I have these left. Please see my wish list for trades I'm looking for. Seeds I have to trade: UPDATED Feb 06 Amaranthus love lies bleeding (green) catananche -cupid's dart (P) corn ' mini rainbow' and a black/yellow type Cosmos 'bright lights'(A)-orange " 'cosmic cosmos"(A) dbl dwarf-orange Datura 'black currant swirl' mixed with double purple (identical) Eupatorium 'chocolate'(P)chaffy larkspur (a) blue nigella (love in a mist) dwarf dbl blue and single blue Hollyhock chatter's white (dbl) " 'Nigra' single black " 'Peaches n Dreams'- peach double (p) Ricinus castor bean. tall green leaf, 'carminceta', and pink pod (darkish leaf) (A) Salvia sp. ex. pamirs (P) salvia 'transylvanica'(P) salvia 'victoria' blue(A) all salvia trades come with chaff. sysrinchium -blue eyed grass (p) the below are just in from a swap: These are perennials joe pye weed malva bibo feldho - must be mispelled-no info hibiscus blue flax balloon flower-blue dames rocket annuals/tropicals/bienneial love lies bleeding bright lights cosmos tall yellow marigold dill lt pink hollyhock mimose quadrivalvis- cat's claw datura stramonium 'tatula' nigella agrostemma gracilis 'mila's queen' This list would be a lot longer but I keep giving away my seed as bonuses! Here are things I am growing and they are listed in the order in which they bloomed for me: This is not actually a trade list-although I might have some of these available. Maybe it will give you an idea..... Starting with the first things to bloom and going to the last one. for my zone 5a garden. (A) = annual P = perennial B = biennial _____________________________________________________________________ BRUNIFOLIA - draba, (P) groundcover, 1-2" tall, bloooms yellow- mar16-approx 3 weeks. full sun, slow grower SCILLA SIBERICA - siberian squill, bulb, 2" tall, blooms blue- April 1 for 1-2 weeks, can be sown in lawn and mowed later. full sun IRIS RETICULATA - dwarf, (P) 3-5" purple blooms, April 12 for 3 weeks . full sun 'VON SION" heirloom daffoldil-, bulb 10" yellow April 13- for 10 days. full sun RED BUD TREE, 4 ft tall now, pink april 13 for 23 days .full sun CROCUS bulb yellow 2 " tall. a few days full sun FORGET ME NOT- 5" tall, (P)? true blue, April 13- and still blooming on July 1! Part sun ALYSSUM SAXATILE COMPACTUM - BASKET OF GOLD, yellow, 12" tall, (P)!! blooms second year from seed. April 16 for 35 days. full sun GRAPE HYACINTH - bulb, blue, 4" tall, full sun or part sun, nasty grassy foliage. April 16 for 25 days DWARF IRIS- unnamed purple and white - 10 " tall, April 20 for 30 days full sun CAMASSIA- bulb with lovely purple flowers - 18" sun- april 23 for 20 days May flowers May 5 'DROPMORE SCARLET HONEYSUCKLE"- 12 ft + on 5 yr old plant- orange/yellow, (P) vine sun still blooming- 3-4 months, don't do cuttings- layer to propagate. May 7 'SAMOBOR' GERANIUM (P) 18" in bloom. noteworthy dark variagation on leaves- dusty pink, blooms 4 weeks, sun- part shade, not exceptional may 10 IRISH MOSS, (p) groundcover 1" tall, white, sun- part shade, slow grow, 3-4 weeks may 11 'PURPLE SENSATION' ALLIUM, 2 weeks purple ball flowers 24" tall bulb (p)- can be dried, sun , seeds viable, will make new bulbs slowly May 11- WOOD POPPY 'FLORE PLENA'PAPAVER - strange bushy plant with double yellow blooms. I've seen wood poppy in shade, mine is full sun (P) self seeds a lot!, still blooming 8+ weeks May 11 - CERASTIUM, SNOW IN SUMMER (not snow on the mtn). gray fuzzy leaves, white flowers, pleasant mound, sun, dry soil ok, 8" at most- quick to spread, 5 weeks May 11- DWARF YELLOW BEARDED IRIS (P)1 week- think I'll yank it! May 12 BLACK COLUMBINE with double flower, 3 weeks, part shade. black flowers 18"tall blooms second yr from seed May 12 'GLADIATOR' ALLIUM, taller lighter purple than purple sensation, sterile seeds, will make new bulbs slowly, 2 weeks May 12 'MAY