Plant Propagation part XXXVI based on my own experience

I know, I promised I would not complain about the heat...........that was when I was up to my old butt in snow. Well, the snow melted. It is only the end of May and the sun is so hot I can not stay out in it for any length of time. Why? Beats me. I am so worried my sun days are over and I love my sunshine. Barney and I walked this morning and by the time we got back I was wet sweated and he was dragging his little butt and tired. The humidity is high and the sun is hot and so now I am sitting here in the AC waiting for the exterminator to come. He has 7 more minutes then I am leaving. I have plants to get to the P.O before 12:30 and Nothing is keeping me from that. I pray they get out of town before they die of the heat. I should not mail them today, but I just must. Things are backed up enough.
Got to go. JB

Don't know what to do to help you JB. Wish we could split your heat and my cool. We can't seem to get out of the 60s. The plants don't want to grow. I am afraid we are going to have another June like we had last year. The month was so cold and wet that nothing would grow and then all of a sudden in July it was real hot. Like turning on a switch.

Then by the end of August it was cooling off again. Just terrible. My sister said they had a hail storm yesterday. She is 10 miles from me and we didn't get it. Normally we have a couple of those too.

Just looked out and it is raining again. Fortunately Bob got the grass mowed yesterday. Good grief it was high. And it gets so wet and can't dry out so he has to cut it anyway just so it can dry.

Well, it is suppose to be thunder storms by this afternoon. Almost there.

Just when I was about packed and Barney was ready. We were moving out to live with you and that handy man you live with.
Did not mean to leave abruptly this morning but the time was getting close to get the early truck out with the plants and I did not want to miss it. The P.O. is near the Joint Bases and the traffic is a mess. Today wouldn't you know, they had the street to the base blocked again and all the traffic was detouring around where I was going. I can not win.
Got there on time and then went into New Egypt to the bank for the HorsePark and stopped at WaWa and got my first sub in a week. I lost those 5 lbs I wanted to loose because I can not stand to feel fat. Anyhow, I did not eat bread or pasta for a week. Of course, now I had half the sub and tonight I am going to have a pasta salad. LOL I am such a jerk.
The exterminator came and all is well. He sprayed the GH area as well this time. Ants are all over everything this year and he really did a thorough job.
Just had my first pedicure in a month. Wow how good my feet feel. I needed that.
Time to feed Mr. Barney his dinner so I will say Good night. JB

Good evening everyone:
well my ads hit pretty good and I got a few more orders so i was working like mad to get them out. we managed to get 8 orders out I just have one I need an address to send it all to hopefully I will get theat info so I can get the last box out of here and concentrate on a new week.
Tomorrow propagation. heat is unbearably hot must be in th e90's and not a lot of wind.
Well thats it for now see ya soon
Dave

Dave, so glad to hear you are having success with your selling. That is wonderful. And JB said she was too. People must be getting the gardening bug pretty bad.

So sorry your weather is so hot. I don't know which is worse, so hot, or what we have, so cool that the plants don't feel like growing. Even under the jugs in the hoophouse I don't know if the tomato plants are doing that well. Altho, a lot of them have blossoms, so that is good. When they start blooming I take the jugs off and put them on others so that maybe something will pollinate them.

There are a lot of ants in there. Something I read the other day said the ants were good. So, I don't know whether to try to get rid of them or not. I have heard they are needed by peonies to make them bloom. Is that true?

Dave, did you see my picture of my little Blue Mouse Ears? Is that how the grow normally? They just keep adding more little plants? Weird.

How is your sister Jeanette after all?

It is my shoulder that we had talked about from the work comp. So I may peck with one hand all in small letters for a bit. That is what I did after my carpal Tunnel surg.

Did you see Sharon's bruised body. Good heaven's she is a mess. Poor thing.

Katie, I like your tire things. I have seen some creative tire planters and such. I wanted to make a retaining wall with them, but it is a lot of flamable stuff to bring to an area that could have brush fires raging out of control. I heard that they are a "B" to turn inside out. Why do you have to turn them anyway?

