I am sorting the seed packets, ladies, and they will be in the mail to you tomorrow. There were not a lot of seeds that matched your wish lists, but if there were any, I sent them. However, you will definitely find lots of interesting seeds and no two alike (i.e. if there were two packets of marigold or zinnias, the varieties were labeled and you got more than one packet of marigolds and zinnias but they are of different varieties...) Anyway, I hope everyone is happy with their seeds. You are getting a few more packets than what you sent. First of all, I added some that I marked "free" that were older than 2006 - yes, I would have some of those... LOL... and I just added some newer ones, too, when I had lots of a certain kind. And secondly, some of the packets had lots of seeds in them and seemed so interesting that I wanted more than one person to get to try them, so I divided some up a bit more. Hope that was okay. Anyway, I had fun being hostess and happy fall and happy planting! Thanks for joining in on the first Petal Pushers swap that I have hosted. Jeanne

Hello everyone. I received my package from Serena. It included a sweet card and a story behind the raspberry canes she had included. She also added a gardening magazine, some herbal tea (not pictured, oops!) and two stickers. I can't wait to plant the raspberries! Thank you, Serena! Your box is on its way. Sorry it was a little late. I was trying to get the fig cuttings a little more established. Tracking is #9505514386937032017503

SUBSTITUTIONS AND DUPLICATES OKAY I'm not picky! Surprises are great just no ornamentals please BEANS (anything pretty! except scarlet emperor I have lots of him) Blauhilde Purple Koronis Nonna Agnes's Blue Bean Fort Portal Jade Bean Dragon Tongue Red Swan Sunset Runner Painted Lady Runner Good Mother Stallard PEAS! Any rare, heirloom, or odd colored varieties Carouby De Maussane Spring Blush Tendril Blue Pod Capucijner Tall Telephone Arbogast Magnum Bonum Prince Albert Lincoln Champion of England Sugar Magnolia SQUASH (any bush types) Bush Buttercup Desi Summer Squash Galeux d'Eysines Kakai Kogigu Lakota Marina di Chioggia Moranga Musquee de Provence Sibley/Pikes Peak Sucrine du Berry Sweet Dumpling Tatume Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Triamble/Shamrock MELONS Ali Baba Watermelon Crane Early Frame Prescott Ginger's Pride Ineya Old Time Tennessee Piel de Sapo Strawberry Watermelon Swan Lake Tip Top Valencia Winter Melon Vert Grimpant TOMATOES African Queen Aunt Ruby's German Green Aunt Ginny's Purple Aunt Gertie's Gold Believe it or not Big Ben Big Rainbow Black Russian Blondkopfchen Brandywine Yellow Burpee's Globe Ceylon Chile Verde Elfin Emerald Evergreen Gold Medal Goldman's Italian-American Green Doctors Green Giant Jaune Flammee Marvel Striped Mary Robinson's German Bicolor Matt's Wild Cherry McClintock's Big Pink Mortgage Lifter bicolor Old Ivory Egg Opalka Orange Banana Orange Strawberry Orange Minsk Peach Blow Sutton Purple Russian Red Rose Santa Clara Canner Sara's Galapagos Stump of the World Stupice White Beauty Wild Sweetie MISC. All kinds of radishes (the more colorful the better!) Carrots - Atomic Red, Black Nebula, Black Spanish, Chantenay, Gniff, Koral, Oxheart, Scarlet Nantes, St Valery Ramps, Wild Leeks Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) Egyptian Walking Onion Ground Cherry - Aunt Molly's, Goldie Goji Berry (scarlet wolfberry) Wild Strawberry (fragaria vesca) FLOWERS Papaver somniferum - Pepperbox, Black Swan, Danish Flag, Drama Queen, Igor, Hens and Chicks, Hungarian Blue, Fire and Snow, Giganteum Calendula - Kablouna, Oopsy Daisy, Solar Flashback, Pink Surprise, any apricot colored Dianthus plumarius (ANY) Echinacea purpurea - ANY PURPLES, Bravado, Fatal Attraction, Pink Poodle, Ruby Star Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera Ciliosa) Pink Honeysuckle (Lonicera Hispidula) Rose (Rosa rugosa) Sunflowers - Chianti, Greenburst, Ikarus, Jade, Jolly Joker, Taiyo, Titan Wild Violets (Viola Sempervirens, Viola Adunca, Viola Glabella) Zinnias - Cherry & Ivory Swizzle, Tudor NASTURTIUM - ANY except mixes, Apricot Trifle, Cherries Jubilee, Copper Sunset, Creamsicle, Double Delight Apricot, Evelyn, Hermine Grashof, Margaret Long, Moonlight, Vesuvius, Yeti, Ladybird Cream Purple Spot HERBS Orange Thyme (thymus fragrantissimus) Culinary Sage - Berggarten Variegated, Broad leafed Sage White Sage (salvia apiana) Basil - Tulsi, Lime, Lettuce Leaf, Purple types Lavender - Hidcote, Munstead, Ellagance Pineapple mint Ashwagandha Soapwort Lemon Verbena Sorrel Lovage Salad Burnet Mizuna

