Hi WinterCat: Thanks for those great pics. What's the name of that gorgeous green hedge you planted? If I had seen those when I first moved here, I would NOT have bought wimpy white pine trees. Here in zone 5a I'm lucky if my roses survive the winter. I laughed when I read Roseseek (Kim Rupert) described his soil/climate: "I received 5" of rain with several weeks of 95 - 108 temp . Mine soil is corn meal and talc with ZERO organics. Mine is a 24% down hill, western and southern facing grade." I'll describe my soil/climate in Chicagoland: "I received 40" of annual rain, plus 38" melted snow. My soil is rock hard clay, pH 7.7, that broke a rototiller machine. My garden is shaded with many trees that it should be considered a mushroom farm... I'm vitamin D-deficient and take prescribed mega-dose ... if this gloomy weather continues, I'll turn into a vampire. The wind here is so strong that it blew my kid's playpark onto the tomatoe garden, it also toppled over a portable potty ... I feel sorry for the construction worker inside."

Jeff, the swap itself begins promptly at 2 pm, but I'm hearing many people are arriving earlier, some with food in tow. It is located at the Lake Cunningham Recreational Facility where I have reserved the covered area for the day. This park is on N McElhaney, right near the intersection of N McElhaney and Rte 101 (behind the fire station). Here are the original rules I established to help keep things from being totally chaotic: 1. If you bring one plant, you take home one plant. If you bring two, you take two, etc. 2. Houseplants, annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, trees, vines (did I miss anything?) are all welcome. Seeds or cuttings can be swapped for other seeds or cuttings. 3. I prefer to separate the live plants into "swap rounds". Each person will put one plant into the "round", and numbers will be drawn to see who gets first, second, third, etc pick of that round. New numbers will be chosen each round so the same person doesn't always go first. If you brought only 3 plants, you can only be part of three "rounds". This may not be the way you have done it before, but I'm appealing to you to humor me and try it my way. 4. Since I don't want to keep everyone for hours, I'm limiting the live plant "rounds" to 6. We can swap seeds/cuttings in rounds after, if needed. 5. Please schedule your personal trades for a time that does not conflict with the actual swap. I believe the park is open sun-up to sundown. The Plants: * Please make every attempt to label the plant with its latin name, including the variety. Plastic cutlery or popsicle sticks work great for this if you use a Sharpie. * Please bring plants that are free of bugs, disease and/or weeds. * Please remember to water the plants thoroughly the night before, not the day of the swap. This will help prevent muddy messes. Sandi

If you missed the plant swap,I'm sorry for you!! It was great. Beautiful plants, good food, and the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new ones. Time to start thinking about the Spring Swap. Can I ask for some help? I got a varigated Ginger, and one person told me I could leave it outside,well mulched;another said it would die.HELP!!

Thanks for the advice, Penny. My dozen new plants were also sown from very fresh seed and sprouted readily. I had never thought about a gravel mulch, so that's one thing that you're doing differently from me. In fact, they really weren't mulched at all, so that could be the difference. Or, I guess we can't rule out that you have an earlier blooming strain, but then why would it just be some of your plants? Then again, genetics can do odd things. About the trumpet vine, Steve, everything Penny says is true, and yet I have a fondness for the plant. It is an awesome hummingbird attractor. I have a yellow flowering one, (the orange/red ones are better, though) which was planted many years ago against the house (gulp!). Fortunately, I don't think it's heavy enough to take our house down, but it does do irritating things like grow into the shutters, and gets under the aluminum siding on the upper floor. I just keep after it and hack it out when it misbehaves, and no harm has been done to our house. Most people would not want to have to bother with that sort of maintenance. I guess I'm sentimental about it because it's the plant that started me on my hummingbird addiction. A couple of summers ago, I saw a hummer feeding from it just outside our window, and decided to hang feeders from the vine. The rest is history, as they say! I've since added and continue to add more plants, but still have a soft spot for that lovable monster. It does take many years to reach blooming size. I had just about given up on mine, but it did finally bloom. When the hummers feed from it, their entire head disappears into the huge flower! I would highly recommend it, though, if you don't mind waiting for it, but with all the caveats that Penny mentioned. That's an interesting thought, Christie, about the columbines. The reserve is about 20 miles southwest of us, and is a little warmer than we are. I've noticed that the same plants bloom earlier there than here. I was assuming the columbines wouldn't be blooming yet, but perhaps I should take a trip over there and look for them. If they're really an earlier blooming strain, they might already be in full bloom. Of course, it would be awhile before I could harvest the seeds, but it would be interesting to see if they were blooming now. If only some were, maybe I could tie little pieces of colored yarn around the stems of the early ones. At the same reserve, I've also seen what I think are Monarda fistulosa, with pale lavender flowers. I don't know if I could find them again, but I think they're a hummer flower. Maybe I could get seeds from those later in the summer.