Sharon needs some padding on her bones. If she had some fat she wouldn't have had that much damage. LOL

Dawn, it actually looks worse than it feels. But I have a bruised rib or muscle that hurt a whole bunch. It is actually OK as long as I do not move.

Went downtown Spokane again today. Saw the roaring Spokane River again.

Jnette, we ate at Clinker Daggers. Really good clam chowder, seafood salad and seafood fettuccine. The seafood fettuccine was very rich and by that time I was full. Todd had Crab and Steak sandwich and Heather had French Dip sliders. Luke had a little bit of everything.

Todd and I have all the material to put together two baskets for the front door area. We will do that tomorrow morning.

Lee are you OK? See your state is flooding again.

Katie, I cannot imagine turning a tire inside out. I have a lot of before photos. It is so fun to look back. I have redone the landscape at least three times in different areas and each time the before photos are just so much fun.

JB, you just are going to always complain about the weather so I guess we will just give you all the space you need to do so.

The weather here today in Spokane was beautiful. Cloudy, rain, sun, rain, sun, and then rain and then all sun. Of course, I am only visiting and do not deal with the rain on a daily basis.

I went to a Diddiers Nursery today. They had two brand new lantanas. I think I might go back tomorrow and pick them up. Jnette, what do you think the chances are I will find them in Vancouver?

One more day left in Spokane and then Thursday I will have my train ride. I am so looking forward to that.

Later and please all of you take care. Sharon.

Cross post. If I need padding, then I should fall on my butt. Plenty there.

Sharon, your trip sounds great. I wish I was a traveler. I just love my home and my little comfort zone. Of course when I was younger, we used to fly to New York City for lunch or to Miami for the weekend. My husband went around the world three times in the 20 years I was married to him and we took Bob to Europe to look at schools, but I am only good for a few days then I want to get back to the beach and just sit. LOL. I do not travel well. I like my own "potty" and bed. I hate to tour and we always had to tour. One summer we took all four kids and drove from the East Coast to the West Coast. Out the South routes and back the North routes. My husband wanted them to visit every state. It took 6 weeks and I was one happy lady to get home to my house and pool and bed. I don't know what is wrong with me. I must admit, come every February I did pick up the kids and sitter and drove to Florida to get out of the snow. I did that for years but then the kids got older and all went their own way. Now I just stay home and about the weather. How much space will you give me, Sharon?
Weather today is beautiful sun, 70's going to 90, but now it is perfect. I need to get moving because I have to go grocery shopping and I have orders to process and bills to pay when I get back.
Dave, did you get results from Cubits yet? BTW here is a picture of the first hosta you sent me two years ago. It is so happy and growing nicely. The little ones have taken hold in all this heat and they are slowly growing. They lost a few leaves in the process but they will make it if I can keep watering. We are to have storms tonight so that will help.
Later people, have a good day and enjoy life. Hi to all I made no mention of. It isn't that I do not think about you and love you. JB

I fell yesterday. On my own well-padded butt. I knew I was tired so I was walking carefully and didn't get heurt in the fall. Except my pride a little, because Tony was watching. All is well today. Sore muscles a little better.

Weather is still perfect. A much longer early perfect summer weather. Don't be jealous. Once it heats up all you will hear from me is "Oh God, its' so hot" for months.

I cook 22 lbs of chicken legs yesterday. Will bag and freeze most of the for Tony to use while I'm gone. I have to give him a cooking lesson. He's so good at most everything that it's taken me a while to realize he doesn't cook well. Mostly he takes much more time than is necessary.

I should get ready for my trip and do more clean-up in the kitchen. I'm sure part of the depression is the mess the house is. However, it's so nice to be able to work outside That's what I've been doing. Remids me of when Tony first worked for me about fourteen years ago. I would give him several things to be done and then let him choose. There was always a fun, artistic thing or two to do and he would do those. He was very good at it but one morning as we had coffee and language lessons I said I had to teach him an English phrase: "Sh.t work." After that the raking and clean-up got done first. Usually.

