fourth cup of sand and a fourth teaspoon of water. Mix well and put in the fridge for 4 weeks. Remove and put in a warm location. When the seeds sprout, transplant them into pots. Voila! Now you just have to wait for them to get larger. They will develop a tuber. Here, they go dormant in the winter and come up in late April. They should come up sooner in your location. I use the same technique for all my milkweed except curassavica. I only chill those that need cold stratification. I grow LOTS of milkweed. Good luck, Sandy

Hi luvbrugs and welcome to the forum! Before this year, I had only one brug that I have overwintered for 2 years. I always just cut it back a few inches above the soil line, piled at least a foot of mulch over and called it good. It comes back from the roots each spring. I used the bucket of brugs method to propagate the cuttings, some of which were 3-4 feet long. This is a great time to share or trade cuttings as well. The BOB (bucket of brugs) method was an idea that I read here, sorry, but I cannot remember who was the brilliant person that came up with this idea. It works like this, you use a bucket (any size you need) and fill with water...I used about 5-6 inches. Put the brug cuttings in the bucket and add an aquarium air stone attached to an air-pump. I still changed or at least checked and replenished the water once a week. You cannot let the water get a film on the top or smelly. Without the air stone, you need to change the water daily to keep it fresh. The cuttings should have all of the leaves removed to avoid bringing bugs into the house. I placed mine near a window so that it got some light. In the spring, they will be well-rooted and can be potted up and shared or placed in the garden. This year, through the generosity of Kylie (a super lady and local-to-us member here) I have increased my collection to 7 brugs (8 if you count the yellow NOID that I bought online). My plan of action for the coming winter has changed through reading the ways that others overwinter. I plan to dig up my brugs this winter and overwinter the established ones in a DIY greenhouse (my old camping tent) keeping the temp at a minimum of 50 degrees. This is to preserve the height so I will have trees (taller plants) next year. I will still take large cuttings of branches that are growing at odd angles and share them. The small cuttings and seedlings will be stripped of leaves and brought into the house to overwinter, because I have read that brugs that are not yet established or are less than a year old don't have the root system to withstand dormancy. Slow growers can also benefit from a warm winter inside the house or a warmer greenhouse. I'm still pretty new to brugs, so there may be other methods to explore, but this is one way to overwinter. Pam

Kath- I "think" Gonsolves means that this is the first fuchsia that can be grown all over the US and he didn't breed it- bred by the Suntory firm in Japan. I think PW is a subsidiary of Suntory in the US. Sorry hannah I don't think 'Papoose' or 'Winston Churchill' are part of the "Angels Earrings series"- and I think this is what is causing the confusion. The PW/Suntory company's marketing strategy seems to be a "series" of heat tolerant hybrid fuchsias - hence the name "Angels Earrings". The only cultivar names that I've found are: 'Cascading Angels Earrings', 'Dainty' and 'Snowfire'. The link of the PW website that Eclectic_Gardener gave above makes it even more confusing since they mix standard cultivars with the Angels Earrings "series". The three cultivars above seem to be the only real heat tolerant ones so far- hopefully there will be more in the future. As you can tell, PW likes to give their plants rather catchy names. Eclectic_Gardener: You might want to ask your favorite nursery if they can order them for you- if they carry other PW plants surely they can get the fuchsias too. I'm looking for 'Snowfire' myself.-- Frank

So I went by Lowes today and saw a couple of Hibiscus I could't live without. They are 2 small plants, but they were $4 each. They are a bright fuscia color. I didn't know Hibiscus was such a pretty flower....so much to learn! So I brought them home. I should of bought some pots too, but afraid hubby will notice a major charge on the debit card. LOL I figure if I keep frequent low charges, they aren't as alarming...LMAO! Yes, I am planning on attending the plant swap. I do need to print up the directions and all. As far as Salvia goes, not sure what kind I have, I'll have to pull up the tag and read it when I get home. I didn't put the seeds far in the dirt. I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the soil and put about 1/8 of an inch of soil spread on top. So they are very lightly in there. Hopefully they'll still be okay. Ooo, yes, I looked up the pics of the Salvia, and I like. And I'll have to look up what the Texas Star Hibiscus looks like, but I know I'll probably like those too if I like the ones I bought already. Thanks so much for your help! I can't tell you how much it's appreciated!