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An experienced gardener of 'Tall Bearded Iris' in Oklahoma, Ann, traded this as 1 of 6 varieties she sent for my new Iris bed 7-19-17. I love the name & orange is a stand out color in any bed. It had to get settled in so made no flowers in 2018 but has multiplied to several fans so I'm expecting blooms this Spring. I can hardly wait!

I received a rhizome 11-18-16 in a trade from Cindy in MI as part of a new bed I was making for Irises. I worked on getting the soil just right with a little sand for the best drainage & ph since it was my 1st try at Tall Bearded Irises here in zone 9. I understood they can take a year or 2 to get established in new surroundings. Late Spring 2018 I found a bud & after a week found a full blooming flower. That was it, so I'm hopeful for more this year 2019. The plant has grown a little with several new fans.

I got 6 'Blue Moon' wisteria seeds from AudreyDee in the NFSR Swap Dec. 2018. I planted them 1-7-19 after I nicked & soaked them overnight. By the 19th (day 12) five sprouted & grew fast. Today, 1-29th, I transplanted the five plants that are already 5" & have several leaves into a little bigger pots. The 6th one just sprouted overnight. Pretty good odds getting 6 of 6 to germinate. I'm so pleased, AudreyDee!

I got seeds in the NFSR Swap in Dec. 2018 of many of DraDiana's crosses of lots of these beauties. I'm excited to sow them in Feb. 2019 for late Summer blooms. I'm especially hoping the dark leaf trait of 'Midnight Marvel' & 'Starry Starry Night' is passed in those crosses with whites and shades of pinks to reds as well as the large 8" + flowers.

I am so excited to get seeds in the 4th annual NFSR Swap in Dec. 2018 for DraDiana's cross of this beauty with her 'Starry Starry Night' that has dark leaves. I'm hopeful their offspring will be very special. I will post a picture if all goes well by late Summer.

We have lots of birds visit our row of 15 ft. lorepetalums so I'm always finding new plants under them from the bird droppings. I found this plant in Fall 2017 & recognized it as 'Blackberry Lily' but the color was to be a surprise. I've found yellow ones & orange ones but this two-tone peach is a delightful change. The plant got 30 inches tall with about 10 flowers in 2018.

It's January 2019 here in south Louisiana (Z9) & my 6' plants are about to get knocked down by our 1st hard freeze. I have an 8' long bed of them in my backyard against my neighbors ageing wood fence so I don't cut them to the ground until after a freeze. It's my 10th year of enjoying these very fragrant beauties that started as a 3' long bed of about 5 rhizomes.

It's mid-January 2019 and my 'Tomahawk' A.V. has been in bloom since Thanksgiving. Its uniform dark green foliage measures 11" across. This was its 2nd bloom cycle in its year of life since I started it from a leaf rooting. My pictures posted on the database were taken between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it's gotten more blooms and is a real beauty!

I started my plants from seeds I got in the DND Swap in Nov. 2017. I had 3 plants and they grew to about 3 ft. tall in large pots on my patio, where they got about 6 hours of sun a day. I had blooms July through October. I collected seeds and posted them in the DND & NFSR Swaps Nov. 2018. The pictures posted in the database are of some of those pretty blooms.

I couldn't wait to see this flower from seeds I ordered from Parks in spring 2018. The vine was a little flimsy, but the ruffly double flower was impressive, so I saved seeds and will plant again in 2019.

A neighbor gave me a start of this nice looking fern a few years ago. I planted it in a dappled sun location under a tree off my patio that gets regular watering. In 2 years it took over that whole flowerbed and became a nuisance, as some plants do. I decided to pull it all up and keep a plant growing only in a pot. Well it's 2 years since then and I found a couple of small plants there again this summer, I think from rootstock that survived 2 winters hidden under leaf mulch.. They have been relocated with the others in a larger pot for safekeeping.

I bought seeds from Park's Seeds back in July and sowed them right away. I ended up with 8 plants. Now in October they are nice 2" x 2" plants with several leaves. I planted them this year, so I'm sure to have blooms next spring on well-established plants. I love coneflowers and had to have these unique colored ones.

I got my plant by accident at a closing plant nursery that didn't have it tagged. I recognized it as a sweet olive and got it at a very low close-out price. That was in early March. I was surprised when it didn't flower as others here do in late spring and off and on through the year. Wow, was I overjoyed when I went out one day in October and it was full of fragrant orange/gold flowers. I researched and ID'd it. It's growing in a large pot in my back yard, where each October it is a sight to behold for about 3 weeks. It could get large, but in the pot in 5 years it's stayed 6 ft. tall and 4 ft. wide by my choice. I'm trying to root cuttings, but none have taken in several tries through the years. Its only downside is that it only blooms once a year in fall.

I have several of these as landscape plants the builder of this home planted 20 years ago. They never get over 4' tall and wide in a year, but I do trim them back some in late spring after their early flush. They bloom again in Oct., so they are in bloom now as I post. They are a lovely salmon color that is hard to duplicate in flowers but blends beautifully with many colors. They are on the north side and aren't fazed by the possibly 20's lowest winter temps we get here in zone 9.

I have the climbing variety I started from a cutting from a friend about 8 years ago. It gets 8ft. long and is sprawling on my wood fence. The salmon-colored flowers are a pleasant addition that brightens the aged fence. I trim my climbers in Oct. most years and it encourages them to send out a last flush of buds here in zone 9 before our 1st frost or freeze in about December. 'America' is doing so now. How lovely!

I just trimmed back my climbers, including 'Peace,' as it gets quite sprawly by late October each year. Here in zone 9 this encourages some of my climbers to send out buds before we get a 1st frost or freeze in December. 'Peace' is known to do that, so it makes trimming easier, knowing it will produce another flush of its beautiful flowers.

The seeds on my large bushes are completely dry now in late October, so I've collected some to offer in the DND & NFSR Seed Swaps. Because I started the purple variety from unnamed seeds years ago, I posted a picture of it here to show its medium bluish-purple 8" spires that make a beautiful display in my front yard most of summer. I also have seeds of 'Blushing Spires' pale pink growing in my back yard.

My plant is still blooming in late October here in zone 9. I've collected a few seeds from it and will offer them in the DND and NFSR Seed Swaps in November. It's easy to grow and only snails bother it when we have lots of rain. It's growing in a pot on my patio in dappled sun all day and flowers well, so it must be enough. It's 1 of the 6 varieties I've collected in the Justicia family over a few years.

My plants are still blooming here in zone 9 in late October, but the spent flower cones of August have gone to seed. I've collected the small red ornamental seed pods & will offer them in the DND Swap in November. I've never had to grow them from seeds as my clump enlarges each year by rhizomes.

I grew these beauties for the 1st time this summer from seeds I got in last Nov.'s seed swaps. They got about 12 in. tall and hung over the edge of a large pot I was also growing a taller plant of Datura 'Ballerina Yellow' in. They grew well together in morning sun and filtered sun through a tree the 2nd half the day. They are a wispy delicate flower like nothing I've grown before. I hope they return next spring as I let seeds fall.