If a tire has had both sidewalls removed it is fairly easy to turn inside out. There is something of a trick to it which I learned from the www.tirecrafting.com video. I think the video is worth the price just for that little trick. There are several reasons to turn them - the inside can be cleaned and painted and then it's hard to tell it's a tire. Even unpainted, they "disappear" better with plants when there's no tread showing. With only one sidewall removed it's much harder to turn them. We do it for the ones to hold rocks for the paths - it looks so much better. While the tirecrafting book recommends finding a friend named "Bruno" to turn the on-side wall tires, Tony and I are able to do it together - if the tire is soft enough.

Several years ago I had a big tire that I had removed both side-walls from and wanted to use where several paths came together. It still had a lot of tread on it and did not want to turn easily. The first few tries had Tony and me bounced onto our backs on opposite sides of the tire laughing our butts off. We finally got it turned and it is doing the job I had planned for it.

I just haven't gotten taking pictures added to my chores. I know I "should" but what can you do. It is fun to compare the area where we are working to the other side of the arroyo which is untouched.

Must do some work.

hugs, katie

Good morning:
well so far cubits helped with 1 order. I think the prices are too high but I did not want to undercut the host as it would give her problems selling her stuff later on. Most of the folks on there are retail gardeners. I am thinking I just need to open my own cube and go for it. Just finding the right pic to put at the opening is the tough part.

Sharon its always been my experience when traveling to buy where you see it because chances are they wont be at the next stop. retail sales of plants is always a bit of a gamble but everyone has their own vision and the next nursery may not have the vision the first one had.

well time to get moving take care and stay cool and dry
Dave

Dave is right Sharon. If you see it and like it, you better buy it. You may not see it again for a couple years. Sometimes it takes that long for others to get the message.

All the rivers around here are at flood stage. We are going over to Idaho today and am hoping we won't have any trouble. They say the river hasn't crested yet so would hate to get cut off coming home. There is only one area where we might have a problem and they have been showing sandbagging on the news at night but haven't seen anything this morning. So must be ok. LOL, assuming isn't right is it?

BTW Sharon, have never heard of that nursery you were talking about, Diddiers Nursery. Will have to look it up and go there. Post pictures of the baskets when you get them done.

Well, gotta go shower and get ready to go. ttyl,

Sharon, just ran Diddiers Nursery by Google and they never heard of it. Did you mean Ritters? Now that I know.

Jeanette

I have no idea about the name but I am getting ready to go back there so I will get the name right. I am off to take a shower and get moving. Today is my last day. And I feel like crap. Probably the aspirin on an empty stomach.

Weather Channel said Utah is warming up to fast. "Perfect Storm" for major flooding.

Jnette, on the news last night they said the Spokane River had crested. So maybe Idaho is the same.

JB, if you did not about something, we would think someone hacked your computer.

Chase has denied my credit card two times. Approved it the first time. I sent them an e-mail this am. I do not need them, they need me.

Later friends. Lee, where are you? Dawn, when is your surgery? Katie, where are you going?

Well, I did it again. Wroked with Tony in the arroyo for three hours. I cut one side all out of a bunch of tires and we turned them together, then we able to lay out about fifteen feet of paths. Lots of work but lots got done. The work goes fairly rapidly now because of the time we have taken to do the foundation work and the time we've allowed ideas to percolate so we can work now without a lot of hesitation. Although I do like those "thinking breaks" especially after turning half a dozen tires.

After Tony left at noon I soaked in my outdoor tub for almost and hour enjoying the weightless feeling in the water and the view of the work we've done.

I'm hoping that after a nap I'll be able to do some of the housework but, if not, what the heck.

