Second attempt submitting a post. Marquest, Wow, you weren't kidding when you said Petunia seeds germinated..Your 'denia plant is filled with beautiful, purple Petunias. One year, Petunia seeds dropped in my citrus. The seeds germinated in winter, but nowhere as nice as yours. Or filled as yours. Mine had three pink blooms. Do you add dry or fresh fir needles in your plants? Where is the Gardenia trunk??? PM, The Fragrant Forum has a ton of information on hardy and tropical Gardenias. Some threads are passion-packed...when a member is having problems with their 'denias. PM, don't get me wrong, I love computers. Electronics in general..Example, light bulbs. :) But, I feel our society is too dependant on the net. As a child we 'walked' to the library. I do admit researching online is much easier than dressing, walking, then sorting through a zillion books to find information on one particular subject. So, guess I'm a little old-fashioned. lol I love reading, but refuse to get Kindle. Amazon emails weekly, reminding me this electronic device exists. My dh makes fun when another email comes in. Especially since I spend so much time online. Guess I'm a hypocrate...lol Logee's! In the mid-90's, I ordered from Logee's religiously. Back then, plants were shipped in 4" pots, well-rooted, and shipping wasn't all that much, though it was higher than other nurseries. Problem was, I didn't know of other nurseries. Don't know if Logee's sold my name, but I started getting catalogs from other nurseries. Two of my favorites were Stokes Tropicals and Mellinger's. Nowadays, you'd have to get a loan to order from Stoke's, and Mellinger's went out of business, in the early 2000's. Back to Logee's. In early 2000's, they changed. Plants were shipped in 2"-2.5" pots, barely rooted. Shipping outrageous. Via one order I bought a citrus. If you ever saw a photo of Logee's citrus, you'd be placing an order. What arrived was a 3" stick. Oh, crap happens. So, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. A couple orders later, plants were arriving in awful condition. I finally phoned. Customer Service Reps are very nice and helpful. They sent a replacement plant which arrived large, well-rooted. Why didn't they send a plant that nice in the first place? After another order or two, I said, heck with this nursery. Their over-priced plants aren't worth it. I can get the same plant on Ebay or most online stores, for half the price, and much larger in size. I will admit. I ordered a Thanksgiving Cactus, 'Aspen,' that's impossible to locate. A seller on Ebay sold Aspen cuttings. He made a small fortune. One buyer paid $94 and change plus shipping. So, I ordered the TC and a Begonia from Logee's. My bill was over 30.00. Anyway, that's the Logee's story. lol You sure are experienced with plants. Perhaps, one day, you can give me some outdoor garden tips. Because of back/knee problems, the last two years our garden has been duds. Weeds do fine though. lol. Well, let's say I've been growing indoor plants at least 25-yrs. I first got hooked as a child, when we'd go to my aunt's farm in MI. My MOTHER didn't allow plants indoors, but I managed to sow veggie seeds at 11-yrs. My first house plants were given to me as gifts when I moved out of the house at 18. They died..too much lovin'. PM, it's really nice talking to you. Mike...here you are.... Gardenia's are like the old saying...a watched pot never boils..Mike,, you must stop watching. :) Oke-e-doke, once your 'denia produces, you owe us a photo or two. Hugs, Toni PS: PM, please don't take offense regarding Excel. :_

Wow, you guys are great! I now have a starting point or at least an idea of one - LOL. I've been told R. Californica grows up on Mt. Baldy and since we live in the foothills of the mountain it would be a good starting point. I now also have a list of roses 'recommended' to me by the best enablers I have ever known! Hoovb- You might not remember when we lived in OC but I was the one with the tiny yard and had a GW party? After that we moved to a ranch but it was too far from doctors so we are now living in an amazing Lemon Orchard in Upland and while I have to respect the trees I can garden to my heart's content. So acres we have, and in the middle of the city too!! Roseseek (Kim), Expect for the escaping, how did the Minutifolia do in pots? Do all of them sucker or just some of them? How do they like being pruned or do they differ based on type like other roses? My soil is wonderfully rich and my roses grow big - I mean really BIG here and I haven't had to fertiliz since we moved in. I truly do welcome all your suggestions, ideas and growing advice. GardenWeb has always been my favorite source of rose information! Having never grown Species I am now learning something new and exciting. And I thank all of you for your exciting suggestions and ideas. I will go check out HMF and look around. My favorite book botanica's roses got my pulse going and now that I have the space I'm ready to give it a go. I am starting my "wish" list, feel free to add to it!

Amna, I use those strawberry containers all the time, been doing so for 6 years now and never had a problem with them. Holes are fine, as well and my containers always go in in direct sun as well. Soil goes in, miracle grow, I don't fill it quite to the top, seeds go on soil. sprinkle some soil on top and press down to be sure it is good and moist. snap the cover down and out it goes. no tape no, baggies unless the containers are reused and the cover has finally broken off. As temps warm up I sometimes need to add vent holes to the top to get more water in. Covers come off the seedlings when the seedlings are really hitting the cover of the container. I have never worried about not enough head room with covers or with baggies on them and have never had a problem or any seedlings damaged from being a bit compressed with a cover or baggie. My hose is out back near the containers, so if they need some moisture, water is handy when needed. I am in MA as well, near the Nashua NH border and I don't sow my cosmos till mid April. to huge a risk of late frosts around MA that will get the tender seedlings. Cosmos are really hardy with early frost in the fall and will continue to bloom through those early frosts, but the tender seedlings will be history for you if they are zapped by late frost now. Picture 1 should be fine outside without the baggie. just be sure there are vent holes on the top. Don't leave the container inside the other one on the bottom. That will catch rain and could make the soil stay far too moist and soggy because the container will just sit in water. pic #2. looks fine. just be sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of the container and you have slits in the baggie for air to circulate and rain to get in. (hopefully we have seen the last of snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice for this year) Pic #3. looks like you used masking tape for labels. That won't last very long. it will come off when it gets wet from rain. You can cut up plastic covers from margarine, cottage cheese, sour cream, coffee, etc and use them for labels. you can use a deco paint pen to write with, that will last forever and put the tags inside the container. or use sliver foil tape as a label and write with paint pen. sharpies fade quickly when the heat and sun get on it. Be sure the containers have drainage holes in them, air holes in the top and when you put them outside, don't pile them on top of each other. Each one needs to have it's cover exposed to the elements completely. Some pics of my containers I have been using for 6 years A mix of those blue containers mushrooms come in, strawberry containers, take out containers, cottage cheese containers. I use anything that is at least 3-4 inches deep, but do not use gallon water jugs. I just find them far too awkward to use and I don't use tonic bottles either. We rarely drink any and the bottle return leaves no one with any to get them from. Fran

Ceresone, I think you are wise to listen to your body. Tell us what you are doing this year after a winter of thought about it. Sometimes I forget my age and get after myself for not doing things as quickly and easily as I did when I was 37, 47, 57 ... 6 ... I can't say it. If I'm not stronger, I hope I'm a little smarter! Helen, I made alfalfa tea for the roses last spring. I didn't put molasses in it, but would have, had I read William's post first. The roses were on steriods for a couple of weeks -- some bloomed that had never bloomed well. And it really smelled bad after a few days of fermenting, but I plunked a lid on it and held my nose. It was worth it. I put the dregs in the compost. I buy my alfalfa at Wal-Mart, a 10# bag, Small World brand rabbit food. Just alfalfa pellets. I can't carry or store a 50# bag of it that I could buy at a feed store, even though it would be less expensive. I put a handful or so in the compost pile when I think of it. It smells good in the bag. Sunny