The majority of people buy what they know. And they want a perfect plant. Now. And not too expensive, please. In fact the big box store price will do. So most of what you offer will be what you know sells. What else will pay the bills? Now, if you customers can place your order NOW for each and every one of your annuals for 2006, tell me exactly which week you will be in to pick them up (come rain, shine,hail, snow, frost, heat wave, vacation, school, payday, birthday, mother's day, clouds, newspaper and magazine articles promoting particular plants, the local and regional gardening shows....well, you get the message) we'll do our best to have them in stock. Keep supporting your independent garden centers. We don't sell lumber, carpet, groceries, plumbing supplies, kitchen counters, and tile. We need to make a profit on the plants. There's nothing else to carry us like the big box stores. And we usually know a whole lot more than the big box store garden center people. We carry more colors, more varieties, and really try to care for our plants while they are with us. Can you say that about the box stores? And if you want to see more cool, new plants offered, let your garden center know. Ask why a certain plant or color isn't carried. In fact, apply for a part time job in the spring season--get a terrific discount and have a blast!!! You'll see more terrific plants than you ever imagined. I can't wait to see the rest of next year's new catalogs so I can begin ordering!!! Believe me, you will have more than one color of Waves--although I don't grow them, because I believe there are better trailing petunias. I promise to order them in, though. Happy gardening! Viola

Three cheers for your grandmother and her adventurous sense of color! May we all be bold rather than discreet in our old age. But perhaps we should skip the cheap cologne. I suspect the half bottle was because many people lose their sense of smell as they age and she honestly thought it didn't have much perfume to it. As for rose scents, I love them as rich and as heavy as can be. I love other intense scents, too, jasmine, lilies, honeysuckle. I will say that I prefer most flowers out of doors. Scented cut flowers in the house sometimes give me intense headaches, honeysuckle especially. Lilies are also too strong indoors. Narcissi actually become unpleasant to me in the house, developing a chemical undertone that reminds me of petrochemicals. Roses, though, are wonderful in the house or in the garden. And the same is true of my absolute favorite flower scent, lilacs. Rosefolly

Yes, Ginny, that's a good point. My DH keeps suggesting that I get a greenhouse so I can "garden all year" - and I keep saying No way! My fall gardening season is coming to an abrupt halt after tomorrow, as I'm leaving for a 5-week trip on Saturday. There are lots of volunteer tomatoes about to ripen, the crape myrtle has just started to really bloom fully, the huge Salvia leucanthemum is peaking, and most of the old mums have not really started showing color but are full of buds. The Franklinia altamaha is looking perfect ... at least a couple of them (I have 5, I think) are loaded with flowers and buds. My newly planted border still needs constant attention to keep ahead of the weeds and volunteers and to add mulch here and there and check the soil moisture, and the newer trees and shrubs need to be checked every few days to be sure they're getting their water etc needs met. When I get home, it will all be frosty and brown. DH is not going to be able to keep track of anything, and I'm just hoping we start getting some regular rain, soon. It will be spring before I know what survives this kind of neglect. So, if you can keep gardening this month, count your blessings, and enjoy these last few weeks of the season. It's going to be a long winter!

I can't find a lot of information on 'Apache Sunset' Skybird, but the pictures on both Missouri Botanic Gardens "plant finder" and the plant sold by Monrovia as "Apache sunset" both look like typical species A. rupestris to me. I did see some pictures with "fuller" flower spikes that are also much more orange/red at the places you can buy seeds. With A. cana 'Sonoran Sunset' it is like what you describe for 'Apache Sunset' supposed to have much large flowers than the species and also be a little shorter. My guess is that I will get a plant that has the same, or nearly so, flower color but the flowers themselves will be smaller and the plant might be bigger. My main goal is #1 that fun bubblegum smell as well as having the colors match the plant I already have. And you're right, the hummers really DON'T care! I had a female broad tailed hanging out at my A.r. all summer last year (A plant I purchased) she also loved my Jacob Cline bee balm. I don't usually worry about indoor stuff until about a week as well. If I don't see sprouts by day 8 I get anxious, not just because of impatience, but also because I worry about things like mold that starts to show up in the little pots. What do you know, the little bluestem seed I collected from outside started popping up last night! I think I've only got 2-3 nearly microscopic little ones, but, its a start, and it was 8 days yesterday (I count the day they get sown as day 0), right on schedule. UPDATE: I just checked again, and the A. rupestris seeds have started to sprout, too (thats only 4-5 days!!) I was HOPING that not using a heat mat they would take longer, like a week or two, but, here they are, rough and ready to go! The A. cana have also started to germinate, they are surface sown so I can see the radicle starting to emerge from the seed coat. Yeah, I guess that was a little "torturous" haha, If I had more starting cells, I would try some without the torture and compare them... So far, no sprouts, but it has only been a few days for those guys. I forget things all the time. Like who I promised tomato starts to at the spring swap.... I will remind you though. I had a small expectation to see some sprouts after these days of 50's and 60's but I have not, haha. The grass is breaking dormancy though.