I'll probably leave Monday to go to Ca. Amma (see www.amma.org). She will be in LA for almost a week starting Friday the 10th. It is a mob scene so I want to get to Ca. a few days early to rest up from the trip and be in better shape to deal with the crowds. I'm not sure how long I'll stay. I need to talk with Tony about when Antonio's surgery might be and other plans he might have.

Our weather is warming up but is still not so humid that trying to work hard is futile. We are all enjoying it as we usually have to have the air conditioning on by now.

Time for a little nap and then see what I can do.

hugs, katie

I spent the afternoon inside because it is dangerously hot (so it says on TV) Good excuse to work on Cubits. I had my own Cubits since they first moved. Just never took time to do anything with it. I am not sure how it works but I did get the store up and running with four things listed. Take a look Dave when you get over there. JBsPlants Store. I have no idea how else to tell you, look on FB, I put it up on my wall and maybe if you click on that it will show you. HA!. Nothing like total stupidity. That is me when it comes to cubits.

We are under a tornado warning so I guess it is time to get busy doing some chicken for the dog in case the electric goes out. Also, I have to eat something. Kids had a doctor appt. at 5:30. Mass. just had a tornado. Hmmmmm. I have friends up there. Hope they are o.k. Hurricane season started today. This should be a fun summer. LOL

See you all later if I do not blow away. Hugs. JB

JB, how can you live under the constant threats of hurricanes, tornadoes, heat, mosquitoes, aphids? LOL, rain once in a while like we just a downpour. Lordy Lady, move to the beach.

I guess I do talk about the weather too much. You are right. I will not mention it again.
In fact I just came back on to show you what I found when i went out to walk Barney tonight.The Maroon and Gold Iris is blooming and so is the deep purple. Here is the first one.

Second one.

In all this heat, the neighbor put in tomatoes a few days ago and they were working staking them all. There must be 5 acres of tomato plants and all you see are the stakes. It looks like he is growing stakes. LOL Anyhow, then beside that he has corn on another 5 acres. I love to watch the vegetables grow here. This certainly is the Garden State. The strawberries are almost over due to the intense early high temps. I guess maybe that is why I dwell on the weather. It affects everything we seem to be involved in here in NJ.

Bye guys. JB

Jb: are you selling the maroon and gold one??? most people don't like the browns but for some reason I love them. I will check out your cube in a bit.

Jeanette: if you live at or by the beach you still have the threat of hurricanes, terdnaders, heat, aphids and mosquetoes. In south florida I lived 10 min. from siesta key beach. just voted #1 beach in the USA. white sand beaches beautiful water. we would run into the 90's and starting now there would be a shower everyday for about 30 min. as the summer progressed the storms would move later in the day. now a shower sounds nice but when its 90 degrees plus and humidity in the 90%+ its misserable and then just for fun it would rain to drive the stickyness through the roof.
no matter where you live you have to deal with some aspect of mother nature. earth quakes, heat 100, degrees+, mosquetoes, tornadoes, hurricanes and just tropical storms, straight winds of 70 mph+. the trick is to find a spot where you are most comfortable and like to live. if you live where you don't like you wont be happy.
I could not take the cold and wet of the upper north west. i could not deal with the winters of the upper north east. 3 to 6 months of snow and gray days. I loved living in florida but the cost of living was such that you had to either own your own business be weathy with a great retirement or work at minimum wage.
Most of my family is in the tulsa area so I have settled here. I have lived all over the us. ok not all of it but I spent my young life in columbus ohio...no thanks.... 15 years in south florida and about 20 years here.
To confess I do have to get my totsieys in the sand and kick back for a couple of weeks, every couple of years or I get really tough to be around. Its a jimmy buffet thing.
I guess my point is no matter where you live its home or you you would move to where you want to live. JB have you gone south to the beach at all in the past 10 years? I highly recomend it.
steping down off my soap box ... ok I sliped off

well I did manage to get quite a bit done today. cut back the photinia and did close to 300 cells of them 3 cuttings per cell.
have a great evening everyone

Lee here, a little wet, and cold, but here!!! The plants in the yard are overwatered, and haven't seen much sun. Today was sunny and quite windy but at least was able to get outside. Company comming, so will talk to you later.

