The rules of the exchange forums state that you cannot ask for seeds or plants for free, donation or postage. I believe the rules say something to the effect of: "If you have nothing to trade at this time, please wait until you do." The exchange is for the purpose of trading. It's a good idea to read the rules and the FAQs of each forum before you post in the forums. Each forum has its own set of rules and FAQs. Altho it is against the rules to post a request for "freebies", it is acceptable for gardeners with an abundance to post an offer of freebies, which you can respond to. Just watch for posts that say: "HAVE: This and That for SASE". Those type of posts are more abundant on the Seed Exchange, so you might check there as well. Many plants are super easy from seeds and you can see blooms the first season. Also, y'all check for clearance items at Lowe's and Walmart. Our Lowe's almost always has a clearance rack. Just recently I got a whole rack full of plants for $20. 2/3 of the rack was perennials, which generally sell for $4 a pot. The rest were annuals which I gave away to friends. Our Walmart currently has all their bulbs 75% off. And at the end of June, they usually clearance all the plants they stocked for the growing season. I've gotten roses and shrubs for $1 each! So in some cases, you can get a bunch of nicely growing plants cheaper than you could pay postage for them. And don't forget to look around your house to see if you have any non-plant items you could trade. Most of us here will barter for anything we can use--DVDs, books, magazines, crafts, chemicals, tools, etc. My gardens are so full now that I actually prefer non-plant items in trade. Recently, I've been trading for manure, Roundup, Preen, and Miracle Grow. Do you have any special skills? Some of us will trade for garden signs, decor, paintings, homemade soaps, etc. Some folks here trade their website-making abilities for plants. And if you live near enough to an experienced gardener, you may just trade your labor for plants. The possibilities are endless! (And if any of you live near me, NE Ark, about an hour from Memphis, I have a bunch of free plants if you come and dig 'em.)

The thing is his prices always look high but then the box comes, it's seldom just a double fan, and every order this year had a couple of bonus plants. I really liked most of them, even the double. I guess you could say I'm making lemonade I'm putting spidery pollen on it to try and make some double spiders. I just wish I had asked him to put the scapes from LITTLE BIG EARS in the box so I could try and get some pollen out of them.

Hi there, and welcome. Congratulations on both your new married life and getting started on your new home. Be sure to check out the kitchen and bath forums too for lots of great advice over there, and don't be shy about asking questions and looking at the galleries of past projects. People love to 'show off' their completed projects and help with new ones around here. Gardening is my love too and I've learned by doing and made many mistakes along the way - comes with the territory I have discovered.

You are all making me want to cry-- in a good way! Your kind and caring words help so much! I had not thought about a laundromat or bathtub-- those are great ideas. The main reason I did not cut the panels out and then wash them was because I was trying to figure out if I was going to bother matching the pattern (I need 4 panels for my lg. window and was going to sew them so they'd look like just 2 panels). I wasn't sure if I'd have enough fabric to do it that way since I did not take the pattern repeat into account when ordering the fabric. But, maybe I will just cut them and wash them with Nature's Miracle (do I really not need to wash them if I use that?) and not worry about "perfect" with the pattern. There was a LOT of pee . . . .had it only been a little it would not have been so bad as my DH and I were able to blot it up since it beaded instead of soaking in. The curtain is in a big bag outside in the cold since I did not want to change the cat peeing on it again! I am guessing the pee has frozen, LOL! Maybe I can just scrape it off. :) Do you think my cat has a problem physically or do you think this is behavioral? It's happened once before-- similar situation. My husband painted (decorating again!) our LR/DR and had to put this cat away again often to get the job done. He put the plastic dropcloth in the bathroom, and a cat (same one, I bet) peed and pooed on it. So, same thing-- we were decorating, putting him away, and left out a very large piece of something (first plastic and now fabric) only to find pee on it. Again, thank you so, so much for all your words! These virtual hugs and ideas are so helpful!