Can ya believe my DH (who is not a shopper) sat in the truck and waited for me for one of those stores??? I seen it on the way in and was about to break my neck to look. I didn't even ask him and when we left town, he pulled in and said ,"ok, hon, ya got 30 minutes." What a sweetie! Kudzu,that is so funny! I paid 50 cents for mine. I almost didn't see it, it was behind the little gate when I picked it up. oh, luna, I know! We would have a blast shopping together!! Sunny, I'm such a dummy, I didn't even think to look! All I could see was a little seat or birdbath for my gr'daughters to put in the fairy garden we are making. I will look, though when I get home tonight! Thx, for the heads-up, Karen, I'll keep a look-out for Kirk lurking around my cabin treasures!LOL!! But, ya know, it would be fun to go shopping with him and Carol,cuz we like the same decor, although we'd be fighting over the bears!!!!LOL! Thx for sharing my excitement on my new finds! blessings-sherri

Thank you everyone. All things considered I feel pretty good for a week post op and I'm behaving quite well. doing only what I'm supposed to do. Drippy, those chipmunks are not funny and they sure aren't "chip and dale" either. Never mind the garden bed destruction that they create, the holes that they dig can be dangerous if you get your shoe or foot caught in one of them and go down. A year ago I did just that and tore ligaments in my ankle. The little boy that used to live next door got his foot in one when he was 4 and broke his leg. Now if that isn't enough insult here's more to add insult to injury. An article in the newspaper a few weeks ago said that chipmunks are a major carrier of deer tick now, more so than even deer and that could be the cause of a massive increase in the number of Lyme Disease cases being reported. Not that i needed an incentive to do everything I can to get rid of them, but that sure added a whole new layer to doing it. Then a friend called me last week the day before I went to the hospital to warn me that she was working in the gardens a month ago and she unknowingly disturbed a chipmunk that jumped on her arm and ran off. She didn't notice that she had a tick on her arm till the next day because it had attached right on top of a birthmark. 2 weeks later, bingo she has the classic bulls eye rash on her arm and has lyme disease. Chipmunks are not very smart. They can't swim, but will be more than happy to dive into water to get sunflower seeds and drown in the process and that's fine with me, right along with eating my datura as well. e-mail me if you want some info on chipmunks that like to dive for sunflower seeds. Bonny, the livingston daisy was WS by a friend of mine. There are 3 of us that share the WS for 3 gardens. We cane up with the idea to share it all after a couple of years of all of us sowing the same seeds then coming to my spring plant swap and all having the same extra seedlings. Didn't make sense so we split it up now. We end up with the same number of containers, more of each kind sowed, but the total variety is split between the homes and we end up with an even bigger variety of plants for the beds. Vera the color of that viola is beautiful. If you have any seeds for trade in the fall, I'd love some and will send you some of mine. PV, sow those seeds for next year. No matter how many of them you have, sow all of them cause they are a funny seed to germinate. My experience with them has been strange to say the least. My first seeds where from valueseeds.com. got 3 packets, 30 seeds in each packet and sowed them in early March. just sprinkled on the top of the soil cause they are small and tannish in color. Out of those 70 seeds we got 6 seedlings. Not a very happy camper that there, but I collected every single one of the seeds I could get my hands on from the plants and it was a ton of seeds, more than 1/4 tsp. Next year we sowed every one of those seeds, and I kept thinking OMG, what will I do if thousands of these seeds germinate. Well, no such luck, we got 20 seedlings last year. Figured ok, better than the year before and we will always have to sow every single seed we get. So this past year I had more than 1/2 teaspoon of seeds. We sowed 4 mushroom containers of seeds, the 10 ounce size container, put each one in a ziplock baggie and put them out in mid April this year. just an experiment to see if a later sowing would make any difference in the germination rate. They began to germinate on 4/29 the exact same day as the prior to years, and they where slow. But this year we saw how the seeds germinate. they swell to at least twice their original size and all but germinate 1 seed at a time. honest. But there was a huge difference in this years germination. We had mushroom containers totally covered in seedlings. so many that we couldn't separate seedlings and planted hunks of them every where. My neighbor across the street still hasn't planted hers out yet and the entire container is covered in flowers and seedlings covering the container. We have to have thousands of seedlings this year. On top of that, we have seedlings of the viola popping up all over the place in the lawn and my neighbor has several popping up in her yard as well. Doesn't make any sense to me why on the third year with the seeds, second year of collecting seeds we have mass germination and the prior 2 years including the first year from commercial purchase the germination was very poor. Fran

Thanks everyone:) Hi Mary :) As far as Monarda is concerned I just belief M. didyma and most of it's cultivars are most susceptible to infection. Spraying plants with plain ol' water can aid in the prevention of the spores ability to germinate and often kills them, however it's hard to keep up trying to keep the leaves wet and doing so could also lead to other fungal issues that flourish with free moisture...especially at night or in humid climates, ect.; Botrytis, Downy Mildew, ect. Didn't even realize the Hollyhock flower was in that picture! Actually I only had a handful of about 30-40 Hollyhocks that looked worth a damn....the grasshoppers came in droves this year! The earwigs also did a fare share of destruction this year on these and several other plants as well. Today I noticed several earwigs hiding within the Yvonne's Salvia flowers and sunflowers...good grief! Tiffy, I'd be happy to save seeds for the M. fistulosa...this is just the common prairie species native to my home state of North Dakota as well as S. Dakota and Nebraska. I'm pretty sure it's also native to MB, SK, AB and ON. Seeds are ready to harvest in October. Might have to remind me when it's gets to be that time :)) Karen, Sure hope to bite into some tomatoes soon. My mouth waters every time I walk by LOL! I wonder how will I know when the Cherokee Green are ripe? I guess it will be by feel huh? Regarding fungal or bacterial infection of leaves; whatever it is if it's not severe you can remove and properly discard infected leaves....when dry...never wet. I'm sure you are already mulching beneath plants to prevent soil splashing :) Some more Hollyhocks that didn't look too bad. This giant red one had to come down after several days of rain/wind...my hummingbirds weren't too happy 'bout that LOL! It's ok though there's plenty others they visit....can't believe how much them go for the blue and purple larkspur! Here it was on July 8th...a monster ....again on the 14th... close up... Some hollyhocks in front on July 30th...

Jan, I woud be hard put to pick a fav. this is a ffo on BR and I am pleased after waiting 2 years for it to get mature enough to bloom. I have lots more but sometimes I forget what I've posted. LOL!!! Lrae, I am glad you enjoyed the pix and you're welcome. Chris, OB didn't look that good last year but has shaped up some. GT is beautiful and I am not that fond of yellow! Debra, I just bought Golliwog last fall and I really like the bloom. I don't know what kind of increase she will have though. TR is a beauty but the voles got most of her this year. At least there was enought left to bloom.. bailycat, BR was pencil size when I got him and there is still no increase and he is just barely mature enough to bloom. he's gonna be a beauty though. DBD is one I have had since she was a new release. She has wonderful soft colors and is still eyecatching.. Michelle, SLP opened perfect the first time. She is a hardy one.. Julie, I will have to look up SK and see what it looks like..AS is really a pretty one of Munsons. Now don't get mad ya'll but I don't like all of his releases. owever the ones I like, I love.. Amber Sunset is one of the loves. okbt, Im glad you like them... Tom, you might have a coronary if you eat her but I just look at her. Hehehe!! I do so love the oddballs like Golliwog And DML. That was DML first bloom here! Jill, That's a ffo on GNO so I will have to post another when she get settled. I got OB from Chris year before last.. I'm glad you liked them , especially AS. Thank you all for your comments...Ellie