Well, guys, I lost my mouse. I mean it is dead. New batteries don't make it work. Have any of you worked without one? Very frustrating. Guess that means a trip to Spokane or Colville tomorrow. Can't live without a mouse.

You are right Dave. I guess our several months a year of snow is getting to me too. Guess also that I do not like to live with danger any more. I think living with tornadoes and hurricanes is living dangerously. On the news they said the season lasts until the first of November. Is that right JB? About the length of time we live with all the snow. It's a toss up.

I really love the irises like you have JB. Wish they lasted longer. My mom had a lot of them. She used to save up and she would spend a lot of money for a rizome for one she really loved. I brought some of them up here when she passed away and you know what? They turned white. Why is that? My daughter's in Seattle did too.

Well, it is suppose to be in the mid to high 70s next week so hopefully the kids, my daughter and SIL will be able to get out and do some fishing. The problem is the water is so high. Even in the lakes. They fly fish and if the water is high there is so much food in the water, washing in from the sides I suppose, that the fish don't normally bite something different.

Well, since my mouse gave up, you may not hear form me for a while. Ooooooh. Awwwwwww, too bad. ttyl,

My surgery is on the 23rd. I will probably be absent for a few days, who knows maybe more. I can hardly know where to start commenting, you have all been chatty Cathies today.

Hot today here and Greg needs to turn my micro watering up to longer and more cycles so I don't have to water every night for 2 hours. UhG!

Katie that is pretty neat with the tire thing. I know when I touch tire rubber the darn stuff stains all my clothes and anything it touches and I can't get it off my hands.

Evelyn, I feel your pain. Is it warming up over yander?

What happened to the Montana friend here? Where did she go?

Dawn ~ She is 2 posts up. And, no, not warm yet...maybe some tomorrow before the next storm coming in on Friday. (Unless you count as 45° as being warm....at least it isn't freezing!) And no tornadoes here either...like Wheatland.

Morning Everyone! hope all who have fallen are feeling better and those who are too hot have a good AC. I went to cubits once, but I could never make heads or tails of it. I need to check it out again. I am getting outside in just a minute. I have to water everything while there is still hope it can survive. I didn't get the propagators built earlier in the week, so that is my project for today. My 18 year old cat is not doing well at all. I am taking her to the vet this afternoon, but we knew she had lost her sight in 1 eye and yesterday she apparently lost it in the other eye as well. She is so pitiful. I have another vet but she isn't interested in doing much because of Orchid's age. I can't stand the thought of losing her ( she is the only cat I have ever liked) and I cannot just have her put down because she is old and blind.
Evelyn, I hope you warm up soon! It was in the high 90's here yesterday.
Lee, it is good to see you are still here.
Jnette, have you tried taking the roller out of your mouse and cleaning it with alcohol? sometimes that works for me. I am so accustomed to the lap top now that the mouse is frustrating, but Burk and Shawn still use the desktop and we have mouse issues a lot.
Gotta get outside while I can still stand the heat. I will check on you all later.

I hear ya on living in Florida, as we have moved and been here for just a month. Since we both lost our jobs up north and then our house, coming home to FL (I'm on of the few natives) and getting a job, every morning I wake up to such incredible sunny skies that I'll never leave here again, if I can help it. I never ever want to deal with snow again. Bring on the heat.

We live just by Palma Sola Bay and the breeze off it is incredible. A short 3 mile drive brings me to the beach at Palma Sola and I'm content.

Now learning how to grow things is going to bring a hole nother thing to gardening...LOL

Come on down, as there is still plenty of room for more...

Jan

There is a new thread in the Vegetable Forum on raising vegetables in zone 10.

