Thanks everyone for the well wishes.

Yes, Beth it sure hurts and I have tried to keep it propped up as much as possible.

Not a bingo here, I still like two words.

Jeanne, I received your pkg yesterday in the mail but Jay has it in his pickup as I forgot to ask him last night if he picked up the mail so I called him a little bit ago and he said he has it. So, I will post pics later when he comes home. Thank You so much I am sure I will love it.

Everyone have a beautiful Day!

Tammy

Tammy, hope you feel better quickly! So sorry to hear that happened to you. Amy

Susan....Tiz Christmas morning in July out here in the West......

I received a beautiful Christmas Fern with written info/directions for care. I think I am going to grow as a houseplant. I have not grown a fern inside the house for the longest time. Love this! Also included were beautiful smelling pinecones....lovely scent! Thank you also for the Yankee candle...:Home Sweet Home"....nice cinammon scent.

Cute card too.....specially made for me!! Susan, even wanted to know if I have been naughty or nice....haha! I will answer naughty most of the time.....life would be a drag and not very exciting if I wore my nice hat to often...LOL!

Everything was packed in very safe mode.....and in Christmas wrap. The fern was still moist, not dried out...nice!

I even had my coffee in a Christmas mug keeping with the occasion....

THANKS SO MUCH! Very much appreciated! And MERRY Christmas!!

Annie

Merry Christmas in July on this 100+ day of humid misery were experiencing! I just finished day 2 of working at VA and am realizing my free time is being stretched to the max. I went out and picked a ton of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, egg plants and beans for both daughters that each live several miles from me- (one with 3 boys, one with 5 kids). They think I'm the local farmers market! Hopefully I'll get something prepared in return!ha

Speaking of preparing veggies, I received an awesome cookbook from Beth. The Victory Garden Cookbook. Thank you so much!

Christmas gifts time. Annie was right on with her Christmas present list for me. Wrapped in snowflakes , glitters and fancy ribbons Seeds , some I can plant now. Lettuce freckles, Little gem, cress wrinkled, crinkled crumpled, Arugla slow bolt, penstemon palmeri, Loxton lass tomato dwarf Russian swirl tomato. U are temping me to try dwarfs.{naughty} A wonderful corn husk made angel from kenya women to support their families. A fancy red beaded multistrand necklace, Hoe garden gloves. { or for scratching ur back. :} . Then a glitter edged card with Tapestry trees and hearts. Now to sleep with visions of new tomatoe plants dancing in my head.

Maggie, Thank you for a super crafty Christmas gift and adorable card

! I love it! I love to stamp and haven't done it in years..

I had loaned someone my stamps and never got them back so I am thrilled! Thank you so much!

I sure hope your package arrives today, I received an email saying delivery date today. Sorry I didn't get it there earlier! Amy

Cute Christmas gifts everyone....The Post Office said Nicole's would arrive on Wednesday so hoping.

No BINGO here.

Hi Amy - so happy you like your gift! If you decide to permanently attach unmounted stamps to wood, I've always liked rubber cement best for that (where you put it on both pieces and let them sit - then push them together) although many people prefer to keep all rubber unmounted and just use a handful of blocks with double stick tape for temporary sticking. For the true rubber stamp collectors that takes up so much less room. I did drive down to town and the post office after lunch, but there wasn't anything there yet. If you're signed up for email tracking alerts - let me know when it says delivered and I'll head down again. No post office home delivery up the various hills here (including mine) although they do deliver to the folks closer to town. Kind of a pain, but worth it.

Your rudbeckia look gorgeous. With the weather this year, I was thrilled to get this - so far - one stem and one flower from Indian Summer Rudbeckia I winter sowed. It's a nice one, really large flower, AAS winner.

Congratulations to Susan on her BINGO win.

Lets try for a runner up. First slip I pulled was Sugar PLum and I know that is a dud. Second try was donkey. The bucket is getting empty and so many of you are getting very close.

Christmas gifts are looking good

Maggie, Thank you for the information, I can't wait to get started stamping! I will let you know as soon as I receive the delivered email. Again, so sorry for the delay.! I love your rudbeckia too. They are great flowers! Amy

Just opened a "July Christmas gift" from Jeanne (sandlapper-rose). I got the cutest 4 coasters for wine glasses they fit around bottom. I put one on one of my glasses so y'all could see. Also, I received 6 gift tags with different types of birds on them. She included two books - notes from the country cupboard and a pillsbury one. Those will be great reading material while I recoup. And she sent a magnetic notepad which has already found it's place on fridge. I enjoyed the Christmas card and totally agree it was hard to find things in stores this time of year.

Jeanne, Thank you so much for the gifts. I hope you have yours by today or tomorrow surely. I hate that it is late.

