Hi Smives, where did you get the list? I need more sources before I just plant redbuds and dogwoods the rest of my life. Thanks for giving me some domestic choices. Hamamelis virginiana - witch hazel blooms in the winter here if I recall. Perhaps I actually need one because of that. Thanks for bringing it up. Anyone know if any of the cultivars bloom in July or August? Aesculus parviflora & Cephalanthus occidentalis are more bushes to me but that is too fine a line to cross them off. Perhaps I can prune a parviflora into a vase shape. Cotinus obovatus is on my list for this spring. Does it bloom later up north? I am expecting spring flowers out of it and that EXCELLENT fall color. There must be cultivars I just know nothing about. Rhus typhina! I am actually growing two which are turning into a half dozen. They're different. Totally forgot that someday they might flower with all that suckering going on. Thanks. Aralia spinosa, Devils Walkingstick fits perfectly. Does Franklinia alatamaha bloom most of the summer? I have been considering trying one for some time. Another good choice. Oxydendrum arboreum, Sourwood. After killing a couple I must have blocked it from memory. Gordonia lasianthus just isn't cold hardy here. Magnolia virginiana, Sweetbay Magnolia totally counts. I just don't like it.

are you looking for a texensis variety?

I thought I'd add something to the discussion: Tomatoes were grown north of Mexico, but only in the Southwest - the area inhabited by the Pueblo groups like the Hopi and the Zuni. This is possibly where the Navajo cultivars originated, as the Navajo were in close contact with the Pueblo peoples. Understand, though, that the Pueblo peoples were an isolated group that are closer linked to the Mexican civilizations than the other groups in what is today the United States. The Pueblo people were somewhat of an isolated agricultural population, surrounded by desert and the plains, which were not as suitable to agriculture. Their neighbors in these regions, like the Navajo, were mostly hunter-gatherers in ancient times and did not grow their own crops until recently. The Pueblo peoples traded with the Toltecs of Mexico, however, and from them they recieved many crops, and also rare imports of luxury items like cacao beans and macaw parrots that only the nobility could ever afford. To make more sense of it, remember that today's borders are a modern construct, and that up until the 19th Century the American Southwest was governed from Mexico City rather than Washington, DC. Therefore, the distinction of the US Southwest region as being closer related to the rest of the United States than to Mexico is not the case for most of history, particularly before Columbus showed up. Mexico is the origin for many of the crops associated with the natives of North America, including corn and beans. Beans, actually, only arrived in the Eastern United States just shortly before Europeans did. It's probable that given time, if the Europeans hadn't shown up, tomatoes would have eventually arrived there through along indigenous trade routes, too, but Europe beat them to it and ended up being their middle man. Read "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond for more information. The Americas ran along a "north-south" trade access - meaning that in order for domesticated plants and other ideas to spread from one region to another, they had to travel through very different climate zones, which made the journey a lot tougher. Since tomatoes were actually of South American origin, it would have taken a lot longer. Those tomatoes had to travel from the colder Andes mountains, into the sharply different, tropical rainforest region, into the more arid grassland regions of central Mexico, and finally through the deserts of northern Mexico and the Southwestern states - which took a long, long time - hundreds if not thousands of years. To get from there to the Great Plains and finally the Eastern Woodlands would have taken more time than the Native Americans had before Jamestown was planted.

I agree with Party Music that the buffet line should be on both sides of table & have soup, corn, then stew,(do they make it with flatbread or will they be already put together? I haven't had that so don't know how it's done.. Drinks I always prefer to be in 1 area ,not main food table as a spill can really slow things down. Cake table- cake,forks, napkins & maybe couple of small containers of flowers, any canoes available?? How about a couple of child sized moccasins. Make them out of felt & bead on the front of them(glue or sew on) put a plastic container in where foot should go with low arrangement of fall flowers. Your idea of memories or quotes is good, make that a game where you pass out rough paper in rawhide or beige color & ask them to write something for bride & groom would need pens or pencils to write with but advice, favorite memory about couple or "how to get through the net 25 yrs" would be fun & interesting memory of the party. Only thought is be sure things are pretty secure in case of wind, would heat be a problem, might consider a tarp or 2 to shade some areas if you have trees or house you can anchor them on. Home Depot has brown ones that are nice & last quite well. Also have beige colored 6 ft wide shade cloth that can be anchored with long high wires to higher trees or close to roof so have some shade. It's sold in rolls 100 ft long or shorter 6 ft by 20 ft long. smaller rolls are $29. I think, I shade parts of my yard & makes a big difference. Sounds like a fun party!