Today Tony picked the first two Hawiian-type papayas from a tree that I gave my neighbors a little over a year ago. They are in Washington State and Tony is taking care of their place so we get the fruit. It was delicious.

I'm hoping to leave tomorrow and visit a friend in Exeter before seeing Amma. I have a little stomach bug so I'm resting. Today was our first hot day and I thinnk it hit me a little. By the time I return I will be hiding out in my air conditioned bedroom much of the time. And if we are able to work for an hour first thing in the morning in the arroyo we'll be doing well. With the heat and humidity we tend to go into survival mode.

Hugs, katie

Linda, I am so sorry about your kitty. I know exactly what you mean. I have had a lot of cats and the last one I had I had only 2 years, but it was the only one I really liked. It is the one that disappeared a month or so ago. And then my little blind dog was older with arthritis too. Bob had her put to sleep a couple weeks ago. Life is tough. They become one of your family. Hang on to her as long as you can. She will be ok once she adjusts to being blind. I know that is a hard thing to do and awful to say. I felt so sorry for my dog when she went blind. But she did adjust as well as she could.

Linda, what do you use with the laptop? I am using a laptop also, but I still use a mouse. For my message up above I didn't use a mouse and found it very frustrating.

Went into Spokane today and got one. And this one is strange. It has a small thumber but takes 2 batteries so it, the mouse is bigger.

Sharon, I went to Ritter's Nursery today (BTW, fell in the parking lot, how embarrassing. 4 guys tried to catch me while Bob sat in the car and watched.) and as we were driving out I saw a Diddiers Yogurt Shop. Is that what you were talking about? How did the baskets turn out? They had some very nice plants.

Does Todd live around there nearby? How was your trip to Seattle? Sea/Tac is very confusing to most people but I thought it was very efficient. Must be 'cause I used it so much. Also, I worked out there one time when I worked for the Sky Marshals.

I have got to quit buying plants and get the ones I already have planted in planters. I have a Blushing Euphorbia that is a lot like the Diamond Frost, but has lavender and purple on the leaves. Very pretty, and I took some pieces of it and put in water. They rooted right away. I just potted them up yesterday.

I think my sister has given up on finding me a house. I guess my expectations are not logical for the area. I found what I want and they (2 of them) are both gone. There are very few houses here that are all on one floor. They are either split entries, 2 story, or have in the basement. The few out there are in neighborhoods that are very well established. I want room. Space. The ones you are talking about Sharon are big mansion types on 5 acre plots.

Where are you, and what are you doing JB? Has your hurricane showed up yet? Now don't yell at me. That hurts my ears.

Lee are you wet and soggy over there too? We had the thunder and lightning this afternoon and I think it is headed your way. Big rain. We were coming home and had to pull off the road 'cause we couldn't see where we were going. And the Forest Service guys pulled off right behind us so guess we weren't alone. How is Storm doing? Growing like a weed I bet. How about some pictures.

Gota run. A trip to Spokane costs so much (I spend so much) and then we have to unload the car. Bob said he took care of the meat, veggies, etc. and that he was going to unload the car tomorrow. Works for me I guess. ttyl,

Sorry I got so wordy that I crossposted with both Jan and Katie. That's a 2fer. It sounds wonderful Jan. Is your husband working? The difference in plants is so big isn't it? How long since you lived there?

Great News Orchid ( my kitty) is ok. She has an ulcer in her eye and some kind of growth, but this vet is wonderful and she said that she couldn't believe how old she is. We are waiting on an appointment with a feline opthalmologist in Charleston.

I found seed pods on my queen anne's tears( bilbergia nutens) today. I have never seen seed pods on them before. The seeds are tiny, but I can't wait to see if they will germinate. If anyone wants to try some, just let me know. I will share them.

I watered everything early this morning and during the day, it looked as though they had never seen a drop of water. Even the weeds were pitiful looking. We need rain desperately. Hope everyone has a great night. Time for me to work a little.

