Hi Franc, I am also in zone 5 (Nebraska), and would love to have a few of your Star of David Okra seeds. I have Heirloom Amish Paste tomato seeds to trade, although I only have a few; thus the request for just a few Okra seeds. (Maybe 4 or 5 seeds)? Would that work for you? Below is a link to the Amish Paste Variety Here is a link that might be useful: Heirloom Amish Paste Tomato

Maude, if Tammy shares pics when her boys grow in some hair, you'll see the differences between huacaya and suri alpacs. The former look like poodles, the latter like maltese (with respect to the texture, but not necessarily the color, of their hair). I go through "fascination phases" whereby I virtually research things to death in lieu of being able to actually obtain the object of my desire. One of them was with alpacas. Having only ever lived in the suburbs, I contended myself with two handmade stuffed alpaca "dolls" made in Peru from their fur (from an ebay seller). Both are white, one is huacaya and the other suri. I also bought a bunch of things made from their wool. The sweaters are as light as rabbit angora but as warm as sheep's wool. Good luck with your boys, Tammy. And I have a feeling you soon won't be limiting yourself to those two. Males that aren't deemed "perfect" enough to be maintained whole for further breeding are often gelded and offered for sale much cheaper than their sisters or uncut brothers, but still offer much enjoyment as companion animals if you have the space for them. And they'll do their part by feeding your garden. :-) ~Christopher

Here's Marianna Greene's article from the Dallas Morning News: Some of my garden roses are putting on a fall show, though I dare not look at them directly for fear of inviting bad luck. I marveled at their prolific beauty last June, even puffed out my chest a bit � as if I had anything to do with the extravagant display. Then there was the historic hailstorm in June, shattering blossoms and breaking branches. Some rosebushes were split in half. I gave up gardening, but my despondency lasted only a few weeks. I tried to bandage my wounded soldiers and amputated a few limbs. But I have been lovingly feeding and watering them all summer, talking sweetly to them, if you must know, and most are bouncing back, rewarding me with a few big, full, fragrant flowers. I do not spend my money on a rose that does not smell like a rose. My garden roses are mainly old hybrids whose history goes back to long-established Texas cottage gardens, abandoned farmsteads and old cemeteries. I can bury my face in a newly opened rose and swoon. If you are a rose gardener or wish to try cultivating them, Saturday holds unusual opportunity. Farmers Branch is holding its Celebration of Roses all day, featuring three presentations, a silent auction of young roses from a highly regarded nursery in California, and the Farmers Branch public gardens filled with roses in their fall flush. One of the speakers, Gregg Lowery, has devoted more than two decades to propagating old roses at his Vintage Gardens (vintagegardens.com) in Sebastopol, Calif. His current special project is to bring recently rediscovered heirloom French roses that had been lost to the nursery trade to American gardens. Like the cottage roses brought with farm wives and others colonizing Texas, Lowery�s selections have long histories. "France was the source of most of the old roses we grow today in our gardens," Lowery says in an email. "In the 19th century, it was the home of the world�s great rose-makers. In their efforts to create new roses that bloomed continually, they worked with a group of roses imported from China, the China and tea roses." In 2013, many old roses from France, grown from cuttings at Vintage Gardens for two years under U.S. quarantine, will be shipped to customers across the United States who reserved them when Lowery made the offer known. "The collectors of old roses and nursery people in France have in the past few years rediscovered a wealth of old tea roses, early hybrid teas, Chinas and noisettes," Lowery says. "We were keen to see these get into the hands of American gardeners, as the groups are recognized for their suitability to the South and the West, where many rose growers reside." Because these French roses are still under quarantine, Lowery cannot bring them to Texas yet. He will lecture about these roses, representing "some of the greatest rose hybridizers in the history of the rose." He has donated other rarely seen roses from his nursery to a silent auction to benefit the Farmers Branch rose gardens. This is the shopping opportunity: "Some of the very special roses," Lowery says, "include the single yellow Banksia rose, Rosa banksiae �Lutescens�; a foundling hybrid gigantea (these are giant ramblers related to the tea roses) known as the Santa Clara University Cemetery No. 16, a rose that resembles a massive �Gloire de Dijon�; and �Reine Marie Pia,� a climbing tea rose with double pink flowers, quite fragrant," among others. The silent auction will open at noon Saturday and close at 4 p.m., with bids starting at $15. Dr. William Welch from Texas A&M University, author of Antique Roses for the South and the new Heirloom Gardening in the South, will talk about Southern heirloom plants and gardens. His co-author on the 2012 book, Greg Grant, also will speak. Grant, a seventh-generation Texan, has restored his grandparents� dogtrot farmhouse in Arcadia, near Nacogdoches, and planted flowers and shrubs suitable to its age and style. In addition to tours of the Farmers Branch rose gardens, the Dallas Rose Society will have its fall rose show from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free registration, which includes a lunch of hot dogs, will be in the Gussie Field Watterworth Park pavilion beginning at 10:30 a.m. Parking will be available at City Hall, 13000 William Dodson Parkway. Shuttles will move through the gardens, and master gardeners will be available for questions. For more details, see fbroses.com.

that's hilarious... hey, remember my 'significant bother'?? well, it's been 4 weeks since I talked to him and he called night before last..he wants to 'talk'... heck, I had the ford all stuffed with pallets and a work table, all unassembled...just waiting for when I had enough energy to pull it all out..lol so, yesterday I felt obligated to clear it out..lol I used the pallets for laying on the ground to hold all the gallon pots that I repotted fuchsia starts in, so that was a good thing. Now I need to figure out what to do with that really heavy table...it would still be in the ford, if he hadn't called... I dunno.....is this really going to be a good choice to talk to him about the possiblility of reconciliation??? lol...seems like work to me. on the other hand...it leaves more room in the ford, for more scores at garage sales and thrift stores...hmmmm pros and cons....got a delemma here.lol Becky .(*_*).