NIGHT' SALVIA (P) purple 24", will bloom first yr from seed, longest bloom for my of salvias- 4 weeks, - then cut back for 50% rebloom-still blooming- july 7 May 12 DIANTHUS- unnamed pink (P) grey /green foliage- which is the main reason I grow it. Tough, drought tol, sun, 4 weeks May 17 BLUE COLUMBINE (P)- 2-3 weeks, part shade, drought tol. self seeds, blooms second yr from seed may 17 GYPSOPHYLIA REPENS- creeping babies breath - white, 4 ", sun, drought tol. seeds viable , 4 weeks May 17 COLUMBINE CANADENSE- native, yellow- red, pennant blooms, part shade, drought tol, also blooms second yr from seed, too tall - 26"- DIANTHUS 'TINY RUBIES'(P) pink pom-pom blooms 2 -3 inches tallBlooms May 19- for 2 weeks Full sun DIANTHUS 'FLASHING LIGHT" (P)(walmart) hot pink 2 inches plant and 4 inches blooms, blooms may 19- for 2 weeks. prostrate plant with darker leaves- a splendid dainthus for tumbling over rocks... DAISY (P)- shasta maybe, blooms may 19 for 7 weeks altho tapers off after 4 weeks. Very self sowing and spreads quickly.will compete against crab grass! VARIAGATED BEARDED IRIS. (P) Hold var. color all season. Full sun. I have several types and they all bloom the same color- light purple and same time, may 19 for 2 weeks. The aroma of grape jelly is TO die for!! I have an unnamed one plus, : iris pallida 'Aureo-Variegata'and Iris 'Variegata (Zebra- striped sweet iris) Bearded iris for me have had trouble with bacterial root rot with our soggy springs, I haven't had this problem with this iris however, don't put it in a wet spot. CLEMATIS "Guillain Blades' (P) vine white 3 inch blooms may 19 for 3 weeks the has cool hairy seed swirls. mine is part sun would be taller if I taught it to climb- label says 12' COLUMBINE (P)- pink may 19 for 4 weeks, 16 inches, part sun- blooms in 2 yrs from seed NEPETA(catmint) 'walker's low' (P) light purple may 19th and still going 7 weeks later. full sun, drought tol, collects bees that act drunk on it. shorter at 20 inches but give it room- 4 ft across! I cut mine back last year and was sorry- it took so long to rebloom- I'm going to leave it this year. propagates by seed but quicker by division. GERANIUM'Brookside and Johnson's blue- (P) I can't see any difference in these two.Neither are truelly blue. sun, floppy so I have them propped by neighboring plants so this way they are 2 ft tall. may 20- and still going so 7 weeks+ SIBERIAN IRIS 'Caesar's brother' (P) purple)only 2 weeks of bloom starting may 25, but the foliage makes it one of my favorite 'grasses'. Less fuss than bearded iris. Grows 24 + inches tall.visitor's favorite. Divides well and fills in quickly. DAYLILY'stella de oro' gold/orange(P) longest bloomer of daylilies 20" may 27 and still going on a few plants- 6+weeks can be seed grown but quicker by division .part sun to full sun. Thinking about trying in full shade- anyone tried it? SALVIA'Blue Queen' (p) self seeds. sun 20" height and 3-4 ft across after a couple yrs. purple/blue color. blooms may27 for 4 weeks. TALL BEARDED IRIS 'superstition' called black but actually extremely dk purple. lost 60 to bacterial root rot. Too much 'fragrance' for vase. 2 ft blooms may 27 for only 5 days sun Silene U Druetts ( P) may 27- still going mid July. White Dr. Suess flowers on groundcover. Mine from seed bloomed after two yrs with all gray/green foliage,came from mom's and her's have variagated foliage. 3" tall. sun SALVIA 'East Friesland' (P) redish/purple may 27 for 4 weeks. new and so short 14" sun LINARIA (A) 'dwarf fairy mix' many colors, bloomed first, now full size mix in bloom ,sun, wintersow, may 28- july 6 weeks if you plant both types. 1 ft to 18" LEMON LILY DAYLILY. These were 3 ft tall blooms with 18 " foliage but new to my garden so bloomed .shorter. Lemon yellow, sun/part sun. Flowers appear to hover above foliage. May 28- 3 weeks If you look at my member page you can link to my webshots for some pics of these gardens:) Toodles Karen

