thanks quilt mommy! I did sow some phlox so I am good in that department. Below is my seeds I sowed or plan to sow. Wow, I cannot believe I plan to have all of this sowed! I did most already but still have a lot! Karen 4 o'clock mirabilis - 2 4 o'clock mix agastache foeniculum agastache foeniculum agastache, apricot sprite amerarthe red 4' arctotis venusta, blue eyed daisy asarnia, chickabiddy vine aster Crego aster, dwarf mixed baby blue eyes basil bean, purple bush beans poledaylilly beans, Kentucky pole beans, tender green bush broccoli bunny tails grass annual butterfly bush, purple cabbage calendula, green heart and pink surprise canterbury bells canterbury bells celosia celosia, plumosa chico tom Cilantro cleome - spinosa cleome - spinosa cleome violet queen cleome, purple, pink, white columbine purple coreopsis coreopsis tinctoria coreopsis yellow coreopsis, dwarf red coreopsis, gold and reds cosmos cypress vine, red datura hybrid delphinium dill Dill- bouquet Echinacea purpua echinecca unknown eyeball plant fennel feverfew Gaillardia Blanketflower garlic chives globe amaranth purple globe amaranth strawberry fields glorosia daisy - black eyed susan goldenrodd, rough stemmed gourd heliopsis hibiscus manihot hollyhock - majorette ice Plant -mixed incarvillea sinensis, cheron ipomoea, alba moonflower jewels of opar jobs tears annual grass joe pye weed kiss me over the garden gate larkspur liatris spicata lime basil love lies bleeding lunaria silver dollars malope, glacier fruits malva pink, false mallow malva sebrina malva, white perfection marigold, tagetes Melampodium butter daisy mexican hat mexican sunflower -tithonia millet limelight, spray type Nicandra shoefly nicotiana alata nicotiana, deep purple nicotiana, variegated green flowers opal cups peas, little marvel pepper, colored bell pepper, early jalape pepper, hot wenks yellow pepper, mini bell pepper, red ruffled pimento pepper, sweet cho petunia - purple petunia mix phlox, drummondi poppy California poppy California poppy fairy wings, mix poppy, pink peony Portulaca pumpkin, round medium size rose of sharon - mix Russian grass rutabaga salvia blue bedder salvia, coral nymph salvia, lady in red shasta daisy snapdragon, mix snow on the mountain euphorbia Spearmint squash, yellow crookneck sugar snap peas sweet basil sweet pea vine takota daisy thyme, orange toadflax, baby snapdragons tom giant paste tom golden jubille tom Jeff's mystery pink oxheart Tom lil pink tom mortgage lifter Tom nyagous tom orange banana paste tom red home sweet tom roman candle TOM spear Tennessee green tom super sweet cherry tom tigerella tomato ace 55 trumpet vine turnip, purple top vinca Virginia yarrow yarrow mixed larkspur Amsonia tabernaemontana False Indigo, Blue Wild Indigo-Baptisia australis

We are having an unusually mild autumn, too, very much like Cath's and we are just as surprised. This is a list of roses now in bloom in a garden by the sea in northern Finland, far north of me (it's from a Swedish forum): Sibelius, Marie-Jeanne, White Wings, Mozart, Rosenstadt Freisinger, Sweet Pretty, Stanwell Perpetual, Poustina, Edith Holden, Praire Princess, Thisbe, Brown Velvet, Hot Chocolate, F.J Grootendorst, Therese Bugnet, Felix Leclerk, Ballerina, Roselina, Flamingo, Blushing Bride, Breewood Belle, Margot Koster, Candy Cover, Viking, White Cover, Queens Palace, Charming Cover, Sophies Perpetual, Jacqueline de Pre, Nevada, 2x Lidlrosor (en vit, en aprikos), Mme Boll, Balder, My Hero, White New Dawn, Angela, Summer Song, Benjamin Britten, Lilli Marleen,Cinderella, Romanze, Lumivalgeke, Marie Victorin, Nostalgie, Kotiliesi, Single Cherry, Charles Albanel, Joasine Hanet, William Baffin, Sniedze, Dainty Bess, Queen of Sweden, Burgundy Iceberg, Old Gold, Perennial Blue, Delambre, Strawberry Hill, Rosemoor, Dwarf Pavement, Kiiminki, Lady Emma Hamilton, Whiskey Mac, Pomponella, Heide Simonis, Zaiga, Margaret Merrill, Vino, A Shopshire Lad, Walz Time, Greensleeves, Kronborg, Sangerhausen Jubileumsrose. This is an amazing list, both the choice of roses in that cold climate and the fact that they bloom this late. I have few in bloom now, only Stanwell Perpetual, Karen Blixen, Alba Meidiland, Iceberg and Bonica. Some more have buds and if this warm weather lasts another week they may still flower. I have finished gardening in principle and I'm mentally prepared for winter. I only need to rake leaves in parts of the garden and mulch beds with them.

gorbelly, we live in Central Illinois, zone 5b I believe. We're also renters, which gives us limited options - we have to grow in 5 gallon buckets, and the only location we can put them in gets maybe 4-5 hours of direct sunlight. I know it's not ideal, especially for tomatoes, but we have to work with what we can. We just enjoy it as a hobby until we can get a big yard that we can dig up and plant to our hearts' content. :) All the tomatoes we're growing are heirloom varieties, from Baker's Creek. They're all on the leggy side, probably from lack of sunlight/small containers, although last year the same varieties did much better... maybe it's the insane weather early in the season this year. So I think these buds (and the legginess) are just something we'll have to live with until we can get a proper garden in the future. Thanks for the input!

We just had our first frost last night as well - usually Oct 15th but no later than Nov 1st. It has been so nice to experience blooms later than usual. Any pics that you can share? I'd love to see them! I feel for your drought conditions. Any improvement in the wildfires? This year has been a tough year for gardeners in many places. This spring was so hot and dry even some of my established roses struggled and my new bareroots didn't do much until it cooled off a bit and rained in July (yes, even continued to be odd in July). Looking forward to great gardening in 2017!