As a completely off topic question, am I the only one who hears Jim Nabors (as Gomer Pyle) reading the subject line every time it comes to the top?

BP, So sorry to hear about your Butterfly Bush and Lupines. I'm sure you'll see them again in your gardens being the green thumb you are. :O) I'm happy with quite a few things this year. The plants which made me jump the highest were the Blue Himalayan Poppies. Looks like they perennialized and have returned for a 4rth year. Last year was their first year flowering and they were spectacular! Another happy-joy-joy moment was when I saw the Lynchis Lumina Red Shades peeking up. These were winter sown last year. They appeared to struggle in the containers all summer long, but in the fall, I took a chance and planted them. Looked pitiful! Figured they were compost, but the other day I noticed these bright burgundy/wine/red things poking out of the ground and realized that the buggers had made it. Party!!!! I'm anxious to see some second and third year perennials flower for the first time. Amsonia, Baptisia Australis, Meadowsweet and a few new-to-me Digitalis. My biggest disappointment so far has been the deers. The population is exploding on the Prospect Peninsula and there is no hunting allowed due to the proximity to homes. Usually, 40% of the herds die in the winter, but we had such a mild winter with no snow that biologists are saying there was virtually no deaths this winter... They are already coming by every night and devouring what has simply grown during the day. Not good for a gardener. And so, I am starting to discover what is deer resistant and planting LOTS of those!! :O)

You know Kristy I'm not sure Santa thought Barry was good enough to get a little something.LOL (just teasing) But I'm not sure Barry has a chimney. Santa may have to find another way to deliver something to him. No Barry we were not able to get you one of those girls that work at Hooters. We tried but the were all taken. Shoot, I'm not even sure he knows what a Hooters girl is. LOL They may only be in TEXAS. I think if Santa does have something for Barry he may just toss it out of his sleigh as he's flying over on Christmas Eve. Gee, Barry I do hope you get some little something. It's not alot of fun looking in from the outside. The fireplace is so warm and the hot chocolate with marshmellows, and homemade chocolate chip cookies is so yummy.Not to mention all the brugs and seeds that are being shared. Linda, I would dearly love a couple of those pink daffs. I do have a field next door to me of plain old fashion daffs. I have dug up about a truck load and planted them around everything. The neighbor has a field full of them and he doesn't want or like them. So he said I could have all I want. Now doesn't that just figure, someone that has them doesn't want them. He probably has about a 5 acre field of them. The past two years I've gone and dug a bunch up and shared them with other people. You would be surprised how many of them things you can get in a flat rate box. They are buried pretty deep and it's alot of work for an older woman. (grin) But I would dig you some if you wanted me to Linda. Merry Christmas everyone, Love Marian

Its not a matter of pieces and parts, the problem is the plant can not use its own pollen. Those who say that they have had success with a single plant owe their success to the bees that found other plants in their range. Its not a coincidence that every year someone starts a thread asking why their lone tomatillo plant is not setting fruit. Here is a link to a thread from three years ago: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg080132591320.html ---------------------------------------------------------- This issue is widely documented on the web . Here are just a few examples: http://www.seedsandstring.com/2009/06/tomatillo-matchmaking-services.html The thing about tomatillos is: they are self-incompatible. This means that one tomatillo plant standing all alone will not produce fruit. Tomatillo flowers on one plant need the pollen from at least one other tomatillo plant's flowers in order to produce the tasty green or purple crop. This is a trait present in some plant species that encourages outcrossing, and thus more genetic diversity in succeeding generations. -------------------------------------------------- http://sparks-mexico.com/costalegre/fruit/tomatillo.htm The Mexican husk tomato is highly self-incompatible. When the flowering plants are bagged, no fruits are set. K.K. Pandey, while at the University of Ohio, studied this problem. He reported that only a few seedlings in a group produce rare fruits by natural-selfing and such fruits usually contain no seeds or only a small number. An occasional fruit may have 100 or more. --------------------------------------------------------- http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/tomatillo.shtml Vital note: Tomatillos are self-sterile, so always plant at least two! (So that's why the darn thing didn't fruit . . . .) Recall, though, that the tomatillo is not self-fertile, so that you must have at least two plants to get any actual tomatillos. --------------------------------------------------------- http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-407.html Tomatillo is self-incompatible, so all plants are hybrids. Pollination is by insects. Cross pollination with other cultivars or other Physalis spp. would be possible if the plants are closer than 500 m. Here is a link that might be useful: 2006 gardenweb link