I'm putting a link below to the wintersowing forum faq page. It is a slow time of year there, but many of us still check in occasionally. Regarding wind blown containers... normally it is not a problem for me even here by the windy city. If the containers are on the ground tightly arranged and have enough potting mix that is not dried out they won't blow over. There are tips on windy conditions if you search the wintersowing board. Regarding the mulch. It does help greatly with the weeds and soil moisture. But, it also breaks down and gets other debris mixed in that turns it into a good medium for weed seeds to germinate in the mulch itself. The good thing though is that it keeps the ground moist, so pulling weeds is much easier. You will have less weeds with mulch than just bare ground, but it won't be weed free and no maintenance I guess it what I was saying. If you have tightly spaced healthy desirable plants they will mostly out compete and shade out the weeds whether you have a thick layer of mulch or not. My ultimate goal is to not have to buy mulch. I am trying to leave as much plant debris in place as possible and just chop it up a bit. I rake leaves into the beds a few inches deep. If I could chop them up it would be better. I use grass clippings sometimes too. It is not too late to sow annuals that don't need cold in containers or directly now. Due to bad weather I am running late this year. I am going to direct sow some zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, dill, and a few others this week. I know what all these seedlings look like so I am able to easily weed out anything else that pops up there. That is one of the keys to direct sowing because anytime you disturb the soil and keep it moist for your seeds to germinate you are also creating the ideal condition for weed seeds as well. Wet cardboard and newspaper does work pretty well for smothering existing growth too. Good luck and be sure to check out any newbie seed offers before you purchase more seed this winter. You'd be surprised what you can get. Having a "seeds wanted" list on your exchange page before joining any offers helps adopters/sponsors know what you are looking for too. I think there is an adopt a newbie thread on the seed exchange forum now. Here is a link that might be useful: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/wtrsow/

I'm a zone up from you (or is it down?) I'm in zone 4. The full shade plants that look good for me all summer are celadine poppies, lamiastrum Herman's Pride, christmas and Japanese painted ferns. Lamium can get ratty, but if I cut it down, it fills right in. Same with sweet woodruff. Blue lobelia, turtlehead, and toad lily bloom late summer and can hide some of the shaggy foliage of others. I'd guess that the shade isn't the problem with the hosta size, but lack of moisture (or they may just be hostas that don't get very big).

What WisconsinTom is saying she really wants is a normal size shade tree (i.e. oak or maple) that will grow tall enough to be easily limbed up 20 ft. Arborphobia has a lot to account for. When I was a kid, all the older houses had large shade trees growing over them. Before AC, this was how it had to be unless you wanted to die of heat prostration. Because of the sun angles, for a tree to shade a house, it has to be very close to that house. The downside of this was that once the trees started to fail, they had to be removed. That happened recently enough that if replacements were planted, they were planted much further from the house. They were landscaping instead of practical cooling. My assumption is that this tree is meant for cooling. So I also think what is wanted is a real shade tree of the fairly large size.