Linda my heart hurts for you. I can't take that pain. I have had a lot of pet loss in the last couple of years and my 15 year old Shar Peis, just about killed me. I'm feeling for you bad.

Let me say this though. My blind and deaf old dog, was at home outside with my other dogs, while I was at work and one day, my h came home and saw she had walked into my chicken wire garden fence and must have thrashed about. Some how she panicked and had one tooth caught, one foot caught and was laying out on the first hot day, for Lord knows how long in the sun. We did not want to put her down and talked about it all the time. We had hoped we would find her gone in the morning. We should have though for her own safety. But everyone has to make a choice that they feel they can live with. We did, but in our case it was the wrong decision.

Ibartoo we have been having those aweful winds that I am sure you remember, but it has been blowing for months it seems. Queen Annes tears. Not sure what it is, will look it up.
My vinca Mj looked a little affected by the heat yesterday. It must need more water over there now that we have a warm day here and there.

Linda, I'm glad to hear they can help your cat. I still miss cats and dogs that have been gone for years. Glad you will have Orchid for a while longer.

hugs, katie

Linda, I am so happy for you. Now be careful when you take her to the Opthamologist. The one we took the little dog to sucked out the liquid behind the eyeball with a needle, that allows her to see. I don't know what you call it. So, that ensured she would never see again. However, he said she definitely was blind and there was pressure behind the eye pushing the eyeball out. So, it had to be done.

Just make sure he knows that you know it is an ulcer or some kind of growth.

Then this witch came out carrying her, still asleep, and dropped her on the floor from about 4 feet up. I don't know why she did it. Maybe she thought it would wake her up.

I let the vet know how I felt about the guy 'cause he recommended him.

Hope you get a more compassionate one than we did.

I looked in plantfiles for the Queen Anne Tears but they had almost a thousand different ones and the scientific name came up unknown or however they word it.
Do you happen to have a picture of it? I am wondering if it is the same as the one we have growing wild here that people call the same thing.

Here is a link showing the Queens tears. I had the botanical name spelled incorrectly, so it wasn't showing up in the plant files.

Thanks everyone. I am happy to have Orchid for as long as I can keep her. I cannot stand the thought of her being in pain and I won't let that happen to her. This vet is one who came in 3 hours early when my old sheltie/pug/oldest child was dying. I love her. I know nothing about the opthalmologist though. I think we will definitely take her for the consultation and then decide. I can't justify putting her through lots of tests and tortures if there isn't much that can be done.

On another bright note. I had started some seeds for aristolochia gigantea and they have finally germinated! This plant is awesome. The pipes are about 8-10 inches long. I am excited. I want to start some more tropical seeds too.
Hope everyone has a good night. It is time to crash.
See ya, Linda

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/5607/

Linda I would love to have some seeds from the Queen Anne's Tears. Do you think they would be fertile? That plant is so cool. And I'll bet the pipes will be neat when they bloom. They are such an unusual plant. But they take your climate to live long enough to bloom.

I really love the Cobeas also but our season is so short they just start blooming when frost hits. The plant itself is so strong and healthy tho it is one of my favorites. I believe they are from Mexico.

Jnette, I have no idea as to whether they will be fertile. I got the mother plant from my grandmother and her sister and I have had it for probably 23 or 24 years. It blooms here very early in the year, usually in February or March. My sister sent me some as well and it is a little different than the variety I have. I have left it out year after year and it never froze. I eventually just planted it in my driveway's center circle and it spreads and blooms it's heart out. It doesn't die from the center like most bromeliads after it blooms. Anyway, send me your addy again. I know I have it some where, but you can save me searching for it and I will drop some in the mail for you.
Linda

Thanks Linda. I sent you my address in Dmail.

I realize there is a difference in our climate and am still absolutely amazed that they grow outside for you. It is really hard for me to imagine. Cripe I even lost a couple roses over the winter this year.

Well, I see the sun is finally out so guess I will see what is going on out there.