HEAT-LOVING, COLORFUL PERENNIALS: Achillea fillipendulina WOOLY YARROW Achillea ÂMoonshine MOONSHINE YARROW Achillea hybrids HYBRID YARROWS Agapanthus LILY-OF-THE-NILE Agastache aurantiaca ORANGE HYSSOP Agastache hybrids (many) HYBRID HYSSOP-MINTS Agastache rupestris SUNSET HYSSOP Alstroemeria PERUVIAN LILY Convolvulus sabatius GROUND MORNING GLORY Dietes FORTNIGHT LILY Eriogonum umbellatum RED-FLOWERED BUCKWHEAT Eryngium amethystinum BLUE SEA HOLLY Eryngium variifolium MOROCCAN SEA HOLLY Euphorbia characias wulfenii CHARTREUSE EUPHORBIA Euphorbia x martinii RED EUPHORBIA Euphorbia rigida MEDITERRANEAN EUPHORBIA Gaillardia x grandiflora BLANKET FLOWER Gaura lindheimeri GAURA Gaura ÂSiskiyou Pink PINK GAURA Helianthemum nummularium SUN ROSE Hemerocallis DAYLILIES Hesperaloe campanulatus PINK TEXAS YUCCA Hesperaloe parviflora RED YUCCA Kniphofia hybrids RED-HOT POKER, TORCH LILY Nepeta ÂSix Hills Giant GIANT CATMINT Nepeta racemosa ÂWalkerÂs Low CATMINT Nepeta x faassenii CATMINT Oenothera caespitosa TUFTED EVENING PRIMROSE Opuntia microdasys RABBIT EARS Opuntia violacea santa-rita BLUE-BLADE Origanum x ÂJimÂs BestÂ, ÂRotkugelÂ, ÂSanta Cruz ORNAMENTAL OREGANOS Penstemon barbatus BEARD TONGUE Penstemon centranthifolius SCARLET BUGLER Penstemon eatonii FIRECRACKER PENSTEMON Penstemon x gloxinioides (many) HYBRID PENSTEMONS Penstemon heterophyllus BLUE BEARDTONGUE Penstemon x mexicali RED ROCKS PENSTEMON Penstemon palmeri PALMER BEARDTONGUE Penstemon pseudospectabilis DESERT BEARDTONGUE Penstemon spectabilis ROYAL PENSTEMON Penstemon strictus ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEARDTONGUE Penstemon superbus SHOWY PENSTEMON Phlomis (many) JERUSALEM-SAGE Pyrethropsis hosmariense MOROCCAN DAISY Salvia chamaedryoides GERMANDER SAGE Salvia daghestanica DWARF SILVER-LEAF SAGE Salvia dorrii PURPLE DESERT SAGE Salvia ÂRaspberry Delight RASPBERRY DELIGHT BUSH SAGE Salvia reptans TEXAS GRASS SAGE Stachys albotomentosa HIDALGO Stachys coccinea HEDGENETTLE Stachys macrantha ÂRobustaÂ, ÂSuperba BIG BETONY Stokesia laevis STOKES ASTER Verbena bipinnatifida SPLIT-LEAF VERBENA Verbena bonariensis BUTTERFLY VERBENA Verbena hybrids (many) HYBRID VERBENA Verbena rigida SANDPAPER VERBENA Verbena tenuisecta MOSS VERBENA Zauschneria californica (Epilobium) CALIFORNIA FUCHSIA (from my CD) Joe

Susan, I love your light stand and always will love it. I realize it was the best solution for you, but if I told Tim I wanted to buy one of those, he'd hand me a hammer and tell me to build my own....which is why I have the one that I have. : ) Mine is hidden away out of sight in a room where guests rarely venture, although anyone who knows me and who knows I raise my own seedlings always asks to go upstairs and see it in the spring. So much for putting it out of sight....I just should have set it up in the dining room or breakfast room or something.... I am sure you'll be deliriously happy with it and will have many wonder seed-starting adventures and I look forward to hearing all about them. I think you got a great deal considering it was Gardener's Supply. I never buy anything of theirs for full price. They have sales often enough (and especially in November when, I think, some of us gardeners are shopping for ourselves) that a person can be patient and get a good price during their periodic sales. I've noticed that prices often are not as good in December when gardeners' spouses or family members are doing what I call "panic Christmas buying" and cannot afford, time-wise, to wait for a sale. I don't think you were repetitive at all. The more we all share about what we do, how we do it and why we do it (as well as pointing out what didn't work for us!), the better for all of us to learn from one another's experiences! Carol, Our weather is just like yours. Our high was 70 degrees yesterday and it was so gorgeous outside I could hardly stand it. I wanted to jump up and down and scream "Spring Is Here!". That was exacerbated by the smell of the orange blossoms on my little orange tree. However, I controlled myself because I knew it was a false spring and that winter was returning today. It was 56 degrees around 7 a.m. here at our house and now it is 36 degrees and we have had very, very light rain but lots of thunder. Phooey on winter! I think you showed those folks at the co-op that one benefit of being a gardener is that it keeps your muscles and joints strong, healthy and fit. I'd rather "work out" in the garden any day, than walk on the treadmill or work out on the weight machine. Who wouldn't? Trees, Nope, sorry, I just haven't gotten to it. I am trying. Watch for it in a couple of hours or in the morning. I'm about to start typing mow after I close up the chicken coops, put out the deer corn for my favorite deer, refill the bird feeders (those little birdies are eating nonstop today trying to stay warm), etc. I'm kind of dreading going out into the cold wind but I need to do it now before it gets dark. I have to warn you that I don't use the same planting schemes every year because I don't want to get stuck in a rut, but I'll try to mention some of the planting schemes in my usual rotation. Dawn

Lots of plants flowering in the yard right now. Canna 'Ripples' Canna 'Angele Martin' Canna 'Gigundo' Canna 'Bengal Tiger' Longan tree Tecoma 'Sparky' Tahitian pummelo - Finally showing signs of new growth all over the tree. I've been worried about this big guy for over a month now. All my citrus trees have already flushed new leaves and are done flowering except this guy until now! All its been doing is dropping leaves. I'm guessing it's still stressed from being uprooted and replanted to my yard. Mango 'Lemon zest' flower spikes all over. My new Dwarf Namwah Banana corm finally pushed a new leaf out. The 90f temps probably helped out a lot on waking this guy up. Green and red sugarcanes - lots of new canes coming out.

Give them time? I like to think if there's nothing going on above ground, its because a plant is growing nice big roots to get them through hot weather...either that or they are just lazy. Never tried lupines; only tried poppies once and they didnt germinate. Sometimes sweet peas are a bit slow to start off - then you turn around and there is lateral branching going on all over the place! I was growing a batch of them behind the roses out front, but decided plant elsewhere this year, as they ended up trying to take over and almost strangling poor Charles Darwin (who hasn't been doing very well lately). As he's now on shovel probation, I thought it was only sporting to give him a chance without also having to do battle with sweet peas. I've been reading up on sweet peas lately, because apparently its possible to get 9 months worth of them here, by staggering plantings of short/ long day varieties. Been setting up trellises all over the back yard fences, being sure to make them a bit larger and stronger this time, as there were a couple of collapses last year... They seem to like a fair bit of water when they're little, but can get by on much less (and take more heat) than you would think once they get bigger.