Maggie, your package is ready for pickup!

Loving these Christmas gifts!!

No BINGO here.....

Amy - THANK YOU for the wonderful Christmas in July gift! Amy sent a marvelous Butterfly and Moth identification guide that has beautiful full color photos for each specimen. She also included cute fairy seed envelopes plus seeds - a mix of Moulin Rouge coreopsis plus yellow coreopsis, toothache plant, coriander and bonfire salvia plus a card.

oops - Amy - there's no Moulin Rouge coreopsis according to Google that I can find (there is Moulin Rouge Astrantia and various red coreopsis - do you know what I have, might be mislabelled). Thanks!!! again, wonderful package!

Maggie, I had them all marked Moulin Rouge but I looked back thru my seed book. I planted Coreopsis Roulette and a dwarf mix in the same pot. I believe they are Roulette from Park Seed and Dwarf Coreopsis from Sustainable Seed Co. Glad you caught that as I have all my packs marked Moulin Rouge and I am not really sure how that happened? I must have been dreaming I was in Paris while I was writing up those seeds!

Thanks so much Amy!! Great that you keep good records, my Excel sheet is the only thing that keeps my "memory" correct as well :-) Dreaming of Paris sounds like a wonderful thing ...

Glad you liked your swap package, Tammy. If only I had known about your injury, I would have sent some novels with a Christmas theme! I suspect my package will arrive here tomorrow. Keeping a watch for it.

Jeanne

Amy and Maggie, now you have me thinking about the South of France...Marseille is sounding so inviting right now. But I'll take Paris too.....Happy dreaming!

Annie

Hooray, my package from Tammy arrived.

Everything came wrapped in snowman gift wrap and as you'll see I got a snowman stocking as well (with a secret surprise inside). Also, received a Christmas card, thank you note for the swap I sent (wasn't that a great idea), a large packet of cut flower seeds, garden gloves, water beads (something I haven't tried, but they look like a great idea - I'll bet this might even work to root plants), a recipe to make peppermint candy canes, and a weekly/monthly planner. Tammy, you'll save me from not remembering doctor and dental appointments for next year! I always mess up on then when they set them six months ahead and I don't have a calendar yet.

Thank you so much, Tammy. I hope you are having less pain from your ankle injury.

Thanks for being hostess for this great swap, Beth.

Jeanne

I received my wonderful Christmas package from Nicole, thank you so very much Nicole. I even got to unwrap pkgs wrapped in Christmas paper.

Gift · More Info

I received:

A darling ornament bear with July engraved on it...too cute.

A Christmas Angel ornament with Brittney's name on it....she will love this.

A book to read to Mason...how clever.

Gel Clings

Christmas Card

Wrap and Go set

Seeds: Shirley Poppies " Angels' Choir....most clever idea and I can't wait to plant these next year.

Thank you again Nicole for such a wonderful Christmas in July.

I sure hope your box has arrived.

Shirley

Hi Shirley ~ u you are welcome for your Christmas box.

Your box hasn't arrived yet. I do not have the tracking number so I do not know the status.

Jeanne I am so glad you got your box, I chuckled at the comment about the "secret item in stocking" . Enjoy! It was a pleasure swapping with you.

The painful ankle oh its still there. Hoping for a fast recovery but don't think that will happen.

Everyone has received such nice and creative things. Many blessings to all.

Have a beautiful day.

Tammy

Packages flying across the country and such fun goodies being sent/ received! Looks like just Nicole is still waiting.

While we wait, here is a recap on the points from the guessing games

Amy .....5

Maggie ..........3

Susan, Jeanne, Annie, .........2

Shirley, Tammy ................1

BINGO Susan FIRST and Amy, SECOND

When the package arrives for Nicole we can vote and get Christmas in July finished up.

WE finally got 2 inches of very much needed rain here yesterday. Seems it is always too much or too little but yesterday was"just right"

Nicole the tracking number is 9505 5161 4748 7205 1281 25

They told me at the PO it would deliver Wed. and here it is Friday...hum

So sorry

Shirley

So where is it????? All I see when I check the tracking # is it was in Greensboro on Wed.

The best laid plans of Mice,Men and Gardeners are oft let astray by the U S Postal service..... ya gotta chuckle. No harm done as long as we are not shipping plants.

Well checked on the pkg again and it says it is at the LOS ANGELES CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER.

The PO is not going to like me come Monday, I paid $17.15 postage and the lady assured me the pkg. would arrive Wed. and here it is 5 days later and it's not even been delivered. No wonder all the businesses here use FED-EX and UPS.

Anyway on a better note Ms. Emily - gardengirl37232 will be joining us again for swaps and regular chit chat. She is in the process of moving to a new home and things should be settling down this Fall.

