Hi skybird, Thank you for having the summer swap. It was a blast! I haven't read all the posts on part one yet (but I will). I wanted to make sure that I get on the fall swap list. I will be there! My problem right now is transportation. On June 1st.(my 63rd birthday) my son & I were t-boned by a 25 yr.old uninsured girl who ran a red light & hit us with the flatbed dually truck she was driving. All I remember was the impact and seeing my son hanging up above me as we were fliping over onto the passenger side of our truck. We were told later (by a couple of witness's) that our truck rolled onto the top...spun around a couple of times(like a break dancer)and then rolled back over & ended up laying on the drivers side pointed in the opposite direction! They helped my son out but the fireman put a blanket over me & broke out the windshield. Thats how I got out. Thank GOD & his angles! Of course my son's toyota truck was totaled! It gave it's life to save ours! We both have some medical problems but we'll be ok. Thank GOD again! I'll be better by Sept! Please put me on the fall swap list. I will be bringing some type of food not sure what yet tho. I will post my wish list when I read some more on part one. Thanks

i would love some of these if i could!! that would be so cool!! armenian cucumber tortarelo cucumber golden gopher musk melon? royal golden melon lee okra zolotistala melon casaba melon 1 bosc pear 2 mustard gai choy 1 garden peach tomoto 4 okra mix 1 daikon radish 1 canary bell peppers 2 lemon balm 1 sweet chocolate peppers 1 bok choy 2 green zebra tomato 3 peppers yolo wonder 1 peter peppers this year, i think will be a great year for that square foot gardening!! especially with all that is needing to be put in the ground!!! **big smile** i have lots of 6 blazing star liatres 21 single white angel trumpet-smells awesome 14 lavender datura- don't smell but is pretty!! 4 sesamie seeds so if anyone want's these, let me know. :') these are filled pretty good!@! ~Medo

I've only noticed its loathing of dry soil, you'll see the whole plant canopy wilt if the soil gets bone dry (especially in rock hard clay). Id' say its not one you want to be subject to drought. Wanda's comment about others saying it's invasive is a bit misleading. Yes, it can sucker, but I think most people have a knee-jerk reaction when they hear "clerodendum" and they think of the 3-4 tropical species that can be truly disruptive. Lovely plant for the South!!!! Makes summer so much more exciting beyond clethra and crapemyrtle!! Here is a link that might be useful: Harlequin Glorybower and cultivar 'Carnival'

LOL!! - great attitude :-) There are some here that would advocate you plant nothing that might be damaged during a freak winter cold spell but that is such a conservative (and dare I say, even cowardly??) approach in an area that abounds with unique and even amazingly balmy microclimates. And you are also 100% correct that sometimes the true cold hardiness of a plant is not fully explored or recognized without such adventurous experimentation. I would be a little less inclined to mess around with something as long term and expensive to replace as a tree but with most shrubs, vines or perennials, some winter cold damage is relatively easy to tolerate and should the worst happen, it will not break the bank to replace nor take a lifetime to grow to size. I have grown many plants in this area that are typically labeled as not fully hardy and as yet, have few that failed completely to survive. They may not live as long as they would in an even milder climate but to be honest, that doesn't strike me as too much of a handicap.........5, 6, even 10 years is fine and if they ultimately fail and die, then just a great excuse to try something else of marginal hardiness that appeals! And in the meantime, you have enjoyed the plant for its time with you, enough so that you may be persuaded to try it again. I push zones all the time and I am often amazed at how well some of these plants that just "don't grow in our climate" or are not fully hardy do over an extended period. I say go for it!!