LOLOLOL. Doofus. No one was mean! Not at all. Just that they don't like folks going onto the site and doing something different. I can really actually see their point. It'd be different if I'd been winter-sowing for 5 years. It'd be like a brand new gardener coming into the FB forum and telling everyone they're going to plant their entire garden in hay bales. Or stuff like that, you know? What was a little exasperating was that some of them didn't read the post entirely and so it wasn't really a dialogue. No matter. All is good. But if they're mean again, I'll sic you onto them. ROTFL! AND, can't you find anything that contains collagen on a vegan diet?? (Not being vegan, I would not know that, you know.) Rebecca, I'm not as worried about them frying, I mean there are a ton of holes in them. Further, cross currents are usually more effective at bringing breezes through than from just one direction. I will say, that even had I put holes in the top, I still would have put holes in the sides, too. But. Okay tell you what. I'll go put a couple holes in the tops of some of them! LOL My larger concern is the bottom watering, just because I haven't seen anyone else doing it. I can't imagine why it won't work, since the indoor seedlings prefer bottom watering. But I'm still nervous about it. Could you please give me your thoughts on that? (Our first row of holes above the bottom is 1 1/2 inches high, which was exactly as much water as it took to dampen all the pots.) At any rate, yes, if I notice anything going awry, I'll spring into action to correct. I would say in Oklahoma ANYONE who WSes is in danger of frying the plants! We ALL need to keep our eyes on that possibility, right? But yes, with you working, you're not around to hover over them like I am. NOW. In the horrible event that I get called out of town for emergencies, I'll have to hire my nearby gardener friend! . . . Then I'd probably move everything closer in to the house for a minimal amount of sun. But then so would a lot of the rest of you be in trouble, too. Last year, I spent a good bit of time scooting my 15-gallon fabric container pots back closer to the house (and under the half roof on that part of the deck, either to get them out of the sun, or to protect them from the rains POURing down. I can certainly do that with the totes, too. Yes, Dawn. . . . Rebecca's cute little daisy was discussed in this article. I loved it and got a good laugh. http://dailyimprovisations.com/fun-flowers-to-grow-from-seed-cape-daisy-or-venidium-fastuosum This hybrid. . . . I think it'd be great to actually get even just a few seeds to see if any of them turn out to be true to the type--that would be very cool. If I live another 4 years, Dawn, I won't be winter-sowing anymore either, as I believe I'm growing everything I'll ever need to grow (perennial/herb/hardy annual-wise) this year. Hmmm. Who am I gonna unload these totes and pots on. Here I was thinking it was going to be one of those depreciation items. Perhaps not. . . .LOL Oh, Dawn, that is very upsetting about something scary out there. Please keep us posted. And along the subject of pets, I also would rather watch puppies OR kitties than almost anything. We are loving Tom and Jerry. . . even Titan is just fascinated. These guys certainly are not anything like Daffy. He sees possibilities with them being entertainment. But occasionally gets over-enthusiastic. He thinks it's fine for him to lunge at them as they race past him (and it's not, we tell him), but he is VERY touchy so far when one of them tries to attack his tail or foot. We think it's very funny of course, but he at least hasn't snapped at them, just kinda growled/woofed them off. That is VERY good on his part. Also when they would approach his dinner. . .THAT is his wild animal trigger response. We've worked and worked and worked with him on that one. We normally shut them in the cats' room (formerly the art room) to be eating their own dinner, but before we got wised up to that, they'd go over to HIS food dish--I almost got bit once, as did Garry once. There were severe penalties involved. Also a bratty 3-yr old liked to tease him with it--unfortunately, he was the one who paid--but so did she. So it was fairly miraculous that when the kittens tried to interfere, all he did was growl angrily and boy did they back off quickly. We're feeling very good about the kittens and Titan, they all three are fascinated with each other and full of good cheer. But Titan IS part wolf, after all, and we always are very aware of him--in unexpected situations. I am 100% certain GDW and I are gold with him. But I always keep an eye on him when he indicates he's uncomfortable with someone or a certain situation, and usually take him into the house then. The kittens are his first test situation with trust, and he's doing SUPER, but we still keep an eye on him. Little thinker, Tom, has now finally decided GDW is okay, too, and so now is landing on HIS lap and in HIS way. They're just precious, both of them. Kim, I missed your supportive post earlier, that was SO sweet!!! Thanks for believing in me--you KNOW I believe in you, too. You are a marvel! We're both kinda Ruth Stout people, I think. Ruth definitely figured out what worked for her and followed that path! But if the rumor Amy heard about Ruth is true, that she gardened naked, I know neither of US is gonna do that. I don't even like wearing short-sleeved T-shirts while gardening. Gardening is like full armor down here! Okay okay, I admit. Oklahoma gardening is not easy!!! It's the damn bugs!!! The critters! The aphids, the bad beetles, the slugs, the ticks, the chiggers, the fleas, the voles, the gophers. .............................................. a person in OK would have to be insane to be gardening in their shorts and tank tops and flip-flops and bare-handed, in my opinion! Let alone naked. Amy and Eileen, tomorrow our trip to Broken Arrow. Our whole day affair. Short notice, so maybe we can actually plan the next trip. But if you can meet up, let me know. However, Amy has a good point--will have more seeds if we meet up in a couple more weeks--maybe we should start talking about that--the seeds we have to give. Aldi, then back through Wagoner for buttermilk and candles, and then back home. We have been SO hunkered down here. And you guys who are so tired of winter? We are, too, of course, but you know what? I've made my peace with it, somehow. I wasn't allowed to hunker down in MN or WY, working every day all through the winter nonsense. It was COLD. Not easy, especially with vehicles. Those of us smart ones (sometimes I was smart, sometimes not so much so) had engine heaters for the cars plugged in for overnight. When I lived with my son and his family in Mpls, we had a street-level garage, but the rest of the property sloped steeply up. When it snowed, we'd have great fun the first few snows in December; partying out there in the driveway--with the snowblower and the others using shovels. By February or earlier when the drifts next to the driveway were up to 5-6 feet, not so much fun. It was so MUCH colder and more brittle and so much dryer in WY and MN in the winter. But I don't care. It's COLD here. I'm with the rest of ya. I used to trot out on my patio in Mpls when it was -10, in my short nightgown, for a last cigarette. It's all just so weird! Well, HJ, speaking of rambling!