Shirley

Thanks for the update Shirley. I share your frustration with the PO. The folks who work in most of the local branches are great but the big city sorting/ centers seem to be a mess. And, prices for shipping are crazy.

Well, we will finish up ASAP .

Meanwhile, check out the August Swap that Maggie has posted. I love her theme, Celebrate the Abundance. In this land of plentiful food, we, especially as gardeners have a lot to celebrate.

We are enjoying a break from the excessive and oppressive heat and I am celebrating for sure. Yesterday the cool breeze felt more like early October than early August and it was delicious.

Shirley, that is a beautiful lily. Is it still blooming. Most of mine are about finished.

Garden surprises !
The surprise lilies are blooming.

Susan - we have the same color for overwintering petunias. Fun pictures, wonderful lush flowers.

Not sure I'll be able to post tomorrow eve - so I went and posted August now (though we all need to still check here in to see Shirley's swap when it arrives). http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4778710/m=3/august-is-admit-youre-happy-month-obf 

My Sunday walk through the gardens: lots of reblooming daylilies:

Now back to work....

Susan I love surprise lilies...I have the pink one also.

Beth- Yes I have several that are re-blooming, savoring everyone for it won't be too long before none are blooming.

Lorabell-Those two daylilies are beautiful, do you ever trade your daylilies?

Shirley

Shirley - I know you'd mentioned you are in the nursery trade - so you do know it is illegal for anyone to send plants to you in North Carolina - it looks like their ONLY exceptions are for personal houseplants (e.g always grown indoors). Unless of course they have a "tag or certificate stating in effect that the nursery stock being moved has been inspected and certified as apparently free from injurious plant pests by an authorized official of the state of origin". Surprised that you don't seem to know that. Here's there info.

http://nationalplantboard.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/summaries/north_carolina.pdf

Of course, Lorabell has mentioned she is part of our UC Master Gardener system - and most of us don't spend the time if we're not willing to protect the environment and do our best to educate others. http://cemendocino.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardener578/Becoming_a_Master_Gardener_Volunteer/ We're generally a pretty dedicated group when it comes to protecting the environment.

Our state is VERY clear (as is Washington, Oregon and I suspect many others) on trying to educate those who will listen on the damages imported pests (which include bacteria you cannot see do). It's why California, like Florida before us, is struggling with the citrus greening pest - some home gardener brought a cutting in to California that was infected. That's why we have border patrol that confiscate plants, fruits and veggies and a warning on our state website https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PE/transport_animals_plants.html: 

"The importation or smuggling into California of live plants and plant product, or unapproved, uninspected, or uncertified wild or domesticated animals, whether as pets or livestock, will have serious legal and financial consequences for the persons involved. These activities are prohibited as they could result in potentially damaging impacts to California's agriculture and environment."

I'm sure that once you familiarize yourself with your state (and other state laws) you woudn't dream of suggesting people use their Houzz accounts to illegally ship forbidden material across state borders. It's why Houzz puts

"Seed and plant exchanges are regulated by government laws. By participating in this forum, you agree that you will familiarize yourself with and follow all applicable local and national laws in your country. "

at the top of every exchange forum and would probably be hard pressed not to ban people they were made certain were using their site for illegal activity.

So, we'll hope that was just a joke about shipping plants. It isn't a fun lark - it costs states millions of dollars.

More info for the curious https://www.facebook.com/CalaverasCountyMasterGardeners/photos/a.586139688128752.1073741832.481604485248940/1319364631472917/?type=3&theater 

..and .. remember KNOWLEDGE is power - KNOWING is a good thing, PLEASE don't shoot the messenger just because laws are inconvenient to someone's desires. (and wow, serendipitous we were just talking about shooting the messenger in a different post...

Brittneysgran ~ I received a text stating the package has been delivered to my front porch. I won't be able to check it out until tomorrow night so I'll post when I get the chance tomorrow. Take care!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Not sure why you love this drama about shipping plants into N.C. and etc when there are :What's Going On?
Plant Swap Statistics

Threads: 20,837, Posts: 212,748, Members: 7,917

Welcome to our newest member, Saphstone

This is only ONE of the forums on the internet that trade/swap plants.

If it is that illegal there would be 7,917 members fined per your post on this ONE site. I did call Jim who inspects my gardens and he said no problem and he sends my permit each year to sell.

What about the Lily Auctions (where you bid and the highest bidder gets the daylilies)? What about All Things Plants where members trade and buy? What about Dave's Garden and etc...and etc...Trust me if it was illegal as you claim all these sites would be shut down and fined. I have belonged to these groups for 26 years and NOT ONE plant has been infected or diseased. Pretty good odds don't you think?

YES PLEASE DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER.

WOW! I didn’t think there was anyone who thought illegal things weren’t happening all over the internet. I’m kinda flabbergasted at the reply. I haven’t reported anything here, someone has to report for Houzz (or Dave’s Garden or Garden.org to care or do anything). When I say California has border patrol, I should have clarified that we have an AGRICULTURAL border patrol (different than immigration) at major state highways crossing state borders that stop cars and ask them to declare plants (then confiscate them). It is an expense that the state continues to put out to protect its economy. There is still software available and people still download music and movies - although if you internet search you’ll see that the music labels still go after them and prosecute, people on eBay and Amazon sell items they’re not supposed to (say for machine embroidery you can buy disks and they state for one user - you’re not supposed to copy the files and turn around and sell the disks but people do, lots of small family run companies in this that can’t search every internet site every day). There are many sites selling copyright designs - Disney/NFL etc- can’t seem to touch the ones based out of Russia or some South America places and people use them (then post picture of their sew outs AND you can’t always tell where the site is located - most of them don’t add the .ru that would specify Russia . Groups pop up in Facebook that actually illegally share purchased files - they make themselves Secret a soon as they have enough folks. They get shut down when they’re caught up with and start a new one. Facebook wants to “protect” people’s identity for areas where free speech isn’t a given - so other than shutting down the group prosecution is difficult- It takes time and money to prosecute - perhaps each state is hoping a different one will go on the warpath to fine and shut down folks. Many states have added more restrictions in recent years because more pests are coming into their states and causing severe economic damage. Many of these pests are carried on plants you might not think of (so the Citrus greening pest is carried on certain jasmines). There are SOME states that do not have controls over plant imports - so Houzz (Daves, etc) is ok offering the service to the forums while stating LOOK UP AND OBEY THE LAWS, which they do. It’s one thing to be unhappy if the laws are inconvenient to do what you want to do - but to think they don’t exist - although I can link to each government website - and you can see that in the URL it’s government - and it states they do consider this illegal. I can’t even fathom that trying to push it not really illegal as an arguement. North Carolina’s PDF was just updated December 2016 (at the top) perhaps it’s new and you just haven’t caught up. Your own state doesn’t care about what you ship out - only what comes in. It’s one thing to say I don’t like the laws - but to say they don’t exist because I haven’t been caught or people on the internet do it? Doesn’t fly. ONLY governement websites can have the .GOV in their url - it's real.

• • http://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/NurseryChristmasTree/ShippingPlantMaterial/Pages/Shipping.aspx
• https://agr.wa.gov/PlantsInsects/PlantQuarantines/PlantQuarantines.aspx
• https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/PE/transport_animals_plants.html
• http://nationalplantboard.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/summaries/north_carolina.pdf

Brittneysgran,

I do trade daylilies from time to time. Love those things! Was in a kick a few years ago and acquired 50 or so named daylilies. I'm allowed to sell plants at farmers markets and such so I am forever propagating them but should have some available in Spring. And being we're both from NC, we have no issues in trading.

Ah, Lorabell - there is also a Fort Bragg (which you've mentioned selling at) in CA. Still a good thing to periodically let folks know where it's legal or not to send plants so they have the benefit of making their own informed choice about what to do.

THANK YOU SO MUCH BRITTNEYSGRAN (Shirley) for the beautiful painting that your friend painted!!

Thank you for the cute card with garden gloves and stickers. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness!!

Ladies The packages are all delivered so now it it tine for you to vote.Send me a message with your choice for the most creative or appropriate gift. In case of tie I'll try to get one of my kids to be the tie breaker.

Thanks to those who voted so quickly. I will keep voting open until tomorrow at 10 AM California time to give everyone a chance to vote.

I hope to get everything wrapped up and prizes in the mail Friday

Thanks to all who played and participated in this swap. Hope you got a surprise you enjoy and can use.

No need for a tie breaker. The winner is Shirley and no wonder!!!!!! That painting is a perfect summary of the essence of Christmas.

So, with all the formalities taken care of I'll declare this swap closed and get the prizes into the mail.

Thanks for playing.

Beth, Thank you so much for the super plant markers and pencil! I have never used this type before and can't wait to try them out. I also love the Dr. Seuss fabric and plan to use it for a Christmas craft. Thank you so much! Amy

Beth - I also found your surprise package waiting at the post office. Thank You! Love the plant markers and fabric panel - both will go to good use. Thanks again for a great swap.

Beth, I just received my package of fabric panels, plant markers, marker and gift for bulbs this Fall. Definitely a true Christmas In July. Thank you so much for making July such a fun swap.

Thanks for the package with surprises, Beth. It had the wrong street address so it took awhile to get here, but the post office found me and that's good news! The Christmas in July Swap was so much fun.

Jeanne